It so happened that 1968 started as his lucky year: in South Africa, Jim Clark took his 25th grand prix victory and was therefore down as the most successful driver in the 18-year history of Formula 1.
On 7 April, just weeks later, the Scottish farmer-turned-race-driver was killed in a low profile Formula 2 race in Germany at the daunting Hockenheimring.
The cause of this fatal accident was put down to a puncture during a run through the forest section of the high-speed circuit – but there were no eyewitnesses.
His death shook the entire sporting to its core, motorsport lost a true hero. Clark, son of a sheep farmer, was seen as a virtuoso at the steering wheel and will always be regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.
On that fateful day, a young cameraman, Marten Taege, was documenting proceedings at an event from which very little footage and very few photos exist – tragically it was Clark’s last race.
This clip provides a valuable glimpse into the final hours of a truly great Formula 1 driver and a bygone era.
In closing, imagine Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel (or any of the modern-day drivers) tightening wheel nuts or pouring petrol into their race cars…
