I saw Jim practising in Melbourne Aust Feb 1968. He was the greatest . I have never seen anybody drive like that.

In 1967, I was a 16 year-old kid with a borrowed camera attending my first F1 race at Mosport in Canada. We camped out for 3 days and there was no security -- you could go anywhere if you behaved. Late Friday afternoon at the end of scheduled practice, Clark wrecked his car in turn 1 -- spun, and backed into a dirt bank ruining his rear suspension. They towed his car back to the Lotus garage, which, like for all the other teams, was a line of circus tents behind the pits. I stood at the front opening of the Lotus tent and saw mechanics start swarming the car. I snapped a few shots. As my eyes adjusted to the dark lighting, I noticed off to the side - Jim Clark sitting on an overturned crate, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He was no more than 10 feet away. I was too terrified to take a picture. I froze in the presence of my hero. In a few moments he looked up at his car and spoken words exited my mouth -- "I'm sorry you wrecked your car." What a dumb thing to say. I wanted to crawl into a hole. Clark turned his head and smiled at me. "Yes. We're going to be here most of the night." What a gentleman. What a hero.

The greatest racing driver of all time. When Fangio and Senna say he is the best, then he simply, just is. RIP Jim Clark, the best there was, the best there will ever be.

If your old mechanics, read mates, still get teared up, 50 years later, that alone, shows what kind of a human he was.

In his F1 Career, as there were fewer races per year, Jim Clark raced in F1 World Championship Grands Prix. Of these 72, in 46 of the races, something broke on the car in such a way as to slow Jim Clark down, or drop him out of the race. Of the remaining 26 races, Jim Clark finished second on 1 occasion. Of the remaining 25 races, Jim Clark won all of them.................. In the history of motor racing (not just F1) there is Jim Clark.........................................................and then there are the rest.

Clark didn't win by two minutes, he won by two laps !!!!! Basically he smashed the competition that year.

Always my favourite driver - that ability to just jump into anything and be competitive. There is a great story demonstrating Clark's dry sense of humour: After one particular race, Jackie Stewart was telling a story of how his throttle cable had become stuck and he had to take the corners flat out and Clark responded with his soft, Scottish accent 'so let me get this right, Jackie - you'd normally lift off there?' Always brings a smile to my face...

The legend that is Jimmy Clark the most gifted and naturally quick professional racing driver of his era. Wish you were still with us champ

I saw Jim Clark racing on ABC's Wide World of Sports in America (Texas) . His driving could put my heart in my throat . At 74 I am still waiting for a major motion picture of his life and career , done properly not some dry documentary nor romanticized version of a racing legend . IMO , we owe it to him .

Jim Clark- GOAT. Greatest Driver & Greatest Champion of all- an absolute gentleman. Died two years before I was even born and over the years, I've become obsessed with Jim Clark. If had four wheels, Jim could drive it faster and race it better than any of his contemporaries. Senna regarded Jim as GOAT, that's good enough for me. I rest my case.

JIM CLARK - By far the greatest driver ever - no doubt. He is and was the Best of the Best. No other driver in history until today was so superior as Clark. This man is the Olymp of driving - the Michelangelo of racing - a dynamic art at the highest level. So smooth, so precise, so fast....simply out of this world. One, who won in Spa by 5 minutes (!) in monsoon rain...One, who takes back a complete lap (!) in Monza and back into the lead... One, who took pole on the original 22,8 km Nürburgring track by 9 (!) seconds and more....One who won Indy by 2 whole (!) laps...For eternity and by lightyears unmatched in the sport. That`s just four examples of his mesmeric unique genius...

That last line, ‘he was a gentleman and a gentle man. It’s a pity he’s not around now because… it’d be nice to have him.’ Very touching, and it would be nice to have him.

He is the undeniable G.O.A.T.

I was too young to see Jim Clark race. He died 13 years before I was born. But when Sir Jackie Stewart says Jim Clark was the best, then that's what he was. I now realised that Senna and Fangio said the same of Clark. There couldn't possibly be higher praise.

I cannot recall the year, but was in the early 1960s, Jim was racing a Lotus 24 at the Monaco GP, and the rear anti-roll bar was working loose on it's mountings, eventually just connected to both wheels, but not secured to the chassis, throughout the process, Jim's lap times were unaffected, he just compensated, and adjusted his driving to overcome the problem, a master.

this show makes me appreciate people i’ve not even existed at the same time as

Jim Clark’s skillset was the combination of all greats, the fastest man of his time, knew the car like he was a mechanic, drove smoother like butter, stormed the tracks precisely like no other, took the turns with godspeed, at the end of the day he was just a shy farmer from the quiet fields of Scotland who wanted to race a car.

Jim Clark will never being forgotten

Jim Clark is the GOD of Motorsports. He's a natural and he deserved way more.

I know this is off topic , but I remember reading about Hammond switching to being a tv presenter for top gear because he wanted to improve his presenting skills. If anything I think this is his best presentation. As someone who had never heard of Jim Clark this genuinely tugged at my heart strings. Well done you little man.

if i may change the subject for a second here this is an astonishing piece of TV, absolutely wonderful

Jim Clark is the best of the best. No doubt. R.I.P.

