I am not an F1 fan, and have not been so for the last 40+ years, but as a teenager I followed Jim Clark's success and I can even remember where I was when the story of his death was reported - 1/2 way up a hillside on a geology trip.
Somebody had a radio which picked up very little in the Western Highlands. Itt sprung to life when we stopped for a breather and the news broke of his death in Germany.
(Radio was an early Braun transistor set - about £30 (say £600 today) and consumed a PP3 battery in a matter of a few hours!) Too expensive for me as I lived on roughly £30 per month!
Coulthard's laps will be on on the 9th June.
Lotus 25 - first monocoque contruction F1 car, V8, 1.5 1500cc and about 180BHP IIRC
DT article
tinyurl.com/c8p4alf
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I can also remember exactly where I was when the dreadful news came through. I was driving my father's Austin Cambridge on L plates, passing what used to be the Stonegallows Inn on the western outskirts of Taunton - a name reflecting the area's link with the retribution wrought by Lord Justice George Jeffreys on Westcountry people in the aftermath of the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685.
Now, in the modern manner of things, known as 'The Hungry Horse'.
Edit: the swear filter will not let me use the name of the Assize held by Judge Jeffreys, even though I was taught it at school from the age of about nine.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 6 Jun 13 at 01:14
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Funny that, I can remember where I was that day too. Sitting in front of the TV watching a sports car race when the news came through.
Those green/yellow Lotus F1 cars were the best ever lookers IMO, my favourite being the 49B.
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I have no idea where I was. But I did see Clark race on two or three occasions, in F1 cars and Lotus Cortinas. I saw him crash too. He had run wide onto the grass on the tightening, off-camber left-hander after the hairpin at Brands Hatch - bottom bend? - while being pressed closely by Dan Gurney. Instead of spinning or slowing, he kept his foot hard down and understeered a couple of hundred yards into an earth bank. The car disintegrated into a cloud of dust, wheels and suspension parts, and Clark sprang out of the wreckage like a spring lamb. I think it was the Race of Champions, but it may have been some other meeting.
That was when I realised professional racing drivers aren't just good at driving but seriously mad as well.
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>> I have no idea where I was. But I did see Clark race on two
>> or three occasions, in F1 cars and Lotus Cortinas.
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When was the last time an F1 driver raced in anything but his GP car? Back in the day they drove all the formulas, saloons and sports cars too. JC died in an F2 or F3 race.
And not all F1 races were part of the championship series.
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>>And not all F1 races were part of the championship series.
Not all F1 races were won by F1 cars. I recall an F5000 winning a wet Silverstone.
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Mike Hawthorn came to prominence by winning a GP at Silverstone in a F2 Cooper-Bristol in the rain.
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The teams do not like it when drivers hurt themselves while driving something else. For instance Kubica pretty much finished his F1 career (IMO, but not his) when he crashed in a rally.
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I was around my Nans house, watching the race... I would have been around 7
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Coulthard drives Jim Clark's Lotus 25 -50 yrs on - Mike Hannon
