A Scottish farmer’s boy pushed into racing by enthusiastic friends against his family’s wishes, he was taken by the sport at just 32.
Jim’s first race wasn’t until he was 17, he entered his Talbot Sunbeam in a local rally, soon afterwards he began entering and winning club races and was funded by rich friends who convinced him to take his hobby further.
In 1958 he was given a Lotus Elise to race at Brands Hatch, he impressed the winner, a certain Colin Chapman, who was driving an identical car, afterwards he was invited to race at Team Lotus.
Spa Francorchamps may be one of the greatest race tracks in the world, but Jim Clark hated it with a passion (despite the fact he won four times there.)
The reason for this deep seated antipathy was a severe one; he watched 22-year-old Chris Bristow lose his life in a Mini Cooper at circuit in 1960 and just moments after narrowly avoided crashing into his mangled body.
Clark also saw his lotus team mate, Alan Stacey, lose his life that very same weekend, an incident that scarred him for life.
Between 1962 -65 Clark’s form was imperious but he was let down mechanically. He won his first title at a canter in 1963 and raced to victory again in 1965, but he lost 2 championships in 1962 and 1964 on the final day of the season suffering an oil leak on both occasions.
If he had been in a more reliable car there is every possibility Jim Clark could have been a Quadruple World Champion.
Tragically, He was Killed on 7th April 1968 after his Lotus suffered a tyre failure at while racing at Hockenheim.
Watch Murray Walker’s tribute to Jim here: