This weekend marks quite a milestone in Scottish
motorsport and one that will be commemorated by a number of events this
Saturday/Sunday 7th/8th April. 50 years ago we lost one of our brightest stars.
Our first F1 motor racing champion. A proper gent. And modest too.
Those were more innocent times, but dangerous. Very dangerous. Despite
winning two F1 World Championship titles and the Indianapolis 500, Jim Clark
lost his life in a minor, non-championship F2 race in Germany. The world
mourned then and still does now, but nowhere is it felt more deeply than in
Berwickshire.
Oddly enough I was reminded of this upcoming anniversary just the other
weekend at the DCC Stages Rally at Ingliston. There are still sections of the
original 1965 race track all too evident and familiar to those of a certain
generation. To say I never saw Jim Clark race is not quite true. I did. Once,
and it was here.
I was too young to see him earning his spurs at Charterhall in the 1950s,
and so it wasn't until 1967 at the Edinburgh Students' Charities Race Meeting
at the Edinburgh track that I saw him competing in a race. And there he was, at
the wheel, smiling and waving to the crowd - from the cockpit of an electric
milk float.
There were about half a dozen of the devices trundling around the circuit
in that feature charity 'race'. He was leading while the others were trying to 'slipstream'
past. This was high octane stuff - in ultra slow motion. And that was the only
time I saw the man in the flesh.
His life and achievements will be celebrated at a number of events this
weekend. The Jim Clark Trust is hosting a weekend of activities at Chirnside.
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be an exhibition and a display of over 100 cars
at Chirnside Hall and a commemoration service at 3pm on Saturday afternoon at
Chirnside Church. Meanwhile at Duns on Saturday, the ground will be broken on
the new extension to the Jim Clark Museum at 11am. If you fancy going along
look out for Eric Dymock, he will be signing copies of his latest book.
He was a friend of Jim in those early days and has written about the man
many times. In fact, Eric was one of my own earliest influences. Not just
because he came from nearby Motherwell but the fact that a bloke from this
dull, black, soot-laden corner of the steel-making and mining landscape could break
away to enter the glamorous world of automotive journalism (as it was then!)
and motor race reporting.
I used to read his reports in the weekly 'Motor' magazine. He could write
then, and he can still write now. The man had a natural gift for adding colour
to what was then a black and white world. If you can get a copy, get it signed
this weekend, and treasure it.
On Sunday Knockhill will host the first SMRC race meeting of the 2018
season. They too will be marking this special anniversary with a number of additional
attractions, so if you are doing nowt else, visit the Borders on Saturday and
head north on the Sunday to the Kingdom of Fife.
Something else to look out for is Lori Carnochan's evocative tribute (see
link below). Lori works for ITV in Carlisle and she's as motor sport daft as
the rest of us.
Will we ever see his like again? Nope. Not a chance. Motor racing changed
after that terrible day and not necessarily for the better. Yes, it's much
safer, and we must all be thankful for that, but the innocence has gone and the
spectacle is different. F1 is no longer a sport, it's showbusiness.
