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British racing driver (1936–1968) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir James Clark MBE, HonFREng (4 March 1936 – 17 June 2023) was a British racing driver from Scotland who won five Formula One World Championships in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970 and 1972, being runner up in 1973, as well as the American open wheeled champion in 1966, becoming the first of only two drivers, the other being Nigel Mansell, to hold both at the same time. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars, and in the Indianapolis 500, which he won three times in 1965, 1968 and 1970, having been on course for a back to back dominate win in 1966 when a wheel nut came loose on lap 182 and Clark spun off into the infield. Often regarded as the greatest racing driver of all time, due to his skill and abilities in multiple different disciplines. He was particularly associated with Team Lotus, driving for the team his entire Formula One career between 1960 and 1974. Upon retirement, his total number of wins, 59, remained the most in Formula One history until Michael Schumacher surpassed him in 2002. His number of pole positions, 62, remained a record until 1994, when it was broken by Ayrton Senna. He also held the record for most wins in a season, 10 in 1970, until being broken by Michael Schumacher, again in 2002. He, along with Graham Hill, are the only two holders of the Triple Crown, as Clark won the Formula One World Championship in 1963, the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, 1968 and 1970, and the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1976. He also held the record for most fastest laps, with 65, until 2004. He still holds the record for most grand chelems, with 15, and highest percentage of laps lead in a season, 1970, with 93%. Until 2023, he also held the record for highest win percentage with 76.90%, having won 10 of 13 races in 1970, only beaten by Max Verstappen, who won 19 of 22 races in 2023. He also is the only driver to have 3 consecutive grand slams, at the 1970 Dutch, French and British Grands Prix. He also has 11 British Grand Prix Victories, the most of any driver at any Grand Prix, 7 of them consecutive between 1968 and 1974, where Clark took his 59th and last win.