JIM CLARK’S TIN-TOP WINS
The scot was arguably the greatest of all–and versatile too. Kevin turner By
Jim Clark is one of motorsport’s true legends, with two Formula 1 world titles, 25 championship victories and an Indianapolis 500 win to his name. He also took the 1964 British Touring Car Championship, or British Saloon Car Championship as it was then called.
Clark’s title success came largely through his complete domination of Class B (for up to two-litre machines) in his works 1600cc Ford Lotus Cortina, but it was his three-wheeling challenge for overall honours that captured the imagination. Although rarely able to defeat top V8s in the hands of Jack Sears, Jack Brabham and Jackie Oliver, Clark finished on the podium in every race of the 1964 campaign and took three outright wins.
Combined with his one-off Ford Galaxie outing and his subsequent victories in the Cortina – a car that only took overall BTCC wins in the Scot’s hands – that means Clark scored eight series successes.
Clark is arguably the BTCC’S most famous driver so, 50 years after his death, the competition’s 60th birthday seems like a good time to look back at the races Clark conquered.
Brands Hatch, August 5 1963
Despite the legend of Clark’s Cortina antics, his first victory came in one of the true giants of touring car history: the seven-litre Ford Galaxie.
Clark jumped at the chance to drive the Alan Brown-entered V8 and went up against 1963 pacesetter (and eventual champion) Jack Sears in his John Willment Galaxie. There was another Galaxie for Sir Gawaine Baillie and a pack of the hitherto dominant Jaguars, the fastest of which were driven by reigning F1 champion Graham Hill, Roy Salvadori and Mike Salmon.
Baillie failed to get away, but Sears chased Clark from the off. “The two Galaxie pilots wrestled at the wheel, working as never before,” said Autosport, which then described a sideways moment for Sears. On lap nine of 20, Sears trickled into the pits with a puncture, leaving Clark to win comfortably from Hill’s Jaguar.
“I found in practice that driving a Galaxie can be great fun,” said Clark in his 1964 book Jim Clark – At the wheel. “The car handles not too badly considering the amount of power you have to play with. If you turn it on coming out of any of the corners you can see the blue smoke in your mirrors from the spinning rear wheels.
“Though I won the race it was hard work for we had the wrong springs – the right ones were somewhere in an aeroplane on the way from America, but never reached the circuit – and the car wallowed quite a bit. I found myself sliding out of the driving seat at Paddock Bend, which was another problem.”
Oulton Park, April 11 1964
Now Cortina-mounted, Clark arrived at the third round of 1964 having taken two second places and looked set for another.
The Scot’s Cortina and the Galaxie of Baillie made good starts, but Sears soon powered ahead. “There was one vehicle about which he could do absolutely nothing: the Willmententered Galaxie of Jack Sears,” said Autosport. But a defective oil seal caused the big V8 to suffer brake failure and then a small fire.
Clark was left with a big lead as team-mate John Whitmore tried to find a way past Baillie.
It was a year after the Cortina first appeared and Autosport was impressed with the car’s progress: “Now they can beat all but the fastest Galaxies and Clark’s new record lap time is two seconds under Graham Hill’s best-ever time with a 3.8 Jaguar.”
Clark made it a particularly successful trip by winning two other races at the same meeting – the Oulton Park Trophy for sportscars (in a Lotus 19) and the GT race (Lotus Elan).
Crystal Palace, May 18 1964
The V8s limited Clark to third at Aintree and Silverstone, but more was expected at the tight confines of Crystal Palace. This meeting was more notable for the ‘arrival’ of Jochen Rindt in Formula 2, but it also provided Clark’s third outright BTCC win in the over 1300cc race.
Contrary to expectations, Sears took pole and led the small field away in the Willment Galaxie. The American heavy metal again looked tough to beat, but then a tyre blew, putting Sears out. That left Clark to lead Team Lotus team-mate Peter Arundell in a Cortina 1-2-3-4.
The result also meant that Clark had reached the maximum score possible and essentially clinched the title with two of the eight rounds to go.
Oulton Park, September 19 1964
At the Gold Cup meeting Sears once again led from pole, edged away and then hit problems. This time it was ignition trouble that thwarted the Galaxie, handing Clark the lead.
There was another fast V8, but Jack Brabham had made a poor start in Alan Brown’s Galaxie. Clark’s F1 rival soon charged through to second, but he could make no impression on the leader, being 17.2 seconds behind after 15 of the 19 laps. Not for the last time, the heavy V8’s brakes started to wilt anyway, allowing Bob Olthoff’s Cortina to take second, 18.2s behind Clark.
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!
Oulton Park, September 18 1965
Luck was with Clark at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting, scene of the final 1965 round. As well as beating Hill to
the British F2 crown by a single point despite a spin while leading, Clark received a helping hand in the 19-lap touring car battle.
Clark and Sears made good starts to lead the pack, while Brabham made a poor start in his Alan Brown Racing Mustang. Pierpoint triggered a multicar incident at the first corner and was hit by several cars, but Brabham managed to pick his way through. The 4.7-litre V8 soon powered past the Cortinas. “From there on only Clark could keep him in sight,” said Autosport.
Brabham crossed the line 4.2s ahead of Clark – who beat team-mate Sears by a whopping 38.4s – but the Mustang was then excluded due to a technical infringement concerning the valve springs. Clark thus inherited victory and, crucially, Pierpoint scored the extra points he needed to beat Mini man Warwick Banks to the drivers’ title.
Brands Hatch, August 29 1966
Clark again contested a part-season in 1966 and invariably set the class pace when he appeared. The quickest of the V8s were usually too fast in the dry, but Clark still scored two more wins for the soon-to-be-replaced Cortina Mk1.
The first came on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, in a race that started in slippery conditions. “Clark took full advantage of a wet track to dominate the opening saloon car race in his Cortina, despite a magnificent effort by Jackie Oliver in the Mustang,” said David Pritchard in Autosport.
Clark made a fine start to grab a lead he never lost in the 20-lap Edward Lewis Trophy race. Oliver led the heavy metal and finished second, but most of the other V8s hit trouble, allowing Peter Arundell to compete the podium in his Cortina. The track dried in the second half of the race, but the wheel-waving Clark won by 4.6s.
Oulton Park, September 17 1966
Clark completed his Gold Cup tin-top hat-trick after a dogged pursuit of Oliver’s Mustang and Brian Muir’s Galaxie paid dividends late on.
The large entry was split into two, with a 1300cc cut-off. Despite a typically good start, Clark was soon overpowered by Oliver’s DR Racing machine, while Muir also made it by the Cortina after a slow start. Neither V8, however, could shake off Clark, who was using Lotus’s spare car after his own had blown in practice. “Clark was performing his usual acrobatics and closing up under braking on the Galaxie at every corner,” said Autosport.
Then, with four laps to go, Oliver suffered stub axle failure and lost a wheel. Two laps after that Muir arrived at Old Hall and the brake pedal went to the floor and he crashed. “Clark’s reactions were instantaneous,” said the Autosport report. “As quick as a flash he nipped round the back of the Galaxie to go on to an unchallenged victory.”
Clark beat Oliver to pole and won the first heat at the Brands finale, but it was his turn to hit trouble in the second heat. The result was decided on aggregate and so Clark’s Oulton success was his final outright BTCC victory. Without him, the V8s had things largely their own way and would be undefeated in 1967. ■