" Jim Clark, la leggenda vive ancora "

Autore: Graham Gauld

Trama

Jim Clark was born into a farming family and considered himself a farmer first and foremost – he is listed as such on his gravestone.
Clark actually competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race, in 1959, before his first Formula One drive. Partnered by John Whitmore, he finished 10th.
He began driving for Lotus in F1 the following year, and made his first podium finish in just his fifth race, at the Portugese Grand Prix in Porto.
The following season, Clark was involved in one of F1’s most serious accidents when the Ferrari of German driver Wolfgang von Trips hit his Lotus and became airborne. The car crashed into a barrier, killing von Trips and 15 spectators.
Clark won seven out of 10 races to take his first F1 title in 1963 and give Lotus its first constructor’s championship. Though Ayrton Senna won eight F1 races in 1988, by then there were 16 grands prix in a season, so Clark’s percentage success rate remains much higher.
Clark also had successes in other racing disciplines, not least in the famous US race the Indianapolis 500. After coming second in 1964, Clark would win the race in 1965, and come second again the following year.
He won the first six grands prix he started in the 1965 season and went on to take his second title. Clark remains the only driver to win the Formula One championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season.
Though more than 100 drivers had been killed in races between 1958 and 1968, Clark’s death more than any was the catalyst for an F1 safety campaign spearheaded by Jackie Stewart. Run-off areas, guard rails and gravel traps would soon be introduced to the sport as a result of his early death.

Edizione originale: Patrick Stephens Limited
Traduzione a cura di: Maria Grazia Bosetti

Estratto

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Curiosità sull'autore

James Clark Jr., detto Jim (Kilmany, 4 marzo 1936 – Hockenheim, 7 aprile 1968), è stato un pilota automobilistico britannico. È considerato uno dei migliori piloti di Formula 1 di tutti i tempi ed è stato insignito dell'Ordine dell'Impero Britannico.

Il suo stile di guida si basava sulla sua velocità: non aveva una particolare tattica di gara, otteneva spesso la pole position poi partiva sempre molto forte ottenendo, già nel primo giro, un margine di vantaggio sugli inseguitori, quindi se la macchina non aveva problemi procedeva continuando a migliorare i tempi sul giro^.Era anche molto versatile riuscendo a portare al limite macchine diverse adeguando la sua guida secondo il tipo di vettura, l'unica cosa in cui non emergeva era nella bagarre con gli altri concorrenti.

Rassegna Stampa

Jim Clark, la leggenda su Autosprint

la bografia ufficiale di Jim Clark