Jim Clark on Colin Chapman - From Motor Racing October 1965

My apologies to John Blunsden for originally incorrectly attributing this article.

John Blunsden. You have known Colin for almost seven years, and obviously you get on extremely well with him. But have you revised your opinion of him in any way over the years'?

Jim. No. at least, not fundamentally, But Colin has certainly changed. These days he is much more able to accept human fallibility. He is far more tolerant in his dealings with mechanics and with people in general. I think he realises this himself, although he tries to laugh it off by saying 'I'm getting old'.

JB. Has this more tolerant attitude benefited or been appreciated by the team?

Jim. Certainly it has. Mind you, he is still a hard taskmaster, and still retains that knack of getting people to work near miracles for him, Many a time I've seen him talk mechanics into doing what they genuinely think is impossible. But somehow he fires them with some of his own tremendous enthusiasm, and the job gets done. The thing is, if it's really necessary, he'll always be prepared to roll up his own sleeves and lend a hand, and I think people respect him for that.

JB. 'Would you say he has a temper? And if so, what do you think is most likely to make him lose it?

Jim. I suppose most people have tempers, and occasionally Colin will let fly, but not very often, and when he does it's usually with good cause. He is a perfectionist, with a very neat and tidy mind, and the one thing which really annoys him is incompetence. If Colin finds that someone has done something stupid and admits it, he'll admonish him, and perhaps be pretty angry for a minute or two, but he'll not bear a grudge. But just let that person lie to him to hide his guilt. Then he’ll give him the works. And quite right too, because one day that person might try to hide something 'which affects the safety of the driver.

JB. You, of course, work very closely with Colin, but how does he get on with his drivers generally, and particularly with drivers who are new to the team? (I'm referring to all classes of racing, not just Formula l.)

Jim. Extremely well. One of the big things about Colin is that he will talk man-to-man with his drivers. There's none of the `I'm the bass, and you'll do as I say' stuff. As a past drier himself, he knows how important it is for the man in the cockpit to be in the right frame of mind - and he does a very good 'fatherly act' on new drivers to give them confidence. All the same time, he'll make it pretty clear to them, in a nice sort of way, that lie expects to have the car back in one piece,'

JB. What about drivers fresh to the team wanting all sorts of alterations on their cars? Does he go along with this`'

Jim. It depends who the driver happens to be. If he is a very experienced man, then Colin will probably allow the car to be set up in the way he "ants it, even though it may not suit other drivers in the team. But if Colin is not convinced that the suggested alterations could work, or that the new driver knows sufficient about the car to know what he wants, he will then do a very skilful job of talking the driver out of the changes, and getting him to adapt his driving to suit the car as it is. He can sound very convincing when he wants to, you know!

JB. Now apart from his obvious talents as a racing car designer, Colin must have that something extra which has made him such a successful businessman. Can you put your finger on it'?

Jim. Well, there is no doubt at all that he is an extremely shrewd businessman, and I think someone would have to get up very early in the morning to put one over him! The other thing is that he has such an agile mind, and a tremendous capacity for work. Obviously- you have to put in a great deal of personal effort to build up a business in the way he has built up Lotus, and his apparent tirelessness has obviously been a very valuable asset during the build-up period.

JB. Does Colin have many interests outside of racing?

Jim. Yes, and this is one of the surprising things about him. Despite all his business and racing commitments, he somehow manages to find time to keep abreast of everything that's going on in the world. And not only that, but he seems to be well read on any subject you care to mention, and I don't just mean mechanical things. You bring up any subject you like, and I'll guarantee he'll be able to hold a sensible conversation on it, and probably surprise you with the amount he knows about it. It's this agile mind again. He has a genuine passion for finding out about things, and obviously has a very retentive memory. This is one of the reasons why he is such interesting company. My own interests have been greatly widened just through hearing him talk on subjects which before had meant little or nothing to me.

JB. Colin has a passion far flying, and you have done a lot of flying with him. Does he strike you as being a particularly good pilot'?

Jim. Yes, I think he is a very goad pilot, because it is in his nature to make a good job of anything he touches-the perfectionist coming out again. The more he does, obviously the better he becomes, and he has the right temperament, I can only remember one occasion when things looked a bit dodgy, and that was when we were flying to Monza, and had planned to make a refuelling stop at Nice. But we found we had a strong tail wind, and Colin calculated that we would be able to get through non-stop. But of course when we altered course for Monza we were then more or less flying into the wind, and we started to gobble up the fuel. I became a bit nervous about it all. But Colin was as calm as you like all the way, until eventually we landed. with about a thimbleful left in the tank!

