Jim Clark Half A Century On...........

[charleselan]

Mar 16, 2018 11:30:46 GMT mikael said:

British GP 1967.

This is one of the really great shots of Jim in the Lotus 49 belying all those tales that the man only ever drove as if on rails.

When over in the UK recently I bought a copy of the Eric Dymock book "Jim Clark", for some weird reason I did not purchase it when it came out originally. I have speed read it and there are some very interesting things in the book that I had not seen before, particularly in detail.

Apparently Jim did not like, or trust, the 49 at all. When first acquainted with the car at Zandvoort he did not like the "light switch" power delivery of the DFV motor which came in with a bang at 6500rpm, Jim saying that it fish tailed all down the straight with him having to saw away at the wheel to keep the blessed thing on the road. That alone makes his debut victory in the thing even more meritorious.

As the season wore on he became more and more upset with things breaking on the car and on several occasions refused to drive the car as he felt something or other was wrong with the car. On every occasion he was proven to be right even down to a wheel bearing that was about to fail which the mechanics could not pin point on first inspection.

[chrisb]

Jackie was suggesting that Jimmy was challenging Colin a lot more and in one unpublished incident got angry with Colin about the fragility of the 49, but you are quite right Jimmy wasn't happy with the Zandvoort car, bearing in mind this was the 1st time he had driven it - that must have been a bit of a shock, and it doesn't say something of his genius, but then when you win the Belgium GP in the wet one handed - driving a 400bhp with such a narrow power band and with a usual Chapman creation that isn't an easy car to drive would be a walk in the park

I do seem to remember Jimmy being very upset about the German GP and the suspension problems, after a mechanic had wanted to beef the suspension up but was told off for suggesting it 

[mikael]

Mar 16, 2018 20:01:43 GMT charleselan said:

... When first acquainted with the car at Zandvoort he did not like the "light switch" power delivery of the DFV motor which came in with a bang at 6500rpm ...

The topic of the usable rev-range is a very interesting one. As to the first iteration of the Cosworth DFV, Graham Hill writes (in "Life at the Limit", 1969) that, at the 1967 debut at Zandvoort at least, the rev-limiter (ignition cut-out) had been set at 9000 rpm. A usable range of 2500 rpm (6500 rpm -> 9000 rpm), that's very narrow indeed!

Perhaps the widest usable rev-range ever was that of the V10 F1 engines (up to, and with, year 2005), at the time when they surpassed the 20,000 rpm "milestone". I imagine the engines were reasonably well-behaved from 10,000 rpm, which would give a usable range of 10,000 rpm (10,000 rpm -> 20,000 rpm).

(I recall they were driven in a much narrower range, maybe 17,000 rpm -> 20,000 rpm; still, they might not have behaved terribly bad from, say 10,000 rpm.)

[charleselan]

I believe this is the film of the 1965 German GP that Chris has referred to in his recent post. An incredible bit of film (30 odd minutes of highlights) that has no annoying commentary but the live sound track which is just pure joy. A while ago the full race was available on YT but has been removed, I have it in my archive however.

The film shows what an amazing place the Nurburgring was. In this film it is fascinating to see the technique of Jim and the other drivers, Jim having a distinctive throttle application that differed from the likes of Graham; Dan and Jackie. These four were already miles in front of the rest of he field even on lap one.

[René]

Superb footage!
This is a picture of the same meeting.

[mikael]

Wonderful! Pure joy! Thank you!

Clark is indeed much more aggressive on the throttle than the others. This "bpp bpp bpp" through the corners is similar to the style that Senna adopted some twenty years later.

[chrisb]

another thing Jim used to say was - that it wasn't about when or how late you braked it was more about for him when you came off the brakes

[mikael]

At the Nürburgring 1965.

[mikael]

A Michael Turner painting of a scene from the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring 1965.

[mikael]

At the South African Grand Prix 1965.

[mikael]

From the start of the Dutch GP, Zandvoort, 1965.

[mikael]

En route to victory at the 1965 Syracuse (non-championship) Grand Prix, Sicily.

[mikael]

At the Belgian GP, Spa 1965 (repeat from another thread)

[mikael]

Again at the Dutch GP, Zandvoort 1967.

[mikael]

In Gold Leaf colours in the 1968 Tasman Series. En route to victory at Warwick Farm International, Australia (February '68).