38 replies to this topic

[DNQ]

A pretty open ended topic, but I would like to hear some quotes from him. Obviously there is a great deal written on him, but I havent read a lot from his mouth.

And what about the personna of Clark? I hear he was a quiet man, but maybe some of the members here could extend on that?

Thirdly, I would like to buy a book on Jim, what would be the best?

Thank you for you time, apologies for these questions, pretty low end stuff

[Eric McLoughlin]

From what I've read about the man, he was not very verbose (unlike his contemporary and fellow countryman - a certain J Y Stewart). I have some snippets from an interview on tape where he is talking about his everyday driving skills and he is quite self deprecating. This supports the view that he was a very modest man not given to blowing his own trumpet. Stewart says he was the most indecisive driver he'd ever been with in a road car . A total contrast to his on track confidence.

[Martyj]

I agree. Clark doesn't strike me as a particularly quotable individual. Less so than most drivers who have participated in the 50 -plus year history of the World Drivers Championship.

About Clark books: the merits of the handful that exist have been discussed often among these threads. The only one I know of that is currently in print, in circulation, and can be ordered through most motorsport book dealers is the one authored by Eric Dymock (sp?). And it's as good as any that have been written.

If you want to dig deeper into out-of-print collections, seek out "Jim Clark Remembered" by Graham Gauld. Also contains essays by many of his contemporaries.

[Impspeed Gerry]

I'm sure I heard a story some time ago, but I don't know whether it's true.....

I think it was at Monza where Stewart, at the top of his form and full of confidence, came back to the pits and commented to another driver that he had finally found the courage to take a certain section without backing off. Clark, over-hearing Stewart's remarks, was apparently heard to comment under his breath, 'what, you mean that you use to lift there?'

Other TNFers please feel feel free to correct me/back me up with this one..

[byrkus]

Originally posted by Impspeed Gerry
I'm sure I heard a story some time ago, but I don't know whether it's true.....

I think it was at Monza where Stewart, at the top of his form and full of confidence, came back to the pits and commented to another driver that he had finally found the courage to take a certain section without backing off. Clark, over-hearing Stewart's remarks, was apparently heard to comment under his breath, 'what, you mean that you use to lift there?'

Other TNFers please feel feel free to correct me/back me up with this one..

He was talking about Curva Grande, IIRC.;)

[Mark A]

A few quotes from Graham Gaulds Jim Clark : The legend lives on (updated version of Remembered, but still out of print)

These are about Jim Clark.

"...there was the classic case of Jimmy merely steering a hire car back to the Hotel.......one night........with Colin, when our founder was operating the pedals from the passenger seat! On arrival at the parking spot in the hotel car park the car merely charged full tilt into a substantial brick wall, both participants piling out of the severely damaged car in great mirth as each realised he had relied on the other to operate the brake pedal!"

To follow up Erics comments above.

When sorting out an insurance claim on clarks road car for the 2nd time at the same spot. Comments from Andrew Ferguson:-

"It's funny you know," he said quite truthfully, "I must get a bit too relaxed as I approach that fork - I've gone off the road there on a number of occasions but this is only the second time I've done it seriously." I said that I didn't understand, so he continued. "Well, to tell you the truth, I must be so relaxed when I arrive at that fork I can't decide for the life of me whether to take the right hand or the left hand and I leave it so long that by the time I've made a decision I'm in the middle of the trees".


These are by him.

"I'm just beginning to wonder if I want to be World Champion. There will be so much fuss and drama. Farming is really my occupation, and racing just a hobby, although I make a serious effort at it.
"Many people depend on it for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, a sport."
"The championship has a certain amount of luck attached to it. It is not really conclusive proof of anything."

" I don't do anything to keep fit......I can lose weight motor racing..."

"Indianapolis: it would be fine without the Americans"

"It is considered that leaving your braking to the very last minute is important, and I would agree that it is important, but I'd also say that it's where you take the brakes off that matters. Often, if I want to go through a given corner quicker, I don't necessarily put the brakes on any later, but I might not put them on so hard and then I let them off quicker. How you get led into this trap is by going deep into the corner and not braking until the last moment. Doing this you might arrive quicker, but you then tend to brake much harder than you need. It often happens that a driver when trying hard will set up a fast lap then, when told to ease off and relax, will find himself lapping just as quickly. This would appear to indicate that when he was trying he was really overbraking and slowing the car more than he needed."

