Algy’s friend, Mark, sent through this excellent documentary about the late World Champion Formula One driver Jimmy Clark. I seem to have inherited some petrol head genes, and thought many of my readers would enjoy this BBC 4 Documentary. Algy did a bit of racing himself and was a contemporary of Jimmy’s of whom he was extremely fond. Jimmy was a sheep farmer from Berwickshire, Scotland, he was as at home at the farm, as he was in the seat of a racing car. The other complications of “normal” life seemed to bemuse him.

You may wonder why I would post such a story, which seems to have very little to do with my usual deliberations. I find it interesting for many reasons. Algy tells me that Jimmy was a shy, quiet, modest man of immense talent. He left this world early in an accident, the reason for which is still not agreed upon. This monkey reckons that the reason is not the obvious one given – he hit a tree at high speed at Hockenheimring, Germany. But the real reason was – he was unable to leave a sport which had become the controlling element of his life.

Who are we to judge this? Algy tends to think this is the danger you all run when something becomes an “idol” controlling your life – as the Bible would describe it. Juan Manuel Fangio, another immensely talented driver, who survived the sport, said “to race is to live, the rest is just waiting”. Like Fangio, Jackie Stewart was also one of the other few survivors, who knew when to stop. Something for us, who remain, to ponder – where did these two men draw their wisdom from?

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Historical Chimp