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Jim Clark is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time, he won 25 grand prix from his 72 championship starts, but he is also remembered for his ability to drive and win in all types of cars and in any type of racing. His sideways performances in a Lotus-Cortina, with which he won the 1964 British Touring Car Championship proved his amazing car control. He was also a GT champion, a Tasman champion, Indianapolis 500 champion, claimed honours at Le Mans and even tried his hand at rallying, where he took part in the 1966 RAC Rally of Great Britain and nearly won the event.
The wonderful images in this book have been selected to chart the career of a modest young man who took up motorsport as a hobby, and discovered in himself an extraordinary natural talent. He honed this amazing talent and took up motor racing as his profession. He raced only with one Formula 1 team Lotus, collaborating with its innovative founder Colin Chapman to transform it into the best in the business. Nearly invincible in the car, he seemed vulnerable out of it and was always a reluctant hero.
Jim Clark was the Formula 1 World Champion only twice, in 1963 and 1965. Had he been provided with more reliable equipment, he would probably have won the title five times in six seasons. He was robbed of championships when his cars let him down as he was leading the final Grands Prix in both 1962 and 1964. He led almost twice as many miles as the eventual champion in 1967 - a year in which he produced a performance at Monza that almost defied belief. Yet it was on 'driver circuits' that he truly excelled. He loved the streets of Monaco, but never won on them. He detested Spa-Francorchamps, but won there four years in a row. Few champions were as dominant and fewer still are remembered so fondly.
Jim Clark seldom ever made a mistake and had very few accidents - which made his sudden death all the more difficult to comprehend. On April 7, 1968, his Lotus had a tyre failure in a F2 race at Hockenheim in Germany and he was killed. The racing world was in shock and many felt the heart had gone out of the sport, aged just 32, Clark was at the peak of his formidable powers and had also earned the deepest respect and admiration of all his peers. This book is a tribute to one of the greatest racing drivers the world has ever seen.
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