Jim Clark: The mystery remains
http://en.espnf1.com/blogs/motorsport/story/153175.html
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Details of Clark's accident were almost non-existent. All we could glean from the front page stories in Monday's papers was that the race had been run in damp conditions and Clark had smashed into the trees (there was no safety barrier of any description) after leaving the track on a gentle curve.
The thought of Clark making a mistake in such a place was an anathema to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the Scotsman's brilliance. More likely, a mechanical error or a deflating tyre had to be responsible, the vast majority of opinion over time favouring the latter, despite Lotus's reputation for fragility. But, in truth, no one could be sure.
Recently, Paul-Henri Cahier posted a story on Facebook. Cahier, as a leading F1 photographer, has followed in the footsteps of his late father, Bernard, an influential and well-connected figure in international motor sport from 1952 until the 1990s.
Among his many roles, Cahier was adviser to Goodyear at the time of tyre company's pre-eminence in world motor sport. Cahier would have brought his son's attention to the following letter that many of us missed when published by an American magazine 21 years ago. This is Paul-Henri's post:
Fred Gamble, Goodyear International Racing Director in the 60's, wrote to ON TRACK magazine and, in the 23 May '93 issue, his letter - headed 'Time For The Truth' - was published. This what Fred had to say.
'Concerning the circumstances of Jimmy Clark's death...maybe it is time the truth is told. I was privileged to be a part of that era and a friend of Jimmy's, so was just as devastated as everyone else when he was killed. His car had a rear suspension failure; sadly one of the frequent and well-known results of the brilliant but fragile Lotus cars of that era.
I was Goodyear's first director of international racing at the time and, as Firestone was contracted to Lotus, after the accident and rumors of a tire failure, Firestone engineers showed me the tire off the Clark car, not deflated or failed, but obviously dragged sideways after a suspension failure. Jimmy would have had a chance of dealing with a puncture and deflation but suspension failure, no way could he have controlled the car.
I can understand Firestone not wanting to 'blame' Lotus car failure because of their corporate relationship with Lotus and Colin Chapman...I think those of us in the sport at the time who knew the details of Jimmy's death have probably kept quiet out of respect for Colin Chapman's brilliance as a designer, but more because the great Jim Clark was like a son to Chapman. I'm sure Chapman knew the cause of the accident but to have been publicly condemned for a fragile design failure might have been emotionally too much for Colin to bear.'
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