JB. Can Colin switch off and really relax when the opportunity arises?

Jim. Certainly he can. If we hang on for a day after a race, he'll thoroughly enjoy himself on a beach, or just relaxing in an armchair with a few books. He's a great reader when he gets the time-it's this thirst for knowledge he has. The other day, we were waiting between practice runs at a Swiss hill climb and picked up a French magazine. I just skimmed through it, looking mainly at the pictures, but Colin spotted an article which caught his interest, then worked hard to try to translate it because he wanted to know exactly what they were saying.

JB. How would you rate him as a family man?

Jim. Oh, he can be a darned goad family man. A really devoted father. Maybe it is because he has less opportunity for doing so that most men, and so when he does get a few days with the family he tries to make up for it. Mind you, I don't know whether he would be able to keep it up indefinitely - I get the feeling that after a few days of complete relaxation with Hazel and the children he's ready to get back to business again.

JB. Getting back to racing, does he ever let his striving for perfection get the better of him' In other words. does he tend to interfere with things like car preparation?

Jim. I think Colin's ideal world of motor racing would be one which enabled him to do every single job himself. Of course he can't. and I'm sure he realises this better today than ever before. There was a time when he used to infuriate people by insisting on showing them the way to do things, even things which Could be done equally well in more than one way. This sort of thing doesn't happen so much now - he's learnt to delegate. Mind you. I think he sometimes has to make a conscious effort not to interfere, even now.

JB. Do you ever fail to see eye-to-eye with Colin over things concerning pre-race practice, such as shat modifications to try, or how many laps you should put in?

Jim. Generally speaking we seem to think along the same lines in these eases; after all, we have the same aim, namely to win the race. If I want to try any experiments on my car, we'll discuss it. and usually Colin will let me try them out. As for the number of laps, I hardly ever put in more than five or six practice laps at a go, and so there' s never any need to hold out a 'Come In' signal. Occasionally, he'll get a bit anxious if the opposition starts to go quickly, but then he goes about it in a very subtle way. He'll not come over to me and say, `Come an, now, get your finger out'. He'll just make some remark to someone else like 'Phew, old Graham's going today. He's just done a thirty-nine dead', and he'll rely on the information filtering through to me. When it does, I get the message that he expects me to do something about it!

JB. And how about the race itself'1 Does he try to control you from the pits, or does he leave it to you to run your own race?

Jim. Colin never tries to control me once the race has started. lie realises that I know better than anyone else how fast I can drive the car. But he gives me a wonderful pit information service. We have perfected this over the years, and it's now got so that we tan almost read each other's thoughts. I've only got to think, 'I wonder where Dan fits into the picture?', and next time round there it is, hung out on the board. But there's one pit signal that Colin will never hang out, and that's the 'Go faster'. He learnt many years ago that a driver can get himself into trouble when he is encouraged to try too hard. Colin is an excellent race tactician, and the Lotus pit organisation is first class.

JB. Colin designs some superb racing cars, but what is he like in helping you to get them fully sorted out?

Jim. I think the results speak for themselves. In Formula I we hit a sticky period on the changeover to 13 inch wheels, and it was not until we went back to the Dunlop yellow spots that we got things really sorted out. But the most spectacular improvement ha, been with the 'Formula 2 car. Last year, it was a hit of a pig, but this season it has been really terrific. That car is very well sorted indeed now. As for the big sports cars, well, to my mind I'm sure the jab of sorting out would have been easier if more time and labour had been available for this project. Unfortunately, Indianapolis meant that something had to suffer, and I'm afraid it's the sports cars which have suffered the most.

JB. You travel around a lot together. You must find Colin good company?

Jim. Very good company. He's a fun-loving person and very affable. He's quite quick to see the chance of a goad practical joke, and he'll see the funny side when one is played on him. As I've said before, lie's a mine of information, and being a good conversationalist he can be a very interesting person to spend a long journey with.

JB. Colin has already given a great deal to motor racing, but do you think he's got some more big breakthroughs tip his sleeve?

Jim. Obviously - although I know one or two of his future plans, there's a lot more he keeps to himself. But personally, I would like to see what he could do if he went to town in the production car field. I'm sure he could be as spectacular in that field as he has been in racing. You know, it's a real education to watch him solving a design problem. He has such a clear and creative mind. I, sometimes think, `Boy, could I do with you up on the farm, to sort out my mechanisation!'. I'll tell you one thing--Colin need never be out of a job; I’d always take him on as a development engineer far my agricultural machinery. And you know, he'd make a damned fine job of it, too!