667 replies to this topic

[ensign14]

[Roger Clark]

60 years ago this weekend he won in a Lotus 23 at a small Oulton Park meeting.  Within a few weeks he would make his first assault on Indianapolis and begin one of the greatest formula 1 seasons of all time.  Is it any wonder that we remember him?

[amerikalei]

I recently listened to the Derek Bell podcast episode on Dinner with Racers.  He talks about that day at Hockenheim. He said Clark told him he was having trouble with a misfire in qualifying, and didn't think he'd be catching Bell (who qualified 3rd I think).  Bell suggested that a misfire at top speed in the wet may have altered the balance of the car forward, lightening the load on the rear and initiating the accident.  He thought that was more plausible than someone of Jimmy's skill not feeling a softening rear tire through the stadium complex before heading back onto the high speed loop.  I'd never heard this perspective before.  Thought this might be of interest here.

[B Squared]

The misfire has been known since that day. I'm quite certain Bell's line of thought had been discussed prior to this podcast.

[Nemo1965]

I recently listened to the Derek Bell podcast episode on Dinner with Racers.  He talks about that day at Hockenheim. He said Clark told him he was having trouble with a misfire in qualifying, and didn't think he'd be catching Bell (who qualified 3rd I think).  Bell suggested that a misfire at top speed in the wet may have altered the balance of the car forward, lightening the load on the rear and initiating the accident.  He thought that was more plausible than someone of Jimmy's skill not feeling a softening rear tire through the stadium complex before heading back onto the high speed loop.  I'd never heard this perspective before.  Thought this might be of interest here.

 

Two remarks.

 

1. There were indications that Jim DID feel something before he went off. In Doug Nye's book Great Racing Drivers it is stated: 'He seemed to be in some engine trouble and had waved two cars past on the previous laps when the Lotus slid off the right-handed Shrimp Curve...'

 

2. Two: the misfire-thesis has indeed been around for a long time. Jim's mechanic at Hockenheim '68, David 'Beaky' Sims in Grand Prix: The Killer Years, by John L. Matthews: 'Yes, we had misfires - but that wasn't the cause of the accident like a lot of people think it was, because it wasn't that cold at the start of the start of the race (...). Jimmy said - on the grid: 'I don't like these tyres in these wet conditions. (...) He didn't like the tyres all weekend, hoping there was going to be a dry race - but it wasn't, and he wasn't happy with it at all.' 

[Collombin]

Without wishing to start a new thread to ask a simple question, I was wondering when Jim last set foot in Scotland?

He was there on the RAC Rally in November 1966, but did he get chance in 1967? In theory there might have been opportunity in March after Tasman and before Pau in early April, with his tax exile beginning on the first day of the new tax year, 6th April 1967. Another possibility is a quick visit during the British GP trip in July 1967, almost certainly his last visit to the UK.

Anybody know for sure?

Edited by Collombin, 23 September 2023 - 10:06.

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

A sad day remembered.  RIP, Jimmy.

[Coral]

RIP Jim, forever remembered. ❤️

[marksixman]

A sad day remembered.  RIP, Jimmy.

A sad day indeed. I was numb leaving Brands Hatch that day, aged 15.

 

Never forgotten, RIP Jimmy.

[Tim Murray]

I like this photo which popped up on Facebook recently. Jim in a natty cap with Dan Gurney at Le Mans in 1962. Bernard Cahier photo.

[Doug Nye]

Life-shaping anniversary.  Total respect - as ever since...

 

DCN

[Nick Planas]

A date I never forget. This morning I staggered into a 9.00am rehearsal wearing my JC Trust sweatshirt - always a pleasure when a fellow musician spots it across the band pit and gives me a thumbs up...

[Glengavel]

I like this photo which popped up on Facebook recently. Jim in a natty cap with Dan Gurney at Le Mans in 1962. Bernard Cahier photo.

 

He must have been there as a spectator?

[Collombin]

That wasn't the plan, of course...

[Tim Murray]

He must have been there as a spectator?

As Collombin says, not by choice. He and Trevor Taylor were down to drive one of the two Lotus 23s entered, but these famously fell foul of the Le Mans scrutineers over wheel studs. The cars were originally rejected for having four wheel studs for each front wheel and six studs for each rear wheel, meaning that the single spare wheel could go either on the front or on the back, but not both.

After frantic efforts by the team the cars were converted to have four wheel studs on both front and rear wheels. The scrutineers again rejected them, saying that if they had originally needed six studs on each rear wheel, they were now unsafe with only four. This led to Chapman vowing never to return to Le Mans, and Jim and the other team drivers becoming involuntary spectators.

[D28]

I recently came across a rare photo of Jimmy working on one of his racing cars. It is at the 1965 USGP qualifying, and he is kneeling at the back of the Climax engine apparently assisting a mechanic in a plug change. He is not intensely involved, as he has his helmet and gloves on, but he is helping out, rather than sitting on the pit wall.

 

This makes me curious to know what mechanical aptitude he possessed. As a farmer he would have been involved with tractors and farm machinery, and I assume he did some preparation on his early cars. Professionally he very wisely applied his considerable talents behind the wheel, and left the set-up and engineering to Chapman and the Lotus lads. In this he differed from some of his colleagues who were very hands on with their tinkering.

 

Perhaps some of you who knew Jimmy, or were involved with Team Lotus could shed some light on his overall mechanical skills, and how they related to his testing abilities. 

[Glengavel]

I recently came across a rare photo of Jimmy working on one of his racing cars. It is at the 1965 USGP qualifying, and he is kneeling at the back of the Climax engine apparently assisting a mechanic in a plug change. He is not intensely involved, as he has his helmet and gloves on, but he is helping out, rather than sitting on the pit wall.

 

This makes me curious to know what mechanical aptitude he possessed. As a farmer he would have been involved with tractors and farm machinery, and I assume he did some preparation on his early cars. Professionally he very wisely applied his considerable talents behind the wheel, and left the set-up and engineering to Chapman and the Lotus lads. In this he differed from some of his colleagues who were very hands on with their tinkering.

 

Perhaps some of you who knew Jimmy, or were involved with Team Lotus could shed some light on his overall mechanical skills, and how they related to his testing abilities. 

 

Tractor mechanicking generally requires a can of Quick Start and a lump hammer. Or at least it did in the 60s. My cousin is a tractor mechanic and his principal tool is a laptop.

 

I have read somewhere that Jim wasn't particularly handy with a tool kit.

[Tim Murray]

Here’s Jim helping out at Enna in 1964:





Photos copyright Vittorio Giordano, from the Enzo Manzo archive.