Team review | March 1959 - Clark stars

When Scottish motor racing is mentioned the mind turns to Ecurie Ecosse, but another Scottish team was formed a year before Ecurie Ecosse came into being in 1952. The name Border Reivers was chosen for a team formed by two Formula 3 drivers, Jock McBain and David Swan. Colin Clark, Cie Mauritzen and Keith Hall joined with their 500s and were followed by the Somervail brothers with the ex-Bira ERA. Following the impressive debut of the Cooper-Bristol, the Reivers placed an order for one, and in the hands of Keith Hall gained several successes.

The cars have always been prepared by John McBain & Son Ltd and for one winter Alf Francis was chief mechanic. The present mechanics are Bobby Hattle, Ian Matheson and Ian Deans.

In 1956 the team was re-arranged, and only Jock McBain and the Somervail brothers were left of the old group, but they were joined by Alistair Birrell. The team consisted of an Austin-Healey 100S and a Lotus Eleven Le Mans but no particular successes were gained. For 1957 a Formula 2 Lotus was ordered, but owing to snags the car was never delivered: Birrell withdrew from the team, and, in fact, they almost decided to disband until Jock McBain announced that he was going to buy a D-type Jaguar. He purchased the Murkett Bros car which had been driven in 1957 by Henry Taylor. As team driver he engaged the promising young Jim Clark, who had shown potential at the end of 1957 when driving Ian Scott Watson’s Porsche 1600 Super. This Porsche was also incorporated into the team as its owner was by now the Racing Manager of the team. Jimmy Somervail was also a team driver.

The first race of the team for 1958 was at Full Sutton on Easter Monday, when Jim Clark won both of his races in the D-type and was doing well with the Porsche until the brakes failed. The Jaguar was entered for the Aintree 200 but a missed gear during testing bent something and the car could not be repaired in time.

The first big race of the équipe was the Spa Grand Prix. The car was towed over on a ‘Progress Chariot,’ a neat trailer made by the makers of the Lotus chassis frame. The towing vehicle was a Ford Thames 15-cwt van emblazoned with the Reivers ‘rider-on-horseback’ insignia. This combination provided excellent transportation and on one occasion Jim and Ian averaged 42 mph for over 250 miles! The D-type ran well at Spa and provided Clark with a creditable eighth place: he also gained fifth place in the GT race behind the AC Ace-Bristols of the Rudd Racing Team but in front of all the Carreras.

There then followed a number of Scottish events, with the cars gaining successes at Crimond, the Rest and be Thankful hillclimbs and Charterhall. The team then went back to Full Sutton, where Clark scored another hat-trick of wins. In his race with the D -type he had a 75-sec lead over second-place man Jonathan Sieff’s D-type in only a 14-lap race. On August Bank holiday both cars ran at Mallory Park, where Jim came first in the over 1500cc sports event and second in the Formule Libre event.

Jim Clark, being a farmer, cannot spare the time to race during harvest, so the final race was at Charterhall, where rivals Ecurie Ecosse brought along the Tojeiro-Jaguar and the D-type to be driven by lnnes Ireland and Ron Flockhart. Although not having the 3.8-litre engine, Clark kept in front of Ron Flockhart until he was eased on to a loose surface by a slower car. However, a second and third in the Jaguar and third in the Porsche were good results.

In December the D-type was sold and a Lotus Elite purchased. This was collected on Boxing Day already run-in, and at the Brands Hatch meeting Jim stayed in front of Colin Chapman until he was baulked by a spinning Austin-Healey Sprite. So ended 1958, the most successful in the short history of the team. From 41 events, 35 awards were gained, 20 being first places. Jim Clark has put new life into the team and it is a source of pride that only once did a team car fail to finish a race.

For 1959 Border Reivers will have the Elite and the Porsche, together with a Formula 2 car of, as yet, unspecified make. They hope to include one or two Continental events, including a Lotus Elite entry at Le Mans. Jim Clark won by a large margin the 1958 Scottish Speed Championship, and it looks as if he stands a good chance of retaining the Scottish Clubs Speed Trophy in 1959.