Fifty years ago today, on January 1, 1968, Jim Clark competed in his final Formula
1 World Championship race, the 80-lap South African Grand Prix at Kyalami Circuit in Midrand. Clark averaged 107.422 mph to become the first race
winner to eclipse that barrier.
Clark died as a result of an accident while competing in the
Deutschland Trophäe, a Formula Two race at the Hockenheimring in Germany less
than three months later, on April 7.
Of course, Clark was well-known for his driving abilities
and finesse in a car, according to many drivers and analysts at the time. He
won the Indianapolis 500, part of the USAC Championship Trail, in 1965, and
competed in a number of Formula Two races. He contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans
three times, coming close to winning on twice.
But it was Clark’s accomplishments in Formula 1 in which he
was known for best. In fact, The Times,
the British national daily newspaper based in London, named Clark the greatest
driver in Formula 1 history in an article published in 2009.
Here are some of the statistics Clark achieved while
competing in Formula 1.
Statistics in Formula
1:
- Races: 72 (73 entries)
- Race Victories: 25 (most ever at that time and tied
for ninth all-time as of January 2018; however, he’s the only driver in the top
10 in wins with a winning percentage over 30 percent)
- Races Led: 43 (record at that time)
- Laps Led: 1,943 (record at that time and seventh
all-time as of January 2018) out of 3,882 career laps (50.05 percent of his
laps were completed as the leader)
- Perfect Weekends: 11 (pole position, race win, and
race’s fastest lap; record at that time and third all-time as of January 2018)
- Grand Slams: 8 (pole position, race win, race’s
fastest lap, and leading every lap; remains a record as of January 2018)
- Podiums: 32 (third most at that time and 28th
all-time as of January 2018)
- Fastest Race Laps: 28 (record at that time and
now seventh all-time as of January 2018)
- Pole Positions: 33 (record at that time and tied
for fifth all-time as of January 2018; his percentage of races with a pole
position, 45.21 percent, is second all-time as of January 2018)
- Championships: 2 (1963, 1965)
- Seasons with One Victory: 7 (all in succession,
from 1962-1968; tied for sixth all-time as of January 2018)
- Retirements: 23 (completed 68.1 percent of the
races in which he contested)
- Most Consecutive Victories: 5 (1965 Belgian
Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps to 1965 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring)
- Most Wins in a Season: 7 (1963; that 70 percent
winning percentage ranks third highest in a single season as of January 2018)
- Race with Most Victories: British Grand Prix, 5
(1962-1965, 1967); also had four each in Belgian Grand Prix and Dutch Grand
Prix
- Most Races in a Grand Prix without a Victory: Monaco
Grand Prix, 6
- Most Consecutive Podium Finishes: 9 (1963;
record at that time and sixth all-time as of January 2018)
- Most Different Grand Prix Won: 9 (Belgian,
British, U.S., Dutch, French, Italian, Mexican, South African, German)
- Highest Percentage of Laps Led in Season: 71.47
percent in 1963 (led 506 of 708 laps; record as of January 2018)
- Races Leading Every Lap: 13 (record at that time
and second all-time as of January 2018)
Notes of Interest:
- The only race in which Clark failed to qualify
for in which he entered was the 1966 French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux, in which
he was sidelined with an eye injury after he was hit by a bird during practice.
- In 1965, Clark missed the Monaco Grand Prix to
compete in the Indianapolis 500, held on the same day. It was a good move – he
won the race in dominating fashion, leading 190 of 200 laps for Team Lotus to
become the first driver in the race’s history to win in a rear-engine car.
- Clark earned 54 points during each of his two
championship seasons, in 1963 and 1965. Since Clark won six races in each
season, and only the best six races for each driver counted toward the
championship, Clark earned the maximum points any driver could earn during
those years.
- Clark is the eighth youngest driver to win a
Formula 1 World Championship (27 years, 174 days, in 1963). He held that record
for nine years, before it was broken by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972.
Sources:
- Wikipedia: Jim Clark, Formula 1 World
Championship Records (website)
- Racing-Reference.info (website)
- Formula 1:
All The Races 1950-2011, by Roger Smith; JH Haynes & Co Ltd (2012)
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