[Milan Fistonic]

At the 1968 Teretonga round of the Tasman Series Clark had a huge spin halfway down the main straight which saw the Lotus slew sideways at about 130 mph before leaving the track backwards, going up on two wheels and spinning 200 yards along the grass. He rejoined the race to finish second behind Bruce McLaren in the BRM.

After the race Eoin Young told Clark that the crowd had cried out in fright as the Lotus left the track.

"The crowd was scared!" exclaimed Jim. "They should have been in the car!"

[David Beard]

Originally posted by DNQ
A pretty open ended topic, but I would like to hear some quotes from him. Obviously there is a great deal written on him, but I havent read a lot from his mouth.

And what about the personna of Clark? I hear he was a quiet man, but maybe some of the members here could extend on that?

Thirdly, I would like to buy a book on Jim, what would be the best?

Thank you for you time, apologies for these questions, pretty low end stuff

Jimmy was, I understand, pretty good at driving a racing car. So was Mika Hakkinen. And lots of others who were not good at sound bites. I wish there were more of them, and for that matter, more seasons like 2002 to drive away the masses, the media, and the money.

[Roger Clark]

Some pictures of the shy retiring farmer.

[bill moffat]

Originally posted by David Beard


Jimmy was, I understand, pretty good at driving a racing car. So was Mika Hakkinen. And lots of others who were not good at sound bites. I wish there were more of them, and for that matter, more seasons like 2002 to drive away the masses, the media, and the money.

Absolutely !! All that I have read on Jimmy ( and that's a lot ) points to a reserved man who did not enjoy the public eye. He was never at ease when cameras or microphones were thrust at him....although he became more adept at the "challenge by media" as the years went on.

Whilst the 60's equivalent of "Ronspeak" eluded him, his loyalty and down-to-earth attitude was plain to see. Take the '66 RAC rally as an example. Having excelled in the Lotus Cortina ( 3 fastest stage times against all the usual Scandinavian stars) his car eventually succumbed to various injuries on the 45th stage ( proper rallies in those days).

No sulking, no excuses, no hasty retreat to plane...no, Jimmy joins his service-crew to provide support for the remainder of the rally. Pure class, no wonder we all still miss him.

[Bernd]

All this about him not being a quotable and a bit of a Mika Hakkinen type is rubbish.
There are dozens of classic Clark quotes if you care to find them.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Bernd
All this about him not being a quotable and a bit of a Mika Hakkinen type is rubbish.

wooooooshhhh:

[Bernd]

Sorry to be curt but the misconceptions of Jim Clark as almost a country bumpkin almost simpleton really annoy me.

Here's an example I heard at first hand from a local that saw Jim at Longford in 1968 it went something like this. The race was held in a torrential downpour

Local - Cripes Mr Clark you were going a bit quick in that spray, weren't you scared?
JC - It's Jim and no I wasn't scared, you have to see to be scared.

The local was quite adament that the car was totally undrivable and was wheel spinning all the way up to top gear but Jimmy still brought it home in the points.

[Buford]

After spinning twice in the Indy 500 he said his sponsor's name STP meant "Spinning Takes Practice".

[oldtimer]

Originally posted by bill moffat


Pure class, no wonder we all still miss him.

I remember walking around the back of the paddock at Silverstone amongst the transporters (before the days of grand motor homes and reception centres), and finding the Jimmy having his ear bent by a F3 driver explaining all the problems with his car. The world champion was quite willing to play the role of listener in the conversation. Pure class.

I like the story of how Jimmy used to frustrate Chapman when setting up his car. Clark had an almost universal response to the query after a change in settings, "How's the car, Jimmy?"

With his Scottish brogue,"Fine."

Or is that apocryphal?

[Lotus23]

I was in his presence (along with a gaggle of other hangers-on!) on several occasions, and wish I could remember something pithy and quotable: maybe if this discussion had taken place thirty years ago...

He certainly struck me as being quietly self-confident, but he was not prone to self-aggrandizement. As he and I were nearly the same age, he always seemed rather youthful, even boyish, and never really looked the part of the larger-than-life "Racing Driver", the way that someone like Jimmy Bryan or A.J. Foyt did. My impression was that JC was much more at ease away from microphones and cameras.

However, as Bernd accurately notes, Jim was a very long way from being a country bumpkin.

[bill moffat]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bernd
[B]Sorry to be curt but the misconceptions of Jim Clark as almost a country bumpkin almost simpleton really annoy me.

Sorry Bernd, but with respect, this is your misconception. I think that there is a common thread amongst everybody's contribution. Jim Clark was a modest man who never felt the need to declare his genius...he let his performance in various Loti act as his spokesman. I'm sure he always considered himself to be a Border's farmer who just happened to be a bit good behind the wheel of a race car....

No one is suggesting that he was dim and certainly not a "country bumpkin". He was reserved to the point of shyness. Compared to today's F1 drivers with their (largely) inflated egos and inbred sponsor-speak I find a touch of modesty and an economy of speech rather attractive...

[Bernd]

Certainly Bill he was all that. I was merely pointing out that some people tend to think he basically drove the car and disappeared without a word which is certainly not true. He & Jenks used to converse for hours during race meets same with Jabby Crombac. There are as I said many, many quotes attributed to Clark.

As for the Farming life yes for the first half of his career but he moved away from that markedly after his second championship. This is another misconception that people have, that he'd have retired and gone back to farming. He said himself that this would not happen and after his passing Chapman & JYS amongst others also said the same.

[Eric McLoughlin]

I certainly would never describe JC as a "bumpkin". He always appeared to be an intelligent, reserved individual with a somewhat dry, subtle sense of humour. He also did his share of media engagements, such as they were ,in the 1960's. As a kid one of my proud posessions was the 1967 Scalextric catalogue which featured a "signed" endorsement by Clark.

I think it was only in the last two years of his life that it dawned on him the motor racing, rather than farming, had become his "career". The notion that he was a professional racing driver was almost forced upon him because he had to live abroad, away from his beloved farm, for tax purposes.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Bernd
Sorry to be curt but the misconceptions of Jim Clark as almost a country bumpkin almost simpleton really annoy me.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that. I made a comparison with Mika Hakkinen only because it always annoyed me that Mika got so much flack about his post race interview performances. No one seemed content to let his driving do the talking. Similarly, Jim Clark was the best driver of his era and it doesn't bother me at all that there aren't a lot of Frank Gardner style Clark one liners knocking around.

Perhaps he did say one or two cool things...it doesn't matter one way or the other to me.

[Bernd]

I know none of you were David but for sure a lot of people do.

[Ray Bell]

Getting back to tracking down good quotes from Jimmy...

Wouldn't his comment to the owner of the ERA at Rouen have been a good one? When he was consoling the owner because he'd been so much faster than him...

Something like: "Well, I have done a few more laps around here than you have..."

[merlyn6]

I believe it was Dan Gurney who told this, but I'm not sure.
It was after a race at Riverside, and they were driving to dinner. They appraoched a stop sign where you could see for miles in each direction. Clark, who was driving, said after looking carefully both ways several times, (the road was totally clear) "Well, What do you think Dan"

[Bernd]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Getting back to tracking down good quotes from Jimmy...

Wouldn't his comment to the owner of the ERA at Rouen have been a good one? When he was consoling the owner because he'd been so much faster than him...

Something like: "Well, I have done a few more laps around here than you have..."

From memory that was Patrick Lindsay with his beloved Remus. There are a stack of quotes just on this incident alas I can't remember them. What was it again he equaled Patricks lap record off the standing start then cut a full 10 seconds off it on his first flyer. I think I'd be inconsolable if that happened to me.

[Buford]

Jim Clark followed Dave MacDonald at Indy in 1964 on carb day. When Dave pulled in and went to his pit, Jim pulled in too and parked behind him. He got out and went up to the cockpit and said words to the effect, "If I were you I would get out of that car mate. Don't drive it in the race." Something Masten Gregory, his teammate, had already told Mac Donald too. In the race on the second lap, MacDonald crashed in a massive fireball that claimed his life, and also Eddie Sachs.

[Lotus23]

That 64 Indy was the first one I attended. I was sitting on the main straight just beyond the exit of T4 and had a pretty good view of the crashes: it was obvious it was Really Bad right from the outset.

[Buford]

Yeah I was in the front row of the Paddock Penthouse about the starting line and I filmed it all. That was my 4th Indy 500.

[Ruairidh]

Originally posted by DNQ


Thirdly, I would like to buy a book on Jim, what would be the best?

Gauld's book is readable.

I'd recommend whenever you get the chance to read any of Nigel Roebuck's essays on Jimmy, you do. Grand Prix Greats has a good one. I'm pretty sure he did another good one in the early 90's in MotorSport but I'm darned if I can find the thing - anyone with a copy, please let me know.....


