Jim Clark

He had won more Grand Prix races (25) and scored more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver at the time of his death, at the age of 32.

Jim Clark in a file photo. (Image: Twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | May 30, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

James Clark Jr. (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a Scottish-born British Formula One racer who won two World Championships in 1963 and 1965. He was a multi-talented driver who participated in sports cars, touring cars, and the 1965 Indianapolis 500, which he won. He was especially connected to the Lotus brand. Clark was murdered in a Formula Two race in Hockenheim, West Germany, in 1968. He had won more Grand Prix races (25) and scored more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver at the time of his death, at the age of 32. Clark was named the greatest Formula One driver of all time by The New York Times in 2009.

Jim Clark before F1

Jim Clark was the youngest of five children and the only boy in a farming family in Kilmany House Farm, Fife. In 1942, the family relocated to Edington Mains Farm in the Borders, near Duns, Berwickshire. Despite his parents’ opposition, Clark began racing in local road rallies and hill climbs, driving his own Sunbeam-Talbot, and quickly established himself as a formidable opponent. In his very first race, he was driving a DKW sonderklasse at Crimond, Scotland, on June 16, 1956. By 1958, Clark was driving for Ian Scott-Border Watson’s Reivers squad, winning 18 races in Jaguar D-types and Porsches in national events.

F1 debut and teams

On June 6, 1960, Clark made his Formula One Grand Prix debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, midway through the season. Lotus had lost Surtees, who had gone to the Isle of Man to do some serious motorcycle racing, so they were left with Ireland, Stacey, and Clark, the latter of whom was a suitable replacement. On lap 49, he retired due to a final drive failure. The 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, held at the exceedingly fast and dangerous Spa-Francorchamps track, was his second Formula One race; there, he received a taste of reality when two deadly incidents happened (Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey).

World championship wins

In 1963, he won his first Drivers’ World Championship driving the Lotus 25, which also gave Lotus its first Constructors’ World Championship. Clark’s record of seven wins in a season was not matched until 1984, when Frenchman Alain Prost won seven races for McLaren, and it was not broken until Brazilian Ayrton Senna won eight races for McLaren in 1988 (Senna’s teammate that year was Prost, who again equaled the old record by winning seven races). However, Clark’s record is better than Prost and Senna’s because the 1963 championship was only 10 rounds long (giving Clark a 70 percent success rate)

Clark came within a few laps of maintaining his World Championship title in 1964, but an oil leak from the engine robbed him of the title, which he surrendered to John Surtees, just as it had done in 1962. The Lotus’s attempt at the Indianapolis 500 that year was cancelled due to a tyre failure that damaged the suspension. In 1965, he made apologies by winning the Championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the Lotus 38. He had to miss the famous Monaco Grand Prix in order to race at Indianapolis, but he created history by becoming the first mid-engined car to win at the fabled “Brickyard,” as well as the only driver to win both the Indy 500 and the Formula One championship in the same year.

Career Stats

Races73
Wins25
Podiums32
Pole positions33
Points255

Jim Clark wife

Jim Clark had not married during his lifetime.

Jim Clark net worth

Jim Clark was said to have a reported net worth of USD 1.2 billion. However, his salary during his tenure as an F1 driver is unknown. Clark was murdered in a Formula Two race in Hockenheim, West Germany, in 1968. He had won more Grand Prix races (25) and scored more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver at the time of his death, at the age of 32. Clark was named the greatest Formula One driver of all time by The New York Times in 2009.