Jim Clark won the World Drivers' Championship twice in the 1960's and at the time of his death in 1968 was very much admired by both his racing friends, rivals, fans of F1 and those who just recognised that this driving genius had personal integrity and respected him for his reluctance to bask in the limelight. To compare a driver of one generation with those of another is also difficult, but many F1 aficionados regard Jim Clark not just the greatest of his time but as the greatest driver of all time.
 

Nationality & DoB - DoD	British , 04-03-36 - 07-04-68
Team	Lotus
Active Years	1960-1968
Championships	2 (1963, 1965)
Races	73 (72 starts)
Wins	25
Podiums	32
Pole Positions	33
Fastest Laps	28
First Race	1960 Dutch Grand Prix
First Win	1962 Belgian Grand Prix
Last Win	1968 South African Grand Prix
Last Race	1968 South African Grand Prix

Jim Clark was born into a Scottish farming family having no background or interest in motor sport.  He started racing at 17, late in modern day terms, competing in local rallies and then sportcar events - entered for him by wealthy friends. He quickly demonstrated he had phenomenal natural talent that amazed those who watch him race.

In 1958 he met the founder of Lotus Colin Chapman; they become over the next ten years the best of friends, as close as brothers. He raced initially in the junior Lotus team and then promoted in late 1960 to the F1 Lotus seat. At his second race, the 1960 Belgian GP he witnessed two fatal crashes, Chris Bristow's mutilated body lay on the track and Clark managed to avoid hitting the corpse but his car was splattered with blood. Clark's team mate Alan Stacey was killed later in the race when he lost control following a bird strike to the head.

In 1961 Jim Clark contemplated retiring from the sport following his innocent involvement in one of the worst accidents in F1. In the Italian GP, Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips driving a Ferrari collided with Jim Clark's Lotus. Trips' car became airborne and crashed into a side barrier, fatally throwing von Trips out of the car, killing fifteen spectators. Clark was persuaded to stay by Colin Chapman, whose brilliance as a designer was developing along with the emerging genius of his star driver. Jim Clark driving skills made him almost unbeatable, however, his car, the Lotus chassis powered by Climax V8 engines whilst being extremely fast were also unreliable. Over the next four seasons, when the cars did not break-down Jim Clark won. Clark only lost the 1962 championship because of an oil leak in the last race. In 1963 he won his first championship driving the Lotus 25, taking victory in seven of the ten races. (That year he also competed in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, and only the oil on the track from winner Parnelli Jones's car prevented him from winning, as he finished in second position). In 1964 Clark came within just a few laps of retaining his World Championship title, but as in 1962, an oil leak from the engine robbed him of the title, this time conceding to John Surtees. He won his second Championship in 1965 and also the Indianapolis 500 in the Lotus 38.

In the car Jim Clark was confident and comfortable; out of the car he disliked press conferences and had none of the self confidence of his peers, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart.

FIA rule changes made the Lotus less competitive in 66, and Clark could not defend his title.

Jim Clark was killed in a racing accident on 7 April 1968, in a Formula Two race, for Lotus at the Hockenheimring in Germany. On the fifth lap, his Lotus 48 veered off the track and crashed into the trees. He suffered a broken neck and skull fracture, and died before reaching the hospital. The cause of the crash was never definitively identified, but investigators concluded it was most likely due to a deflating rear tyre. Colin Chapman was devastated and publicly stated that he had lost his best friend.

Jim Clark had numerous remarkable performances:

In the 1963 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps in extremely wet, foggy and rainy conditions and after starting eighth on the grid Clark passed all of the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill. About 17 laps into the race, with the rain coming down harder than ever, Clark had not only lapped the entire field except for Bruce McLaren, but he was almost five minutes ahead of McLaren and his Cooper.

In the 1967 Italian GP after starting from pole, Clark was leading in his Lotus 49, when a tyre punctured. He lost an entire lap while having the wheel changed in the pits. Rejoining sixteenth, Clark ripped back through the field, progressively lowering the lap record and eventually equaling his pole time of 1m 28.5s, to regain the lost lap and the lead. He was narrowly ahead of Brabham and Surtees starting the last lap, but his car had not been filled with enough fuel for such a performance: it faltered, and finally coasted across the finish line in third place.