'The standard by which all others in F1 must be judged'
Fifty years ago, Jim Clark was killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim. Peerless in his prime, for some he remains the greatest Formula 1 driver ever to have lived. PETER WINDSOR and NIGEL ROEBUCK share their memories of Clark with ANTHONY ROWLINSON and explain why he remains an inspiration to this day
Nigel Roebuck: I was at Brands Hatch that day [when Clark lost his life in a Formula 2 race]. It was the BRDC 1000km sportscar race. It was cold and I was in the Clearways grandstand. After a couple of hours the race had settled down, so I went off to a buy a couple of books. I went to pay for them and the guy behind the till said to me: "Have you heard about Clark?" And I said: "No, what about Clark?" He said he'd been killed at Hockenheim that morning.
They talk about the world suddenly swimming before you and it was a little like that. It was a complete shock. He was the one guy it was never going to happen to, whatever else. It took a few minutes for me to kind of compose myself and get used to this idea. And then I knew I had to go back to the grandstand and tell my pal. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
Share Or Save This Story
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
How a carryover Alpine blighted by politics gave Ocon an improbable F1 win
Why Ocon retains the approach forced on him by his “crazy journey”
The "fashion evolution" that transformed F1 drivers' helmet designs
The status factor that made Ferrari impossible for Hamilton to turn down
The lucrative deal that points to F1 Academy’s health
The increasing hurdles in front of Ricciardo's potential Red Bull return
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
