Retro-Technics • author: a3310i • last modified: 2021.12.18 •

It was the first time since 1916 that a non-American had won the race. It was the first time since 1940 that a car of non-American design had won. The winner of the gruelling Indianapolis '65 race was Jim Clark.
The credit for winning this monotonous yet most murderous race in the world goes to the driver as well as the car's designer and Ford factory. Colin Chapman is the creator of the Lotus driven by the great Clark, while the Ford works produced the engine for it. In this way the great company realised its dream to win at Indianapolis. The second and third places were taken by drivers whose cars were also equipped with this engine (Parnelli Jones and Mario Andretti). Of the eleven cars finishing the race (out of a total of 33 starting cars), eight were equipped with Ford engines.

[001] Indianapolis '65 - start of the race

The Offenhauser era is thus a thing of the past. In place of the heavy, outdated design - often referred to as a "dinosaur" - in the classic layout (engine at the front, drive at the rear) comes a much better and lighter solution, with the engine at the rear. This improves aerodynamic properties, due to the reduction of frontal drag, which plays a huge role at high speed. The speeds achieved on this 'rectangular' course are dizzying - 150 miles per hour (242 km/h) was the average speed of the winner.

[002] Lotus Ford 38 - the winning car

Jim Clark, in his bid to become world champion in 1965, was forced to retire from the Monaco GP, which is one of eleven events that earn points towards that title. The resignation was a necessity imposed by the rules of the Indianapolis race. The race date of 31 May did not allow for the Monaco GP to be held on 30 May, not because of the distance (a plane could be flown in in time), but because of an explicit clause in the regulations prohibiting drivers from taking part in any race on the day before Indianapolis. The 1965 race was fortunately held without any fatalities. The most dangerous threat - a fuel tank fire - was attempted to be mitigated by a new provision in the regulations. It mandated the use of safe tanks with foam baffles, and at least two stops during the race to refuel. This reduced the capacity of the tanks. Finally, the method of rapid filling with CO₂ was abandoned. All these orders proved to be correct. Jim Clark won decisively: out of a total of 200 laps, he led the race for 190 laps and at the finish line had an advantage over the next driver by two laps of the track (5 miles). Local experts did not question Clark's chances on the track, but did express concern about these two compulsory refuelling stops. This critical moment in the race was taken into his own hands by Chapman. He organised a team of three Americans who had mastered the art of filling up the tank quickly. The first fill-up took just 19.8 seconds, the second 24.9 seconds.
Jim Clark, the great British driver, still remains the only racing driver to win the F1 championship and the Indy 500 championship in one year.

[003] Jim Clark, Colin Chapman and the Team Lotus Ford.