Lotus F1 Team joins spectacular Jim Clark Weekend line-up

F1 fever is set to grip the Scottish Borders town of Duns after it was confirmed that a modern Lotus F1 Team car has been added to the dazzling array of machines on display at The Jim Clark Weekend in Duns on May 16/17.

The Lotus F1 Team E22, which was raced by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado across the world during the 2014 season, has been organised by The Jim Clark Trust with Lotus F1 Team to provide a dash of contemporary racing design among a stellar line-up of classic Formula One cars, Touring and Sports cars celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Jim Clark’s unmatched 1965 season. The car, which features a unique, asymmetric ‘twin tusk’ nose cone, will be shipped directly to Jim Clark’s home town of Duns from the team’s state-of-the art headquarters in Enstone, Oxfordshire, which is home to almost 500 people; including many of the world’s leading minds in aerodynamics, advanced materials research, engineering and automotive design.

The appearance of Lotus F1 Team is the latest boost for the event being run by The Jim Clark Trust and Club Lotus to celebrate Jim Clark’s second Formula One World Championship, his famous Indianapolis 500 victory, Formula 2 Championship and Tasman Championship, all in 1965. Sir Jackie Stewart and Allan McNish, Patrons of the Trust, are also joining the celebrations in a bid to raise awareness of plans to create a new Jim Clark Museum by 2018.

Ben Smith, Secretary of The Jim Clark Trust commented:

“We would like to thank Lotus F1 Team for this remarkable addition in support of The Jim Clark Weekend. F1 is coming to Duns to honour Jim Clark, who remains revered and respected by the generation that knew him, and we hope this weekend will inspire the next generation to support plans for a new museum to celebrate his legacy.”

Some of the other unique and extremely rare cars already confirmed for the event with the support of many generous owners include: two Lotus Type 25s including Jim Clark’s World Championship winning 1963 Formula One car, a Lotus 38 Ford (1965) similar to the actual Indy 500 race car, a Lotus Type 43 BRM (1966), three famous Lotus Cortina’s, the first production Lotus Elan and original Porsche 356 from his early career.

Jim Clark is widely regarded as one of the greatest motor racing drivers of all time, a national hero for Scotland and international icon of the 1960’s, and remains the only driver to claim both the F1 and Indy 500 titles in the same year.

His tragic death at Hockenheim in 1968 stunned the world but his remarkable ability and reputation for sportsmanship lives on, and fundraising is being kicked off for a £1.2m redevelopment of the existing Jim Clark Museum to be delivered by a partnership between Scottish Borders Council and The Jim Clark Trust.

The Jim Clark Weekend is free to the public, with a static display of cars on Sat 16 May and the main event on Sun 17 May featuring the exciting sight and sounds of the cars parading through Jim Clark’s home town of Duns. The event runs from 11pm to 4pm on both days outside the Jim Clark Museum in Duns with historic trophies, a gallery, films, interviews and Pipe Band over the weekend.