Incidentally I liked Eoin Young's observation

In what I consider to be the "Good Old Days" of the 1960s, a driver's signature was a work of art, something instantly recognisable and a mirror of the man. Thus Graham Hill's signature was done with a swashbuckling flourish and Jim Clark's signature was almost that of a shy schoolboy, both of which fitted the men with the pen.

Eoin continued


Jackie Stewart's original signature was probably much like Jim's, but he felt that if someone granted him the honour of asking for his autograph, it should be worthwhile, and he practised his copperplate autograph. No disinterested squiggle, looking away, talking to someone else, here.

Finally, about 5-6 years ago I was going fishing in the Highlands and stopped off on the way for a day to visit the Jim Clark Museum, see the Memorial and visit his grave. The thing that really hit me was driving the same roads that he learned to drive on. That part of the border country really hasn't changed much and the roads are wonderful and fast.....for some reason that gave me more of a buzz than motor racing has for many a long year. One day became two before I had to move on.

And yes, my head did tilt to one side as I took the corners.........

[peetbee]

Originally posted by Eric Mcloughlin

one of my proud posessions was the 1967 Scalextric catalogue which featured a "signed" endorsement by Clark.

I have a copy of this, I'll dig it out and post it here as it's quite amusing.

[VAR1016]

Originally posted by Bernd


From memory that was Patrick Lindsay with his beloved Remus. There are a stack of quotes just on this incident alas I can't remember them. What was it again he equaled Patricks lap record off the standing start then cut a full 10 seconds off it on his first flyer. I think I'd be inconsolable if that happened to me.

Yes, this was at Zandvoort; one of the supporting races was an Historic event, and during practice, Clark was invited to drive the ERA. After one lap, he came in and asked "are you sure that this thing is all right?"

Assured that it was, he drove the wheels off it!

PdeRL

[bill moffat]

Rouen, Zandvoort, Spa ?? Simon Taylor ran the Remus story in Classic and Sports Car several months ago....complete with a photo of JC on-board said ERA. I thought it was at Spa..I'll have to look it up later.

[Eric McLoughlin]

According to Eric Dymock's book it was at Rouen in 1964.

[Ray Bell]

Didn't I say it was Rouen?

Definitely Rouen.

[Bernd]

Yes it was Rouen.

[Ian McKean]

Originally posted by David Beard


I don't think anyone was suggesting that. I made a comparison with Mika Hakkinen only because it always annoyed me that Mika got so much flack about his post race interview performances. No one seemed content to let his driving do the talking.

Couldn't agree with you more. People seemed to forget that English wasn't Mika's mother tongue.

[Briancecil]

A question from a reporter at Indy in 1966 produced an answer from Clark that I've loved ever since:
Q: How is that you can spin twice here at Indy, and still keep the engine running?
A: Weeeel, I de-clutch, you know.

[Paul Parker]

Reference J. Clark driving Patrick Lindsay's ERA 'Remus'. This was indeed at Rouen in 1964 during the French GP meeting and Clark went I think 4 seconds faster than Lindsay could manage in practice setting a time of 2m 48.7sec after just 3 laps. In the race which was styled 'GOLDEN AGE MOTOR RACE' Lindsay won and set fastest lap of 2m 50.0sec, still slower than Clark's 3 lap practice run.

[jimclark]

Siiiggghhhh....

[Pete Stowe]

Originally posted by Ruairidh


Finally, about 5-6 years ago I was going fishing in the Highlands and stopped off on the way for a day to visit the Jim Clark Museum, see the Memorial and visit his grave. The thing that really hit me was driving the same roads that he learned to drive on. That part of the border country really hasn't changed much and the roads are wonderful and fast.....for some reason that gave me more of a buzz than motor racing has for many a long year. One day became two before I had to move on.

..........and also the roads on which he first drove in competition, as the following extract from a report of the Border Rally in October 1955 shows "There followed a long dice across a moor …… while a herd of cows on the road provided a setting for J Clark (Sunbeam Talbot) to practice ‘pylon-dicing.’
Whenever I visit the Jim Clark Room in Duns, I always find the awards from these early rallies and driving tests as fascinating as the bigger trophies from his Grand Prix career. Whereas the current generation of drivers all seem determined to be World Champion from pre-teen karting days, those tiny plaques are a nice reminder that when Jim started competing at 17 he was just an ordinary bloke having some fun with his mates, totally unaware of where his natural talent would take him.