ELATION AND TRAGEDY

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 16

ELATION AND TRAGEDY

(By BRUCt MCLAREN) T WAS quite elated at having 1 led the 8.0.A.C. 500 at Brands Hatch with the new Ford sports prototype for about 30 laps, but when the car retired I left the track early, and I heard the news that Jimmy Clark had been badly injured in a crash at Hockenheim while I was driving home. Suddenly the elation was gone. When I learned the crash had been fatal, I was stunned. Jimmy ranked with, perhaps even out-ranked, Nuvolari, Fangio and Moss, and I think we all felt that he was invincible. To be killed in an accident with a formula two car on a straight is almost unacceptable. But tragically it is true. Too often in this demanding sport, unique in terms of ability, dedication, concentration and courage, someone pays the penalty for trying to do just that little bit better or go that little bit faster. And too often someone pays the penalty just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a situation or a set of circumstances is such that no human being can control them. However, that is the way it is. We accept it, we enjoy what we do, we get a lot of satisfaction out of it, and maybe we prove something, I do not know. ... I had raced against Jimmy since 1958 when he drove a Lister Jaguar in the T.T. that year. I have driven with him, too, at the Ring in one of John Ogier’s Astons. AT HIS BEST He hated difficult conditions or dangerous cars as much, or perhaps even more, than the rest of us, but he was at his best in the worst conditions. A couple of times at Spa in the rain he made the rest of us look silly. His ability to control a car in the wet was almost supernatural. He could not swim worth a damn, but he would put a life-jacket on and go water ski-ing—he loved that—and on this last Tasman series we had some fabulous water ski-ing sessions. Off the track Jimmy could be a good friend, and we will all miss that On the track he was obviously a competitor you would fear more than anyone. Fear is not the word I want and “respect” is not either, but you know what 1 mean. In the world of motor sport it is not going to be necessary to comment on 'Jimmy's ability or his cour-

age—he won 25 world championship Grand Prix and that is description enough. When Stirling Moss had his accident, an era ended, and from then on it was Jimmy’s lap times you used as a yardstick. The Lotus-Clark combination was fantastic. It was a case of the best driver in the best car, and I think it will be a long time before we see another partnership as powerful as the Colin Chapman-Jimmy Clark duo. WORTH WHILE Why do we do it? Is it still worth while? Yes. Of course it is. On that same day I raced the new Ford prototype and I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a brand new car that had not so much as turned a wheel three days before the race. There had been months of intensive work, it was brand new, as modem as tomorrow and everyone's heart was in it. Most of the crew had worked round the clock the last few nights and it was a very new car in a big race. Practice on Friday was a tremendous rush just trying to get everything somewhere near right. By pretty much monopolising the cockpit time on Saturday I managed to get it on the front row

of the grid with second fastest time, splitting the German Porsches. Denny Hulme could barely fit in the small cockpit, so he left it to me until modifications could be made. As it happened, the second new Ford driven by Mike Spence and Jochen Rindt had engine trouble and there was no way to repair it in time for the race. Mike had spent a fair amount of time practising their car, and since the decision was made to have us share the remaining car. START OF RACE When the flag dropped I made one of those starts that was just right and leapt away from the two Porsches only to have the engine cut out just when the rear tyres were really starting to bite. The fuel pressure under those conditions must have dropped just enough to let the engine die. By the time I’d made a dive for the electric fuel pump switch, about eight cars had roared by, and I was furious. I will say one thing for that Ford —at this stage it’s brakes are not too good and it does not handle very well, but when it comes to acceleration there wasn’t a car on that track to touch it.

It was only a matter of time before I caught up with the two leading Porsches and we had a great diee. By the time I’d caught Jo Siffert in the leading Porsche we got involved in a high-speed traffic jam and I was able to box him in and nip through into the lead. DELIGHTED

Only once in the next hour did the Porsches get back past when they boxed me in with slower cars, neatly turning the tables on me. Then it was try, try and try again to regain the lead. When I brought the car into the pits at the end of my session I had about a lOsec lead and we were all delighted. A new car on its first outing, and it was leading the race. Mike took the car out after it had been refuelled, losing a fair amount of time while the front brake pads were changed. Although Mike only did a few laps before a driveshaft joint broke, I do not think any of us were too displeased. A long-distance car requires a lot of development, and there is time to develop this one. While it was going, we were in there running where it should have been—first.