The story of Jim Clark’s remarkable 1965

South African GP

East London
1 January
1st (pole and fastest lap)

Photo by: LAT Images

From pole, Clark celebrates the New Year and his recovery from a back injury – the result of a snowball fight in Italy! – by leading all 85 laps. He clocks the circuit’s first 100mph race lap and wins by 29 seconds. He is shown the chequered flag a lap too soon and, after a quick confab with Colin Chapman, completes a banker lap in his Lotus-Climax 33.

New Zealand GP

Pukekohe
9 January
Retired

His one-off Lotus 32B – a Formula 2 monocoque adapted to accept a 2.5-litre Climax ‘four’ held within a spaceframe – wins the Preliminary 12-lap heat. His GP, however, ends on its second lap when his rear suspension is knocked awry by Bruce McLaren’s Cooper. 

Gold Leaf Trophy

Levin (New Zealand)
16 January
1st (pole, FL)

He leads both his eight-lap heat and the 28-lap final from flag to flag, creating a lap record in the former, and winning the latter by 11.3s. He is also victorious in the Flying Farewell, a non-championship sprint with a rolling start.

Lady Wigram Trophy

Wigram (New Zealand)
23 January
1st

Despite winning the second 25-mile heat, Clark starts the 44-lap final from third because the first heat had been the quicker. He takes an immediate lead, however, and is 11s ahead after 11 laps. Sagging oil pressure then forces him to coast around some corners but – and although the chasing McLaren equals his lap record from the heats – he wins by 10.2s.

Teretonga International

Invercargill (New Zealand)
30 January
1st (pole, FL)

Photo by: LAT Images

Having set a lap record in winning his six-lap heat, he makes an unusually slow start in the 75-mile final. Yet he leads by the end of the first lap. McLaren keeps him honest again, and an overheating engine causes Clark concern, but he completes his Teretonga hat-trick with 13.5s in hand. Still fretting about his engine, he is, however, beaten by McLaren in the Flying Farewell.

Warwick Farm 100

Warwick Farm (Australia)
14 February
1st (FL)

Though he loses third gear early, he maintains pressure on Graham Hill’s Brabham and takes the lead on lap 34 (of 45). His winning margin is more than a minute after his perennial rival suffers a late spin.

Sandown Cup

Sandown (Australia)
21 February 
2nd

He leads in sweltering conditions, but poleman Jack Brabham, benefiting from a new Goodyear compound, overtakes on lap seven. Second, however, is sufficient to confirm Clark as the Tasman Series champion.

Australian GP

Longford
1 March 
5th

Having finished fifth in Saturday’s Examiner Trophy, his engine down on power, he repeats this result in the main event. Clark’s Tasman winnings amount to £4000. 

Lakeside International

Lakeside (Australia)
7 March
1st (pole, FL)

After starting this non-championship race from pole position, Clark’s dice with Frank Matich’s Brabham is a humdinger. Content to pick up their battle after his rival loses nine laps due to a broken rotor arm, he lowers the lap record and wins by two laps. When threatened with disqualification for drinking a post-race beer in the paddock, Matich wades in, and the charge is dropped.

Race of Champions Part 1

Brands Hatch (United Kingdom)
13 March
1st (pole, =FL)

Photo by: David Phipps / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Having broken the 100mph barrier in practice, he wins the first 40-lap heat in his Lotus 33. Brabham’s Dan Gurney stars, however, in charging from the fifth row to second place. 

Ilford Films Trophy

Brands Hatch (UK)
13 March
Retired (pole, FL)

Clark’s pole-setting Group 2 Ford Lotus Cortina, with its BRM-tuned 150bhp twin-cam, wobbles from the lead of the opening round of the British Saloon Car Championship. Though retightened, its left-front wheel breaks free a few laps later. 

Race of Champions Part 2

Brands Hatch (UK)
13 March
Retired (pole, FL)

Although he holds a 20.8s advantage – the overall winner is to be decided on aggregate – Clark chooses to battle Gurney. They are side by side when his Lotus runs onto damp grass at Bottom Bend and biffs a bank. Chassis R10 is wrecked, Clark bruised. 

