Under a Belgian sky

The 1965 Belgian Grand Prix was held at Spa-Francorchamps on 13 June 1965 and was race 3 of 10 in the 1965 Formula 1 championship. The race was masterfully won by Scottish driver Jim Clark, who led every lap of the race, driving a Lotus 33.

Picture above: reaching Eau Rouge, the Honda RA272 of Ronnie Bucknum and the Reg Parnell Racing Lotus-BRM of Dick Attwood at full speed under a menacing Belgian sky. Bucknum had qualified in eleventh, but was forced to retire on lap 9 with a broken gearbox, while Attwood had qualified in thirteenth, but failed to finish, when he slid of the track on lap 26.

It was one of Clark’s most dominant wins. In the rain (picture below), he pulled away and with a third of the race to go, the Lotus driver was leading fellow Scotsman Jackie Stewart (BRM) by 1 minute and 20 seconds. Then, for the last six laps, Clark eased off dramatically and when the checkered flag was waved, his lead, still very healthy, was down to just 45 seconds.

Jim Clark and his Lotus 33 formed an unbeatable duo in 1965, winning six of the ten races of the season, and Clark was crowned F1 Drivers’ Champion for the second time.