[3798j]

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

On this day 7th April 1968 Jim Clark lost his life at Hockenheim in F2 race.Never been known why he left the track around 160mph,the car was so badly damaged.

I remember the initial disbelief, then the shock and sadness.

[3798j]

While Formula 2 was a "feeder" series to Formula 1, back then a lot of the Formula One drivers participated on their days off. Formula 1 drivers would typically dominate the top finishing positions but their points weren't counted toward the championship.

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by 3798j

While Formula 2 was a "feeder" series to Formula 1, back then a lot of the Formula One drivers participated on their days off. Formula 1 drivers would typically dominate the top finishing positions but their points weren't counted toward the championship.

Mario Andretti used to drive "anything" in the 60's and 70's....Midgets, Sprint Cars, NASCAR, Indy Car, F1.

We used to go to Ascot Park's 1/2 mile clay oval track and drive from San Diego to LA on Thanksgiving night to watch the USAC Midgets that were driven by many of the then-current Indy Car stars, including Andretti, Foyt, Unser, etc.

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

On this day 7th April 1968 Jim Clark lost his life at Hockenheim in F2 race.Never been known why he left the track around 160mph,the car was so badly damaged.

I remember the terrible news....another driver killed; this period of motorsport was so deadly; Jackie Stewart said he attended something like six funerals in six months.

[3798j]

Back in the sixties there were only 9 to 12 grand prix races in a season. That left a lot of weekends for the drivers to get behind the wheel in the other series. Dan Gurney was another driver that could be found driving just about anything.
I should also point out how hard a race fan had to work at following the racing scene. The weekly newspaper, Competition Press, was a must have subscription along with the monthly race reporting by Road&Track. We'd read cover to cover, then the discussions would begin. Otherwise information was more than scarce. By the way, Competition Press later became the weekly magazine Autoweek.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by racerbruce

I remember the terrible news....another driver killed; this period of motorsport was so deadly; Jackie Stewart said he attended something like six funerals in six months.

It was because of Jackie Stewart's insistence that safety was improved in F1 from the early seventies leading from better track and driver safety equipment.

[3798j]

That was another thing about the sixties...the driver's fraternity was built on personal friendships...this photo from a Dunlop tire advertisement.