From tractor to track: Goodwood Revival to celebrate Jim Clark's life and career

• The incomparable Jim Clark – twice Formula 1 World Champion and winner of the 1965 Indy 500 – to be honoured at Goodwood Revival in a year which sees a number of significant anniversaries for the driver.

• Goodwood to gather cars representing the full breadth of his racing career, and be joined by family, friends, fellow drivers and team members for a special moment on Saturday.

• Early bird tickets available at goodwood.com.

Goodwood is honoured to announce that this year's Revival will celebrate the extraordinary life and career of Jim Clark – the Scottish farmer who is widely regarded as the most naturally gifted driver of all time.

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of Clark's greatest season – indeed, arguably the greatest season by any driver in history. As well as winning six Grands Prix en route to his second World Championship, he also became the first driver to win the Indy 500 in a rear-engined car, and the first to do so at an average speed of more than 150mph. He remains the only driver to win the F1 World Championship and Indy 500 in the same season. Not only that, but he won the Tasman Cup (a single-seater series in Australia and New Zealand, run during the European winter and contested by the leading F1 teams and drivers), the French and British Formula 2 Championships, and races in everything from touring cars to sports prototypes.

Alongside these achievements, Jim Clark also won the final Formula 1 race at Goodwood, on Easter Monday 1965. This Saturday (19 April) marks the 60th anniversary, to the day, of that race, during which Clark, in a Lotus 25, also shared the lap record of 1m20.4 with his fellow Scot Jackie Stewart, in a BRM P261. Their joint time was never beaten, before the circuit closed to racing in July 1966, and so stands in perpetuity as the classic Goodwood lap record. Remarkably, on the same day he won the Sunday Mirror Trophy Formula 1 race, Clark also won the St Marys Trophy (a round of the British Saloon Car Championship) in a Lotus Cortina, and the Lavant Cup sports prototype race in a Lotus 30! His driving that day epitomised the virtuosity and versatility he exhibited across the whole season.

Jim Clark, who tragically died in an accident during a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim on 7 April 1968, ended his career with a then-record 25 victories and 33 pole positions from just 72 Grands Prix. Even now, six decades later, he still holds the record for the most 'Grand Slams' in Formula 1, when a driver takes pole position, victory, fastest lap, and leads every lap. Clark's record of eight is two more than his nearest rival, Lewis Hamilton, whose score of six has come from 361 races!

We look forward to celebrating all aspects of the remarkable achievements and legacy of Jim Clark – 'farmer and world champion motor racing driver', as the inscription on his gravestone reads – which, to this day, remain at the heart of motorsport at Goodwood.

Sir Jackie Stewart, three-time World Champion and joint Goodwood lap record holder said: 'Jim Clark was not only a first-class racer, but he was a first-class friend. Jimmy and I enjoyed so much camaraderie both on and off the track and I am personally so pleased that Goodwood are choosing to celebrate this great man in this way'.

Dario Franchitti, four-time IndyCar Champion and three-time Indy 500 winner, said: 'As a fellow Scot, Jim Clark has always been an inspiration to me, and following in his footsteps at the Indianapolis 500 was the highlight of my career. I have had the honour of driving a number of his cars over the years, and am proud to be a patron of the Jim Clark Trust. I'm looking forward to joining Goodwood in celebrating the life and achievements of a true legend of our sport and will also be attending the Jim Clark Trust event at Duns Castle in June.'

The Duke of Richmond CBE DL said: 'It's such a privilege to celebrate Jim Clark at the Goodwood Revival this year. His achievements in 1965 are the stuff of legend, including uniquely winning the Formula 1 World Championship and Indy 500 in the same season. I vividly remember watching him win the final F1 race at Goodwood, on Easter Monday 1965, in which he and Jackie Stewart set the ultimate Goodwood lap record. Having such strong links to Goodwood, and in a year that marks several significant anniversaries, we are hugely proud to be paying tribute to Jim Clark – considered by some to be the greatest driver of all time– over the Revival weekend.'

Doug Niven, Jim Clark's cousin, and a family trustee of the Jim Clark Trust, said: 'The Jim Clark Trust is delighted to support the Jim Clark tribute at the Goodwood Revival in September. Along with my fellow family trustee Ian Calder (Jim's nephew) I attended the Revival in 2013, when the Duke of Richmond formally launched the Jim Clark Trust – of which he is still a patron. 1965 was such a special year for Jim, and we look forward to celebrating his life and career at Goodwood in September, as well as at our own event, at Duns Castle on 28-29 June.'

Photo credit: Goodwood
posted on conceptcarz.com

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