Jim Clark - Oulton 1963

[Kopite Girl 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhqpixl3IY0&NR

This is perhaps one of my favorite F1 videos as it gives you a great perspective on how it was compared to now. IMHO, Jimmy Clark was one of the finest drivers the world has seen. But you may disagree, each to their own.

[rumblestrip 0]

Wow, that was awesome! Thanks for posting.

Those skinny tires... yikes! And the way he sticks a tire on the grass. Takes guys! Plus, the driver seems so exposed.

Great video!

[Autumnpuma 0]

I cannot believe I missed this post!! Fantastic! Jimmy doing what he was born to do. The onboard shots were great; they showed his unique driving style. No a$$ hanging out, Rindt-style drifts for Jimmy, just early turn in and minute counter corrections to keep his car drifing elegantly round the bend. Here's an interesting rememberance from a fellow that worked with Jimmy:

Alec Maskell, Dunlop tyre engineer who worked closely with Clark in the mid-1960s. Maskell was able to appreciate, first hand, Clark's genius as a driver. Dunlop, indeed, had living proof of Clark's superiority: Tyre wear figures showed that most drivers wore some tyres quicker than others. Jack Brabham used his rears more than he did his fronts; the converse was true of Dan Gurney and John Surtees. The astonishing thing about Clark was that his tyre wear rate was the same on the four corners of the car, and that he used substantially less rubber than anyone else. In other words, he seemed to use all four tyres equally. Clark couldn't explain why, and nor could Dunlop. But the figures went some way towards highlighting his exceptional qualities.

further on his style:

If I have any memories of Clark in action, they are of this amazing ability to slide the car as a whole. You rarely saw under- or oversteer with Clark: his corrections were so small, so perfect, that, from a distance, he appeared to be cornering on rails. Clark himself goes some way towards describing this in his autobiography:

". . . I know I am inclined to go into a corner earlier than most people. By that I mean that most people run deep into a corner before turning the wheels to go round. In this way you can complete all your braking in a straight line, as everyone recommends you do, before setting the car up for the corner; but I prefer to cut into the corner early and even with my brakes still on to set up the car earlier. In this way, I almost make a false apex because I get the power on early and try to drift the car through the true apex and continue with this sliding until I am set up for the next bit of straight."

Your video displays all of this perfectly.

[Kopite Girl 0]

Thanks, pal. Great read!

This is why I love that video so much, and Jimmy Clark along with it. Did you catch the part where his top part of his foot was still on the gas and the heel of his foot was breaking?

He barely moved the steering wheel. Such a brilliant driver.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Thanks, pal. Great read!

This is why I love that video so much, and Jimmy Clark along with it. Did you catch the part where his top part of his foot was still on the gas and the heel of his foot was breaking?

He barely moved the steering wheel. Such a brilliant driver.

Yup. Classic 'Heel-toe'...it's becoming a lost art.

[aussief1 4]

Jim Clark summed up:

Strengths: Everything

Weaknesses: None

A true legend of the sport, up there with the likes of, Senna, Schumacher, Fangio.

[Autumnpuma 0]

I would rate Jimmy ahead of all three. He tops my list, followed by Gilles.

He did have one weakness: testing. He wasn't a very good tester from a team's point-of-view because he adapted to the car no matter what the team did to it. He pulled the same fast times regardless of roll-bar adjustments or tyre pressures or camber. This made it very difficult to set up both cars. I'll post a quote on it later tonight. He gave excellent feedback, but generally his talent erased any faults the car had.

[Kopite Girl 0]

I would rate Jimmy ahead of all three. He tops my list, followed by Gilles.

He did have one weakness: testing. He wasn't a very good tester from a team's point-of-view because he adapted to the car no matter what the team did to it. He pulled the same fast times regardless of roll-bar adjustments or tyre pressures or camber. This made it very difficult to set up both cars. I'll post a quote on it later tonight. He gave excellent feedback, but generally his talent erased any faults the car had.

Excellent point. I think I saw a vid of him testing on Youtube, will have to double check.

Look forward to that quote, Puma.

[Niall McBride 0]

nice