Silverstone puts final touches to Clark tribute

Plans to celebrate the racing achievements of double world champion Jim Clark at this summer's Silverstone Classic are close to completion.

As previously announced [ see separate story], the 26-28 July event will see two historic F1 races - for grand prix cars dating back to the early Sixties era - dedicated to Clark, as well the staging of a very special commemorative dinner in memory of the Scot.

Set in the dramatic Silverstone Wing building, the inaugural BRDC Silverstone Classic Dinner will be held on Friday 26 July, almost exactly 50 years after Clark won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 20 July 1963 en route to his first world championship crown. Open to members of the British Racing Drivers' Club and Silverstone Classic competitors, the evening will include special tributes to the Scotsman - a racing legend who is still widely hailed to be Britain's greatest ever grand prix driver.

Born in Fife, Clark won the F1 crown in 1963 and 1965, and was the first British driver to win the Indianapolis 500, again in 1965. At the time of his death, when racing an F2 car at Hockenheim in Germany in 1968, he had won more grands prix - 25 from just 72 starts - and pole positions (33) than any other driver.

Many of those who knew Clark from the Sixties will be sharing their memories during the dinner. Among the invited guest speakers are several of his old team-mates, including Jack Sears and Sir John Whitmore, as well as period mechanics Bob Dance, Dick Scammell and Cedric Selzer from his title winning days at Lotus, and renowned designer Len Terry. They will be joined by BRDC member Robs Lamplough and HSCC director Grahame White, who were both present on that fateful day at Hockenheim. Cars raced by Clark will be present, too, both inside the Wing and in a welcoming echelon outside the building.

Adding further to the special golden anniversary celebration, the Jim Clark Trust will be displaying around 20 of the glittering trophies currently on show at the Jim Clark Room - the museum located in Clark's home town of Duns, Berwickshire. Several members of the Clark family will also be savouring the evening.

Famous cars once raced by Clark won't just be on static display. The entry list for the two hugely evocative Jim Clark Trophy for Pre-1966 Rear-Engined Grand Prix Cars showdowns organised by the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA) is headed by a number of the Lotuses in which the talented Scot scored many of his stirring victories.

Foremost among these is the very Lotus 25 in which he won the 1963 British Grand Prix at Silverstone en route,/i> to his first world championship crown. In total, Clark won the British Grand Prix on no fewer than five occasions - a tally that remains unbeaten to this day - and three of these victories were at Silverstone.

With its monocoque chassis and shrill 1500cc Coventry-Climax FWMV V8-engine, the Lotus 25 was a game changer - as David Coulthard discovered when driving the illustrious green machine at the Silverstone Classic Media Day back in May.

The experienced Andy Middlehurst has the honour of racing the famous title-winning car at the Classic, while Nick Fennell competes in another Lotus 25 in which Clark won races during the following 1964 season. Both are beautifully prepared by Classic Team Lotus, the Norfolk-based equipe is run by Clive Chapman, son of the marque's genial founder Colin.

Clark's earlier F1 career is well represented by two slab-sided 2.5-litre Climax-powered ex-works Lotus 18s raced by John Chisholm and Paul Smeeth. Also lining up is the unique Type 32B which carried Jimmy to the 1965 Tasman Cup title in the Antipodes with American lawyer Chris Locke at the helm.

"Jim Clark was without doubt one of the greatest racing drivers of all time and a hero to all of us mere mortals," BRDC president Derek Warwick claimed, "He wore the BRDC Badge with pride and was a notable member of the Club and a true Silverstone hero - that's why we are so pleased and privileged to be honouring his incredible career. The superb Classic presents us with the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to past champions and the inaugural BRDC Silverstone Classic Dinner is clearly going to be a very, very special evening."

This year's Silverstone Classic will be the biggest yet, with unprecedented numbers of race entries, world record commemorative parades and displays of classic cars. At the heart of the three-day festival, 24 races on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit showcase a complete spectrum of motorsport history. The mouth-watering grids feature many of the world's finest and most authentic historic racing cars as well as an impressive number of legendary drivers including world champions, F1 stars and Le Mans winners.

Staged at the birthplace of the modern F1 world championship and home of the British Grand Prix, it's no surprise that F1 tops the all-star line-up. There are three double-header grids racing on both Saturday and Sunday, with more than 100 GP cars ranging from the 1920s to 1985 all reliving their glory years.

The FIA Masters Series represents the most modern era with a packed grid of DFV-powered Lotuses, McLarens, Tyrrells, Marches and Williams' all still in their evocative period liveries.

The two grids for earlier cars are dedicated to a pair of F1 legends. The pair of Pre-61 showdowns are named after Froilan Gonzales. Appropriately so, as the Argentine ace - known as the 'Pampas Bull' - who passed away last month, scored Ferrari's first-ever grand prix victory at Silverstone in 1951.

Among the other highlights are an array of live music concerts, air displays, rally rides, streetcar shootouts and motorcycle stunt shows, amongst others.

For the first time, all tickets must be purchased in advance by Thursday 25 July, with adult admittance from just ?35 (plus fees).