On this week #31: the 1965 German GP
On 1st August 1965, Jim Clark won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. It was the seventh round of the Formula 1 World Championship and the victory meant that the Scotsman had secured the second of his eventual three Drivers' crowns, with three races in hand. There would be a long wait of almost 37 years before a title would be decided so early in the season, when Michael Schumacher did it in 2002. Clark arrived in Germany having won all five races he had entered that year, in South Africa, Belgium, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, and only BRM's Graham Hill was still in with a theoretical chance of taking the title.
There had been one other Grand Prix up to that point in the year, the one in Monaco. But Clark had decided not to take part in the Principality to go for his dream of winning the Indianapolis 500 Miles, having failed in the two previous years. The change of schedule proved worthwhile as he finally won, leading at the wheel of a Lotus-Climax for almost the entire race, the first time that a midrear-engined car had ever won at Indy.
A comfortable points lead meant the Scotsman could afford to manage the situation in Germany, but he was clearly keen to settle the matter as soon as possible, leaving his rivals with no title hopes. The Lotus driver enjoyed a pretty much perfect weekend at the Green Hell, in what had so far been an almost perfect season. Pole position, in the lead from start to finish and fastest race lap. It would be his eighth and last Grand Prix Grand Slam. He was joined on the podium by Hill and Dan Gurney (Brabham-Climax) at the end of a race in which only eight of the 21 starters saw the chequered flag.
Clark and Lotus therefore both celebrated their second titles, two years on from their first in the Drivers' and Constructors' championships. Naturally, it was the highlight of their season, but not in the way they expected, as it was all downhill from then on. In the remaining three races, Clark failed to score a single point, finishing tenth in Monza, before retiring in the USA and Mexico, while Colin Chapman's Lotus team only picked up a further 4 points, thanks to a third place from Mike Spence in the season finale.
Luckily for Lotus, drivers could only count their six best scores towards their championship total, which meant they beat BRM to the crown by nine points (54 to 45). If today's scoring system had been in use, BRM would have taken the title by a slim three points (61 to 58!)
