Jim Clark: Life at Team Lotus, it is a feast of previously unseen photographs from the mid-1960s when the Scottish maestro was at the peak of his career. It features over 250 stunning black-and white photos of the two-times Formula 1 World Champion in action on the track, as well as in and around the paddock during his most successful period – 1964 to 1967. All the pictures were taken by Team Lotus official photographer at the time, Peter Darley, and represent some of the very best images from his personal archive. The majority of these images have never been on public view before, and they provide fresh insights into Clark’s - and the team’s – methodology, demeanour and race prep. Every picture tells a story, so they say, and Darley’s photographs feature the amiable Scot with team members including Lotus boss Colin Chapman. A wide variety of paddock scenarios, reveal intimate moments and thus the psychology between Team Lotus personnel when relaxing, as well as anxieties in the moments leading up to and during the race. We see Clark and his rivals (Stewart, Gurney, Brabham etc.) engaged in charming pit and paddock banter as well as battling it out on the track. We’re also treated to incidents and highlights from a range of formulae, from wheel-wagging Lotus Cortinas in touring car events to thundering, wayward Lotus 30s in sportscar races, as well as the thoroughbred single-seater Types 25, 33 and 49 in F1 and the 32 and 48 in F2. These images provide a fabulous record of an era when stars like Clark were happy to drive anything they were offered, at national championship meetings as well as big time internationals. The images were taken at the principal British circuits in use at the time, Goodwood, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Crystal Palace and Oulton Park, and the book’s contents are orientated on that basis – with a chapter devoted to each track. Darley’s images were used for Team Lotus’s press releases and postcards at the time but seldom seen anywhere else. The pictures in ‘Jim Clark: Life at Team Lotus’ have been hidden away for nearly 40 years and only now have they seen the light of day. They represent an important contribution to the world’s motor racing archive in general, and of Jim Clark and Team Lotus in particular, as well as providing a record of how circuits looked prior to commercialisation and implementation of what many would say were much needed safety measures.
