7 April 1968

09/04/2008

Forty years ago the greatest driver of the sixties was killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim. Some months later an independent investigator concluded the accident was as a result of tyre failure. This is what the world was told and no doubt most fans believed that the matter was settled. After all, the investigator was an experienced aircraft crash investigator with impeccable credentials.

In any event, an alternative theory - irrespective of how much credibility they may have - wouldn't change things. It wouldn't bring him back.. Dead is dead - right? For many, the only mystery associated with the death of Jim Clark is why people kept bringing up alternative theories when a thorough investigation had already determined the cause.

What's more, Firestone - the supplier of the tyres on the ill-fated Cosworth FVA powered Lotus 48, had accepted culpability. If opening this up again, four decades later is going to upset you - either don't read on or don't bother writing to me to tell me why you disagree with what follows. I am not attempting to do anything other than pass on what I've picked up - nothing more, nothing less. Jim Clark, after all, was my boyhood hero. I cried my(nearly) 10-year-old eyes out on the end of my parent's bed as my mother read the words from the New Zealand Herald - something I shall never forget.

The background

It is often reported that Jimmy Clark was killed in a minor or irrelevant F2 race (at least one on-line encyclopaedia says so). It was in fact the opening round of the 1968 F2 European Trophy and Clark was one of three world champions entered, although John Surtees didn't arrive. Clark's teammate Graham Hill was there though while the other 'graded driver' (one not eligible for points) was Chris Amon. His Ferrari teammate was Jacky Ickx who had had a coming together with Clark in the opening F2 race of the year.

Continued on page 2

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