Clark never won at Monaco, for what reason we’ll never know. Maybe it didn’t suit is free-flowing driving style, but more than likely mechanical issues once again came into play, and the event often fell in May. But as we'll discuss later, Clark had one eye on another prize.
Not winning in Monte Carlo, though, cannot diminish the fact Jim Clark of Scotland became World Champion in 1963, winning seven out of ten GP’s with seven pole positions. He won his second title in 1965, the same year he won America’s famous Indianapolis 500, which we’ll get to a little later.
His second title still contains a record which has gone unmatched in the 43 subsequent F1 seasons, and is likely to stay unmatched for decades to come:
Jimmy Clark not only won the title but he did so by leading every single lap of every race he finished in the 1965 season. Therefore, he won every race he finished with what we now call lights to flag victories.
It was an incredible feat which is unmatched by Fangio, Senna, or Schumacher.
The following two years saw a downturn in Lotus' fortunes but Clark was able to steer three unreliable cars to third in the 1967 championship.
And fans at Monza for the 1967 Italian GP possibly saw his finest performance, and possibly the greatest performance in a Grand Prix car. Clark was forced to pit from the lead with a puncture and rejoined a lap down only to be leading again by the start of the last lap. It was a staggering drive which ended, unluckily, with a third place finish after his car faltered due to a lack of fuel.
In those days, top racing drivers could turn their hand to any type of racing car or motorcycle for that matter (John Surtees won world titles on a motorbike and in an F1 car) and Clark was no different.
Tragically, Clark wasn’t to win another world title. Despite a strong start to the 1968 season, during which he won his last ever GP in South Africa, he was killed not in an F1 car but in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim in Germany on 7 April, 1968, aged just 32. Although the accident, where Clark veered off course and crashed into the trees which line the Hockenheim circuit, has never been explained, it is widely expected a mechanical failure played its part.
This is not because enthusiasts felt he was immortal (which he clearly wasn’t), but because they believed he was too good to crash.
And it was not just fans of F1 who mourned his passing. Clark was as admired across the Atlantic as he was in F1 circles.
The Scot won the Indy 500 in 1965, leading the race for 190 of the 200 scheduled laps and left a lasting impression on those who saw him drive. This was the only time a man has won both the Indy 500 and F1 Drivers’ Championship in the same year.
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