Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31587, 26 January 1968, Page 19

Auto Gossip

by

A.J.P.

Education It can be a real education to drive with an outstanding driver, and see how he goes about things. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to be driven around the Wigram racing circuit by Jim Clark on practice day, and it was an experience I would not have missed. After it I am left with . even more admiration for Clark’s prowess as a driver. Hazard We used a 1968 Ford LotusCortina. I tossed with a colleague for the front seat and won, so in we climbed, and away we went. At the end of the pit straight there was a truck laden with hay-bales parked on the track with marshals working near it. Clark slowed for this more than most ordinary motorists would have considered necessary. He was prepared to stop if anyone ran onto the track. Like all experts, he slowed well before the hazard—he did not rush up to it and brake hard. Relaxed After this, the Lotus Cortina accelerated along the track. Clark sat well back from the wheel and well down in the seat, completely relaxed. He held the wheel lightly, hands just below the “quarter to three" position. His gear-changes were fast, very smooth and precisely timed. Smoothness The outstanding thing about Clark’s driving was its smoothness. There was no sharp braking, just firm, even pressure. At the end of the lap I had trouble remembering where he had braked, yet the linings on the rear drum brakes were smoking. There was no sawing at the wheel,

and the car slid tidily through corners instead of being slung at them. Cornering

On every corner the car was positioned precisely, coming from the outside of the track, clipping the grass at the apex of the corner, and sliding to the outer edge of the track again on exit. If I looked straight ahead through the windscreen at the apex of a comer, I found myself not looking down the track, but onto the infield. Yet Clark’s movements of the wheel were always smooth, and rarely did he have to move the wheel-rim more than an inch or so to keep the car on line once it was “setup”. More, Please Because the car was fairly low-geared we cruised down the back straight about 90 m.p.h. The lap ended all too soon: there had been too much to watch in too short a time. Now I'd like another 10 or 15 laps with Clark, preferably in a 180 m.p.h. CanAm sports-car! Lessons Not one driver in 100 is as smooth as Clark at onequarter the speed—nor as safe. All of us could benefit by trying to emulate his smoothness, his anticipation, and his relaxed attitude at the wheel. A rough, jerky driver is hard on his car and the nerves of his passengers, and needlessly so. Safe, smooth fast driving is an art, but many place too much emphasis on trying to go fast, and not enough on being smooth and safe. Clark is all three. Quote of the Week “Some people think that the way to judge a good driver is by his accident record. This is not the case. Some people drive for years without an accident owing entirely to good luck and the occasional avoiding action by other drivers.”—Pat Moss and Eric Carlsson in “The Art and Technique of Driving.”