Not trying to take anything away from Clark in any way, but the only reason people know the names Schumacher or Senna is because of their greatness. Their reputations are not undeserved.
I really don't know too much about racing history being a younger guy who just recently got into grand prix and sports car racing, but I've alwyas admired the guys who raced everything and anything, especially back in the day when drivers would race NASCAR, F1 and Indy all in a single season!
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I mean I'll try to stay kind of impartial just in case anyone else here cares to chime in, but one of my favorite things about him was that he could just....do what he did. He didn't train forever, he didn't give up his life for racing, he just drove better than everyone else. He requested that if anything happened to him, his headstone read "Here lies Jim Clark, sheep farmer and Formula 1 World Champion." I think that about says it.Leave a comment:
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Calling all 60's racing fans--Why does Jim Clark get the cold shoulder?
So I think this is the right subforum for this...
Every time I watch an F1 race these days, I'm forced to listen to another commentary about Sebastian Vettel's domination, whether it's just the car or not, comparisons to other greats, etc. That's fine, but what bothers me about these discussions (and discussions about the best F1 drivers in general) is they almost all seem to leave the great Jimmy Clark out of the equation.
I get that he didn't get as many total wins or championships as some other drivers, but if you take the whole picture into account I find it very hard to dismiss him as anything but the best. If not for embarrassing reliability in his F1 Lotuses, he almost definitely would have won four consecutive World Championships. In his day, he was considered a grade above everyone else, even in F1. He raced anything he could get his hands on, and generally kicked ass right off the bat! I remember reading a story one of the mechanics on his winning Indy 500 team shared: "We had to make sure to pull him in every few laps because after 3, he would have adapted to anything wrong with the car and we'd never know to fix it!"
Anyway guys, what are your thoughts on this? Am I off my rocker? Sorry for the rant but it really bugs me.
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