Was reading through the book "Speed Addicts" that SpeedTV is selling
(No I did not buy the $400 edition!).
On page 122 they show the picture of the rear of Jim Clark's Lotus
from 1963 (it was a very good year considering I made my entrance
that summer in the middle of Clark's winning string!)
The caption says...
"Jim Clark used the same set of Dunlops to win several Grand Prix in
the middle of the 1963 season. The very even wear patterns on these
rear tires is probably significant. In 1966 Firestone conducted
research into how F1 drivers differed in their use of tyres and found
that there was generally a significant wear pattern difference
front-read and left-right for most drivers once the various loads of
each circuit were taken into account. With Clark there was only a
five per cent difference front-rear and virtually none
left-right. No other driver came close to these figures."
That is incredible on so many levels and certanly shows Clark's feel
for his car. Would be interesting to know how the other Lotus
drivers faired in that study to see if Lotus was better with tire
wear compared to the other manufacturers.
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