Magnificent tribute. So fortunate to see Jim Clark numerous times in the Tasman Series.

Clark has 8 Grand Slams from only 72GP’s & that’s not counting the grand slams from all the unofficial F1 races he participated in. Hamilton has 6 from nearly 300 races in much more reliable machinery. Clark proved his genius by winning championships in F1, F2, Touring Cars, Tasman Series, Indy 500. Unquestionably the greatest & most talented racing driver of all time.

Not just the greatest driver of all time but probably the greatest human to ever get behind a wheel.

when I was younger I saw many incredibly talented drivers on TV, Mika Häkkinen, Petter Solberg, Ken Block, Colin McRae, Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Vettel, but Jim Clark is in a class of his own, an absolutely incredible driver, a moment of silence for him and his incredible career as one of the world's best drivers ever

Saw him race at Kyalami. A legendary man, without the egotistical self importance of most of the current formula one drivers.

What a champion what a nice man

The hero of my early days growing up in Scotland, his death two months before my 8th birthday wasn’t comprehendible at that age, I just knew an idol was gone. The tributes to Jim Clark are immense, from the greats & the fans & that also includes how lovely a human being Jim was. You are loved 🙏💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

ok amazon, stop the buffoonery and give us this kind of show back. This is great television.

❤️😀🇬🇧 brilliant post . Thank you. I could watch him drift that cortina all day. They could have saved some weight and only put 3 wheels on it. Every pic I've seen there's 1 wheel waving🖐. There's a good chance he'd still win on a mower.

Great video, the Tasman Series was raced over the northern winter in New Zealand and Australia. Jim Clark was one of the greatest of all time.

The greatest of all time..

The best driver from all ages

The documentary should also have mentioned that he would have won the 1962 and 1964 F1 World Championship if his leading car would have held up in the last race of each of those seasons.

I think the biggest thing for me was the different cars and series he drove, winning them with ease. We all know how getting in a different vehicle can feel strange but driving on the edge takes something few of us could experience or learn because of the risks it presents and our willingness to survive. His self belief was unbreakable. To the extreme and beyond, he beat veterans of oval racing in the Indy 500 after a season littered with completely different racing series and cars. Finally winning the F1 crown, wow. I think some may elude to taking a wrong decision on the choice between races on the day he died but ultimately I think he was a victim of the unsafe odds of that era catching upto him, he had 63 races in a season, triple what they endure now, with far less safety. Probably Jim Clarke and Colin McRae stand out for me as legendary figures, I’m not Sottish I’m English and even I can see the very special people they were. They broke the mould

My dad saw Jim race at the Nurburgring and in Sweden in 1961, although he was at the races to see Stirling Moss, and never told me any impression he had of Clark. I was friends with Ed Hinchliff, longtime Trans Am racer, at the end of his life. Ed raced against Jim, and met him a few times, eventually losing a firl to him. Ed said that Jim was a perfect gentleman and an amazing driver.

Simply the best 😊

They will never be a Jim Clark again

My Mum's best friend was Maggie Clark of Flawcraig - she was Jim's cousin, we called him Uncle Jim because we already called Maggie Auntie Maggie . My mum did one day have a driving lesson from Jim, she was a great driver too! Scotland was in mourning for years after that hammer blow.

BEST OF THE BEST JIMMY FOR EVERY TOP GUN.

Best f1 drivers :Schumacher Fangio Clark. Best drivers of all time :Clark Clark Clark

... I remember exactly where I was, and doing when heard of Clark death. I was 16 years old.

Without his retirements for engine failures (often) he would be at 95% of victories/races contested

Totally agree he drove a car the proper way not in one run by computers .like today.

I was 11years old when I saw him win at Cadwell Park in the MK1 Lotus Cortina.

The F1 Lotus 25, the F2 Lotus is the 35, the Tasman Series GP car is a Lotus 32B Coventry-Climax, and the last one is the Lotus 38 that was developed for the Indy 500.

Stewart won't become a 3 times world champion if Clark was still alive to continue racing until 70s.

After Jimmy died I never followed motor racing for years. He was enigmatic. Like Senna. A complete contrast with Stirling Moss. Clark was sheer class.

Jim Clark finished 2nd at the 1963 Indy 500 behind Parnelli Jones, who some felt should have been black flagged. He raced there again in 1964. So the rookie test, would have come while winning his first World Championship in May 1963.

There is a lot of compression of Clark's history at Indy here. Clark's first year at Indianapolis was in 1963 with a modified Lotus 25 with a Ford overhead valve V8. The car was slowish but easy on fuel and tires. Clark did the rookie test in 1963, then finished second in the race. He could have won, but the officials refused to black flag Parnelli Jones' roadster for throwing off oil. Then in 1964, Ford came up with a DOHC engine and Clark qualified on pole. But Chapman had a sponsorship deal with Dunlop tires, who had no experience in oval racing. Tire problems led to suspension failure and retirement. Then in 1965 he dominated the race. The Lotus 38 was the first car Lotus build with Indy in mind and led 190 of the 200 laps. Officially, 5 cars finished all 200 laps but in those days Indy allowed several minutes after the winner crossed the line for cars to complete the full 500 miles. In reality, Clark won the race by 2 minutes, which was just over 2 laps and the last "finisher" was 5 laps behind.