British Sports Car Championship Round 1

Silverstone (UK)
20 March
1st (pole, =FL)

His Lotus 30 and John Surtees’s Lola pass and repass in atrocious conditions. The winner of this shortened opening round of the British Sports Car Championship is decided when Surtees spins. Clark also spins – yet wins by a lap.

Sebring Three Hours

Sebring (USA)
26 March
1st

He and Jack Sears score a 1-2 for the Team Lotus-run English Ford Line Cortinas. His winning advantage is fully two laps.

Syracuse GP

Syracuse (Italy)
4 April
1st (pole, FL)

His Lotus 33 and the V8 Ferrari of Surtees are obvious contenders for victory. The surprise package is Jo Siffert’s Rob Walker-run Brabham-BRM, which leads the first 10 laps, and twice passes Surtees for the lead thereafter. The Swiss indeed is leading on lap 46 (of 56) when he misses a gear and blows his engine. Polesitter Clark is lining up Surtees when the Ferrari lapses onto six cylinders. Clark wins by 42.1s – and admits to being lucky.

Autocar Trophy Part 1

Snetterton (UK)
10 April
2nd (=FL)

His Lotus 35 and Graham Hill dead-heat in a thrilling F2 encounter – but the latter’s Brabham-BRM is awarded the victory.

British Saloon Car Championship Round 3

Snetterton (UK)
10 April
5th

No match for the Ford Mustangs on this power circuit, he is disappointed to be beaten into fifth place by Frank Gardner’s Willment-prepped Cortina.

Autocar Trophy Part 2

Snetterton (UK)
10 April
6th

He is leading – and headed for overall victory – when his Cosworth SCA begins to fail. A conrod snaps on the last lap, and he coasts home sixth, third on aggregate. 

St Mary’s Trophy, British Saloon Car Championship Round 4

Goodwood (UK)
19 April
1st (FL)

Although this British Saloon Car Championship race is halved to five laps due to hail and pressing TV needs, his Cortina wins by 22.6s.

Sunday Mirror Trophy

Goodwood (UK)
19 April
1st (=FL)

Hill’s BRM leads this 42-lapper, but Clark, his latest 32-valve Climax revving to 10,000rpm, passes on lap six and pulls away to win by 24.2s. He shares his forever F1 lap record with BRM’s Jackie Stewart.

Lavant Cup, British Sports Car Championship Round 2

Goodwood (UK)
19 April
1st (FL)

He completes his meeting hat trick by winning the second round of the British Sports Car Championship by 20s. His fastest lap is just 0.4s slower than his F1 best.

Pau GP

Pau (France)
25 April
1st (FL)

Photo by: LAT Images

Finding grip in the rain where others cannot, his Lotus 35 leads all 80 laps and doubles the entire F2 field. 

RAC Tourist Trophy Parts 1 & 2

Oulton Park (UK)
1 May
16th/Retired

His Lotus 30 inherits the lead of the first two-hour tranche of this world sportscar championship round due to the misfortunes of others. Then he, too, hits trouble: a loose rear wishbone. This costs 12 minutes in the pits. Having charged from the penultimate row, he is leading the second part when his gear linkage breaks. 

Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis (USA)
31 May
1st

Photo by: Getty Images

From the middle of the front row, having qualified at 160.729mph, his Lotus 38 takes the lead when AJ Foyt squanders pole in fluffing a shift. The Texan’s Lotus 34, allegedly running nitro, assumes the lead on the second lap. Realising that he can repass without exceeding his 8800rpm limit, Clark hits the front next time around. He will lead 190 of 200 laps in becoming the first overseas winner since 1916.

He breaks 19 of 20 distance records, averages over 150mph for 3h19m05s – and wins $166,621, which he shares in the usual Lotus fashion: 45% each for himself and the team, and the remainder for the mechanics. He is also awarded the Plymouth Sport Fury convertible Pace Car, which Ford swaps for a Galaxie 500 – after the replacement Mustang earmarked for Clark is accidentally dropped onto the dock at Southampton.

