22nd, Graham Hill's Masterful Win Amid Nürburgring Drama
Fussing over goggles steaming up in the rain and fretting about fouled spark plugs, Jim Clark forgot that he’d switched off his fuel pumps to avoid the latter. He remembered just as the carbs of his Lotus ran dry and the soggy flag dropped.
Angry at his schoolboy error, he belatedly tore into the race determined to atone. He would drive faster in his career but never more wildly.
Tenth at the end of the first lap, he was fourth by lap eight. Freed from traffic, he immediately chopped eight seconds from the advantage of those ahead. Where upon they responded to shed only two more to him next time around. The gap measured 14 seconds entering the 11th lap (of 15). Where upon Clark scared himself silly with a tank-slapper of epic proportion. Realising that he was overstepping the mark, he settled for fourth. That he did so having got so close highlighted how brilliantly the leading three were performing.