Conference terri::cars_uk

    Good timing for a Jim Clark memorial comment!
    
    The 25th. anniversary of Jim's death is April 7th. The original
    memorial event was due on Easter weekend to coincide with the reopening
    of the Jim Clark Museum. It had to be rescheduled as a result of the
    Donington GP. I know a few Clark cars are due there, but don't know the
    details (I'll see if I can find out). 
    
    I'm old enough not only to have seen Jim racing but to have met him
    when I was paddock marshalling at Snetterton in the 60s. I was young
    enough then that he did have "hero" status for me (as he does with
    Alain Prost, who is his nearest modern equivalent IMHO). Although I
    know it's not a fair comparison, imagine what one of today's drivers
    would have to do this year to match Jim's 1965:
    
    	Start the year by winning the Aussie/NZ "F1" series
    	Win the world championship with 10 out of 15 WC GP wins
    	Pass up the Monaco GP in order to win the Indianapolis 500
    	Win the British and French F2 championships
    	Be the reigning British Touring car champion
    	Win non-championship F1, F2, touring, and sports races 
    	
    And next year he'd have to keep faith with his team when it gives him 
    a 2.5 litre engine because it's new 3.5 is a year away. But he does end
    the year by running competitively in the RAC rally with a few fastest
    and second fastest in stage.
    in stage.
    
    He was simply the best!!!!

    Nigel,
    
    I can only agree with you inasmuch as modern F1 drivers drive F1 cars
    and that's it. In the 60s and early 70s it was quite commonplace for F1
    drivers to participate in all sorts of competitions; F2, sports cars,
    Tasman, CanAm, etc.
    
    I suppose that today's hectic testing schedules have something to do
    with the change. I've said it before - and you may think I'm just a
    dribbling old buffer - but the mega mediatization and multi million
    dollar budgets have done irremediable damage to motor sport and F1 in
    particular.

There some classic footage of Jim clark lapping in 
a Lotus cortina. 
	Lap after Lap he drifted the car to EXACTLY the same
spot on the exit of the corner within an couple of inches
of the edge of the tarmac. Now that is driving!

    I saw that Tiff Needell has been test-driving a 1962 Lotus 25
    (ex-Trevor Taylor wreck, since owned and rebuilt by ex-Clark mechanic).
    He'll be writing it up in Autosport and it will be shown in next week's
    Top Gear. It will be racing in Historic meetings this year along with
    the ex-Clark Lotus 33.
    
    Also Clark's 1965 winning Lotus will be dispplayed at Indianapolis this
    year.

    There is (IMHO) an excellent article on J. Clark in the April
    MotorSport. He was my first motor racing Hero - I had Lotus and J Clark
    Stickers and posters all over my bedroom. 1963 and 1965 were great
    years. (I had supported Striling Moss and Vanwall's but they did not
    get the fanaticism that Lotus and Jim Clark got from me). However,
    although I think that he was the greatest, we must remember that he
    lived in a far less professional era. Todays drivers have a full year
    schedule in their chosen area (F1, Indycar, WSC, Rally etc.) The
    maschines are much more complicated, the set up and testing occupy a
    significant portion of their time and they also have demands put upon
    them by their sponsors. In a way I am glad because I seems pointless to
    me to try to compare Fangio, Clark, Moss, Rindt, Peterson, Lauda,
    Prost, Senna, Mansell, Villeneuve, Hill, Bell, Vatinen etc. The only
    comparison you can make is between those actually competing at the same
    time. Sorry I will get off my soapbox. I am and always will be a Jim
    Clark fan.
    
    Jim

Just returned from a weekend in the Scottish borders. Visited the Jim Clark 
memorial and felt slightly humble in the "presence" of a true master of car 
racing......he was AWESOME! 

Being Scottish myself made me appreciate that for a nation of so few people, 
our "hero's" such as Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart brought delight to so many in 
the world.

Upon leaving the memorial I noticed a beautiful picture of Clark, Graham Hill and a young
young Damian Hill. playing in the back garden of Hill's home. Apparently Clark 
and Damian were extremely fond of each other......I thought to myself, maybe 
Clark's influence will play a part in this guys career!

John.