GOODWOOD APRIL 19 1965

Clark’s 1965 schedule was a busy one. Defending his tin-top crown was not a priority after the failures in F1 and the Indy 500 – both of which he put right in ’65 – but he still managed to pack in some Cortina outings. The Goodwood meeting in April was another weekend in which Clark won three races – the Sunday Mirror International Trophy F1 race (in a Lotus 33), the Lavant Cup for sportscars (a rare success for the Lotus 30) and the St Mary’s Trophy in the Cortina. The preceding F3 race had been delayed due to the awful weather, so the touring car contest was cut from 10 to five laps. In the wet, Clark and Sears (now also driving a Cortina) easily overcame the more powerful Ford Mustang of poleman Mike Salmon. Despite the race’s truncated length, Clark beat Sears by an impressive 11s. Salmon was excluded for a non-homologated rear-axle ratio after the race, handing third and top big-banger honours to eventual 1965 champion Roy Pierpoint’s Mustang – another 13.6s behind Sears!