Tears me up everytime 😢

He was born to run and to be the greatest of the world

Thanks for sharing this mate, I'm ashamed to say I didn't know anything about him. But I do now 👍

For me Fangio, Senna and Clark are all tied at #1. All had a certain ‘something’ that other drivers of their eras didn’t have. Fangio had more titles driving different car marques in an era when crashing meant DEATH. Senna was the greatest in wet weather and had an almost ‘mystical’ quality bordering on crazy, but anyone who has watches his turbo charged F1 car twitching as he masterfully controls it will agree (and gave huge chunks of his wealth to poor people ). Jim Clark drove multiple discipline race cars and excelled in them all. I feel both Clark and Senna would of won more championships had they lived longer…

Colin: Make a car lighter and lighter until it breaks. Then make it lighter still. And when the car crashes, blame anyone other than me.

Fangio Clark Senna............................that's my three of the Best ever. Judge that by those not in that list to appreciate it's magnitude.

Ayrton Senna was and is the greatest Formula One Driver of all time. Jim Clark was and is the greatest _Driver_ of all time. That’s the distinction.

I thought Senna was the greatest. But with the Grandslam, he have 8 in such short career! This is mind boggling.

Clark to racing. Is Pele to soccer. Simply. The Best

They talk about Hamilton and Schumacher but if Jim Clark hadn't died so young god only knows what he would have achieved!!!!!!!

Chirnside's World Champion

Congratulation 100th subs

The first race I ever saw was the 1967 Canadian F1 in the rain and all I knew was to find out who the guy that was negotiating the turn with both front wheels bouncing off the ground not a little but 5-6 inches not turning the steering but using the throttle to turn the rear he would hit the throttle numerous times while down shifting, front tires off the ground back down 4-5 times to go around a turn others were having the worst time with, not Jim, every lap the same up and down in the air, never seen anyone try that ever since, after I got home I went straight to the library and found a book called Jim Clark took it out and read all about the greatest driver who was not a mere mortal but one of a kind who drove the only way he knew, you are not going fast enough until the wheels leave the ground..

Definitely No1

Not completely accurate. The rookie test was in 1963. The win was in 1965. He would likely have won in 63 but for Parnelli Jones dropping oil for all the cars behind making attack completely impossible. Clark was nonetheless incredibly impressed with Jones. He said Jones had the best car control he had ever seen. He tried very hard to get Jones to Europe for F1. It was just impossible because the money was in the US and the money in the Europe scene was a pittance by comparison. This was an example of Clark. Jim Clark raced for Jim Clark and he wanted to compete against the best. Not sure that many others have had that attitude then or since. For those who pursue the perpetual argument of who is the greatest ever, the factor that is omitted is the lotus machinery failures. His record is incredible, but when machinery failures are taken into account it is just unbelievable. The fact is that most times if the car held together and ran properly he won. Nobody comes close when records are properly analyzed. It's all there in black and white.

These kind of "genius meeting their premature demise" stories make me want to believe in devil pacts. Because how cruel/brutal the end is, in these stories.

Wow the cars in the old days are small

Chances are pretty good that nobody knows who the greatest driver was because the variables are too many. Ali or Tyson? Era, competition, amount of events, technology, sponsor pressure, Colin Chapman, etc. you can say you like him more than the others though.

2:51 song name?

This video misrepresents the facts of Clark's Indy history. USAC (the governing body at Indy at that time) did NOT require *world champion* Clark to take a rookie test! At the time of Clark's rookie appearance at Indy in May of 1963, he was not a F1 world champion, and, yes, like all new-comers at Indy, he took the rookie test; I'd bet that Jack Brabham did. Also, the video makes it seem as though Clark arrived at Indy for the first time in '65 and promptly won; this, of course, is also misleading. Although he did nearly win in '63 in his first appearance, he finished 2nd and won rookie-of-the-year honors -- and some argue he should have won that race because Parnelli should have been black flagged for his oil leak. 1964 was a DNF due to his chunking Dunlop tires causing rear-suspension failure while leading the race. Finally in '65 with Firestone tires and the Wood Brothers (NASCAR) pit crew, he won the race decisively. Clark was one of the greatest drivers, and arguably perhaps the best. But there's no point in embellishing the reality of his career.

Does anyone know if Jim was ejected from the car ? Have read he lost control and went into the trees....

it wasn't April it was July 7th that he lost his life.

Senna the greatest but Clark the very best ever.

Best ...by a bit. And then some.

What the hell have you done with this? The music's like ear torture...

Always be an argument. IMO AJ Foyt was the best ever. He didn't drive F1 wheras Clark drove Indy. Who know what would have happened if AJ raced in F1?

Why 0 comments?

Sometimes you can see a resemblance to Senna

The extra music you added ruined this whole thing.

Its funny Hamilton gets a Knighthood for actually doing less in the world of Motorsport than Clark did

badly edited, either show it all

My shopping trolley is faster

HAMMOND !!!!!!