Now this has brought back some memories so thanks for this Sarge..

Hunt coming third in Japan to take the title in the pouring rain as I remember. (Didn't Lauda back out due to the conditions?)

Hunt was an old school playboy type who lived life to the full albeit a short one and I had a soft spot for that side of him if I'm honest.

The old school drivers seemed to have a different ethic to the modern soulless types who barely acknowledge each other outside of competition whereas the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart and the late great Jim Clark would be found at Graham Hill's gaff partying as friends till all hours then knock seven bells out of each other on the circuit the next Sunday.

A different breed that's for sure.

The old school drivers also wouldn't just be Grand Prix racing at the weekend and would have a full calendar of other races through the week, be it F2 or saloon car racing. Vehicles that had to be manhandled around the circuit unlike the computerised guff of today and their computer jockeys who who would baulk at racing anywhere other than the weekends doings.

I always had a lot of time for the maverick that was Colin Chapman of Lotus fame. whilst his cars were undoubtedly fragile, relying on cracks-men like Jim Clarke to nurse them around the course (Clark unlike Hill had a better mechanical "feel" for a car), they really were nice to look at. The lotus 25 is one of my favourites from the Lotus stable with the 49 not far behind.

There is a story that at one very early race meeting, Chapman was informed by the race organisers that his entry had no firewall between engine and driver. No problem he says give us fifteen minutes. He returned with car now sporting said firewall which the inspector casually waved off approvingly. The fire wall was no more than a thick piece of cardboard painted Lotus green!!

I remember hearing of one race (1965 British GP) where the Lotus mechanics noticed that Clark's Lotus was strangely silent on parts of the circuit. It came to pass that Clark noticed the oil pressure dropping dangerously low on corners so resorted to switching off the engine and coasting around the bend then restarting on the run out.

He won the race just!

An interesting piece here about him listing amongst other things the races he would undertake in any given time.

https://www.rushmagazine.co.uk/post/jim-clark-1965-british-grand-prix

A quote from the piece is telling of his character I think.

"Clark stirred up the competition across five different classes. In his Lotus 25, he dominated the Formula One grid. A Lotus Type 38 took him to victory at the Indy 500, while a Type 35 secured both the British and French Formula 2 championships. To add a bit of closed-wheel spice to the mix, he also raced a Ford Lotus Cortina in the British Touring Car Championship, which he had won in 1964."