Player’s 200 Part 1

Mosport (Canada)
5 June
Retired

The increasingly problematic Lotus 30 snaps a driveshaft.

London Trophy Part 1

Crystal Palace (UK)
7 June
1st (=FL)

A typically smooth performance sees him lead this 25-lap round of the British F2 Championship from start to finish.

Norbury Trophy, British Saloon Car Championship Round 4

Crystal Palace (UK)
7 June
2nd (=FL)

Clark’s Cortina wins its class in the sixth round of the British Saloon Car Championship by finishing second overall to Roy Pierpoint’s very wide Mustang.

London Trophy Part 2

Crystal Palace (UK)
7 June
1st (pole, =FL)

A repeat of his earlier performance in the Ron Harris-entered Lotus 35 results in aggregate victory by 11s.

Belgian GP

Spa
13 June
1st (FL)

Having missed the Monaco GP due to being at Indy, Clark defies the rain – and his thorough dislike of this high-speed road circuit – to hold a big lead after the first lap. “Lifting off less than the others,” he laps all bar Stewart’s BRM, and wins by 44.8s despite a slipping clutch.

French GP

Clermont-Ferrand
27 June
1st (pole, FL)

After reverting to his 1963 Lotus 25 spare car, with its old-spec V8, he leads throughout, sets an outright lap record, wins by 26.3s – and collects £660. But for runner-up Stewart, his nearest challenger would have been more than two minutes distant. This, despite a road accident en route to the circuit, which rendered him briefly unconscious. Delayed by a surprise meeting with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the airport, driver Chapman had been rushing to make up time.

Reims GP

Reims-Gueux (France)
4 July
3rd

Photo by: LAT Images

The top four are separated by just 0.6s after 191 slipstreaming miles. Clark reckons his Lotus 35 to have been “duffed up” by the F2 opposition.

British GP

Silverstone
10 July
1st (pole)

His 30s lead with 20 laps (of 80) remaining is threatened by a weeping crankshaft seal. Surging oil pressure compels him to freewheel around certain corners. BRM alerts Hill, who attacks despite spongy brakes. Though Hill sets the fastest lap on the last tour, Clark squeaks home by 3.2s.

Rouen GP

Rouen-les-Essarts (France)
11 July
1st

Upstaged by Brabhams in terms of outright speed – Brabham’s claims pole and Hill’s set fastest lap – his Lotus 35 beats Hill by 14.5s. Rather than dash home, he overnights to celebrate his F2 Trophees de France title with the mechanics.

Dutch GP

Zandvoort
18 July
1st (FL)

Photo by: LAT Images

After passing Richie Ginther’s Honda and Hill’s BRM before six laps are complete, he controls affairs thereafter and wins by 8s. His setting the fastest lap on lap five suggests that he has speed to spare. But the day ends on a sour note when Chapman is arrested for jostling a policeman. Clark alters his travel plans to act as a witness. Chapman faces a £500 fine or two years’ imprisonment… but is released without charge. During his night in the cells, he has sketched a Formula 3 design on the back of the writ!

German GP

Nurburgring
1 August
1st (pole, FL)

Photo by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Images

Finding grip on the pit apron, Clark jumps into a lead never relinquished. Having set the fastest lap – at more than 101mph – on lap 10, he backs off due to an unsettling change of engine note. His first victory on the Nordschleife guarantees him his second F1 world title – with three of the 10 rounds still to go.

Kanonloppet

Karlskoga (Sweden)
8 August
Retired (=FL)

A broken transistor box halts his Lotus 35 after seven laps. The Daily Express headline reads: “Jim Clark Loses”.

Mediterranean GP

Enna-Pergusa (Italy)
15 August
2nd (pole, FL)

The feisty Siffert swings another surprise in a non-championship F1 race – and this time hangs on. Clark recovers well from a slow start, but his two-valve Climax runs out of steam – and falls 0.4s shy of victory – on Europe’s answer to an oval circuit.

Hillclimb

St Ursanne Les Rangiers (Switzerland)
22 August
Unclassified

Siffert beats him again. This ‘defeat’ is less surprising given its circumstances. The Swiss’s Brabham-BRM would have been much better suited than Clark’s bulky Indycar, even had rain not spread mud onto this narrow, winding 3.2-mile course.

Swiss GP

Ollon-Villars
29 August
Unclassified

After missing official practice, he undertakes three trial runs of this five-mile course rising from the Rhone valley. A misfire blights his Indycar’s run proper – 10.8s slower than its practice best – and he is 35.5s behind hillclimb specialist Ludovico Scarfiotti’s Ferrari Dino 206P. Clark only completes one ascent.

Guards Trophy Part 1

Brands Hatch (UK)
30 August
8th

The brand new Lotus 40’s gearbox causes him to spin on two occasions when it selects neutral. He finishes two laps down.

British Eagle Trophy

Brands Hatch (UK)
30 August
1st (FL)

An unflustered F2 victory in an otherwise fraught day.

Guards Trophy Part 2

Brands Hatch (GB)
30 August
Retired

He is holding fifth place when a locking front brake deposits him in the ditch at Clearways. 

Ilford Films Trophy, British Saloon Car Championship Round 7

Brands Hatch (UK)
30 August
Disqualified (FL)

Cortina team-mate Sears spins him round on the opening lap. On his fourth lap, Clark cuts across the grass at Bottom Bend to pit because of a puncture. He’s allowed to resume and sets a spectacular lap record before being halted by an ignition short. This is fixed trackside – a disqualification offence – but he pits again, this time to complain about the steering.

Italian GP

Monza
12 September
Retired (pole, FL)

Photo by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Images

Though he leads the first two laps, it’s apparent that his Lotus 33 cannot shake off the BRMs of Stewart and Hill. He leads a total of 19 laps, and sets the fastest – 133.427mph – before dropping out of this dice on lap 64 (of 76) because of a malfunctioning fuel injection pump.

Gold Cup

Oulton Park (UK)
18 September
6th (=FL)

His lead is lost to a spin while under heavy pressure, at Cascades on lap eight (of 40). After rejoining 16th, he recovers brilliantly to score the vital point that earns him yet another title: the British F2 Championship.

British Saloon Car Championship Round 8

Oulton Park (UK)
18 September
1st

His Cortina briefly denies the muscle of Brabham’s Mustang. The Aussie’s victory, however, is short-lived. The use of non-homologated engine parts results in his disqualification one week later.

Albi GP

Albi (France)
26 September
1st

Although Brabham’s 16-valve Brabham-Honda starts from pole and sets fastest lap, Clark’s Lotus 35 pips it: by 0.6s after 192 miles.

United States GP

Watkins Glen
3 October
Retired

Electing to start second rather than from the pole position earned in his spare, he is battling the ‘pole-sitting’ BRM of Hill for the lead when his four-valve Climax, re-repaired using parts from a Brabham unit rejected by Gurney, breaks a piston on lap 12.

Mexican GP

Mexico City
24 October
Retired (pole)

Those woes continue when the re-re-repaired unit lets go in practice. Clark sets pole using the ‘old nail’ V8 that took him to victory in France, but this ‘trusty’ engine feels tight from the start, and seizes after eight laps. Clark’s F1 winnings for the season are £13,340. Compare that to the Indy 500 payout…

LA Times GP

Riverside (USA)
31 October
2nd

Photo by: Bernard Cahier / Getty Images

A $50,000 purse attracts a stellar sportscar field to this 200-miler. His wayward Lotus 40 manages only 13th in practice and finishes 10th in the Qualification race. In the 77-lap GP, however, Clark rises steadily through a dwindling field to be 6s behind Hap Sharp’s victorious Chaparral. 

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