Calling all 60's racing fans--Why does Jim Clark get the cold shoulder?

[QUKBMER]

Yeah being deceased doesn't help.

[ELVA164]

You know even somebody like Sir Jackie Stewart doesn't get the same claim to fame just like JIM doesn't.

I suppose that's true, but he's still much more visible and recognized by virtue of...well, not being dead. I guess his period of domination does get glazed over pretty frequently though. It's curious to think about how much more he would have done if he hadn't lost so many friends and left the sport...

[QUKBMER]

You know even somebody like Sir Jackie Stewart doesn't get the same claim to fame just like JIM doesn't.

[ELVA164]

I dont know if you have seen it,but there was a bio on him on speed or velocity channel. I forgot which channel it was but it showed his life history with interviews including his personal mechanic and other personal, friends and family. It was really moving to watch.

Yeah, I found that a while ago and might have it saved on my external hard drive. I learned a lot about him that doesn't get shared in articles and things. That was also a big influence on my opinion of him as a person as well as a driver.

[QUKBMER]

I dont know if you have seen it,but there was a bio on him on speed or velocity channel. I forgot which channel it was but it showed his life history with interviews including his personal mechanic and other personal, friends and family. It was really moving to watch.

[ELVA164]

Speaking of footage, I bet another reason there aren't many specials and things about him is the fact that racing was only just beginning to get televised and recorded when he died. Most of his footage comes from 8MM home video and occasional tv spots, aside from the one (and only :( ) onboard shot of him in the Lotus 25. It's a lot easier to show the audience how someone drove than try to describe it.

[SkiFree]

I have never noticed Jim Clark to be an afterthought. Some of the footage out there off him is incredible. But given the publicity-driven aspect of the sport I think Gearhead has hit the nail on the head.

[ELVA164]

That's quite the resume he has there, I'm sorry to hear about his health issues.

[QUKBMER]

I just found out about this fundraiser,it passed by already.He has parkinson's really bad,its so sad he can't fly his plane anymore.

[QUKBMER]

I know its not the same driver,but Scooter Patrick a very good personal friend of my dads. How often do you here his name brought up? Check his history in auto racing.

[ELVA164]

I guess that is a good point about there not being anything controversial about Clark aside from the accident that killed von Trips and a bunch of spectators at Monza. (It was 0% his fault but he was the other car involved). But I think the fact that nobody really disagrees about how talented he was should only increase his stock in the "best drivers" comparisons. Schumacher and Senna were and are really, really good. But they got a lot of their results using frankly dirty, overly aggressive driving. Clark won more than a third of all F1 races he entered, and lost quite a few due only to how fragile the Lotuses were then. He did all of that without putting anybody else in danger or doing anything another driver would consider untoward. And like QUKBMER alluded to, he also won in rallying, touring cars, endurance racing, and won the Indy 500 (which he should have won twice, and at his first try).

Another great example of his talent is his first race in the Lotus 49 at Zandvoort. He had literally never seen or sat in the car due to living outside England, and despite that he only needed a few laps to learn the car and then drive it much faster that Graham Hill, who had done all the development work on it. It was impossible to even set the car up for him because he had no time for input.

[QUKBMER]

I'd imagine this is the reason right here. Not a whole lot of controversy surrounding him, and he wasn't all that polarizing.

Is this the reason why people maybe remember jackie stewart more than him? Because he was the reason why track prep/ safety and track medical personel and more marshall's and the way cars were being built was taken into consideration more for the drivers own safety. There was alot of front page news about that and it wasnt in the sports section alone either. Is this just one of the things your talking about besides track side fights and being a playboy off the track as well?

[QUKBMER]

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.

Yes that does about sum's it up.

[gearheadE30]

That is kinda what he did (less the nascar). He was very good at what he did and did it very well with style and grace. He wasn't an asshole or have a big chip on his shoulders or anything like that. You could go down to the local pub and toss back acouple with him. He was very meticulous about the preping of his racecars. Gentleman racecar driver.

I'd imagine this is the reason right here. Not a whole lot of controversy surrounding him, and he wasn't all that polarizing.

[QUKBMER]

That is kinda what he did (less the nascar). He was very good at what he did and did it very well with style and grace. He wasn't an asshole or have a big chip on his shoulders or anything like that. You could go down to the local pub and toss back acouple with him. He was very meticulous about the preping of his racecars. Gentleman racecar driver.