65th, Jim Clark's Wet Spa Victory: A Race Marked by Tragedy and Rain
Jim Clark was spooked by Spa. He almost jacked in the sport after his ’58 international debut there in Border Reivers’ Jaguar D-type, when the battling Lister-Jaguars of Masten Gregory and Archie Scott Brown lapped him as though he were standing still.
Then later he’d driven through the smoke of compatriot Scott Brown’s fatal accident.
He’d almost jacked it in two years later, too, despite finishing fifth in only his second GP: the Belgian, at you know where. For Lotus had endured its grimmest race meeting: Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor were badly injured in practice crashes caused by mechanical failures and Alan Stacey was killed during the race when he lost control after being struck in the face by a bird. Clark, who ended the race with blood on his car – he had skimmed past the lifeless body of another Brit, Chris Bristow – had understandably seen enough. Almost.
Yet Spa also gave him his first world championship GP victory. In 1962, after a troubled practice, he gradually increased his pace during the race and took the lead on lap nine. Even then, he had to bear witness to team-mate Trevor Taylor’s 130mph tangle with the Ferrari of Willy Mairesse, which both men somehow contrived to survive.