Clark doesn’t like Spa, but dominates

Jim Clark took pole position for the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, with a lead of more than 3 seconds over his immediate rival, Dan Gurney. Yet, as he did every year, he declared that he disliked the circuit, finding it too dangerous. But, as he also did every year, he proved his class by dominating all his opponents.

The Scotsman took off at the start and his lead on the first lap was such that the teams in the pits and the spectators were convinced that the rest of the field had been eliminated or delayed in a pile-up. Clark would not win this race, however, as he was delayed in his pits with engine problems and he would finish 5th, one lap behind Dan Gurney, dazzling at the wheel of his superb AAR Eagle T1G, who broke the lap record several times en route to victory.

Picture below: Jim Clark (Lotus) and Dan Gurney (Eagle), the two heroes of the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, share the front row at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit.