Touring Jim Clark country in the Lotus Evora S Sports Racer

“BY the time Jim brought the Lotus Type 23 across the line at the end of its first lap of the Nurburgring in 1962, he was so far ahead of the rest of the field that everybody watching feared a terrible accident had accounted for all his rivals. Then, almost half a minute later, and with Jim out of sight again, they gradually started to appear.”

The Evora S Sports Racer leads the line of Lotus cars on the main straight at Charterhall

It’s a story I heard several times from several different sources during a visit to Duns for last weekend’s Jim Clark 
Anniversary celebrations. The one about how the other cars had a massive power advantage, but their drivers couldn’t hold a candle to the finesse of Jim and the feather-light Lotus. Many of those recounting the tale knew the great man personally, some even raced against him, so there’s no disputing its authenticity.

And, as a procession of Lotus cars snaked its way from the Borders town to the disused airfield at Charterhall where Clark cut his teeth as a racer, I began to get a sense of how his rivals felt. Second in the line of cars, at the wheel of a 345bhp Evora S Sports Racer, I made a feeble attempt to keep pace with the lead car, a 1950s Lotus Elite (that’s it on the cover, registration 424 AGF) which barely makes 100bhp from its 1.2-litre motor. I felt I ought to apologise to Lotus’s PR man, who was riding shotgun with me and had perhaps hitherto assumed I was a bit handy behind the wheel.

Turns out I was trying – and mostly failing – to stay on the tail of Jim Clark’s cousin, Doug Niven. Like Clark, Niven is a Borders farmer and a driver of impeccable pedigree, having triumphed in saloon and touring car championships in his pomp. It’s in the genes, then, this talent for high-speed hoonery, and my DNA doesn’t make the grade. It must have been diluted with diesel at some point in the evolutionary trail.

It’s still potent enough to fizz at the visceral thrills of the Evora S Sport Racer, though. The basic recipe is the same as the last Evora S I drove a couple of summers ago – a 345bhp supercharged V6 petrol engine, room for two adults and two kids, a stiff chassis with supple suspension and razor-sharp steering – but, by way of wooing those who might otherwise scoff at the thought of owning a car from Norfolk before wandering off and buying something German, Lotus has fettled.

Some of the 150 changes address quality issues – double stitching on the upholstery, for instance – and some are designed to quicken your pulse, such as the exhaust valves that open wide to let the Lotus sing a
lot louder. To top all that, the Sports Racer pack adds £10,000-worth of welcome extras for a premium of just £3,500 or thereabouts over the “standard” Evora S. So you get switchable sports mode for snappier throttle response, a raised rpm limit and more noise. Beefed-up brakes are part of the package, as are an upgraded touchscreen stereo and sat-nav, tyre-pressure monitoring, cruise control and rear parking sensors (a godsend on a car with a letterbox for a back window).

A contrasting black roof, side sills and rear diffuser are also parts of the Sports Racer package, and made our red test car look like a baby Ferrari. Pleased to report it goes like a Ferrari too. On a recently-resurfaced section of the main straight at Charterhall, we let the Evora off the leash in a series of drag strip runs, the snarl of the engine matched by the howl of the supercharger gulping gallons of air. A Scotch mist took the edge off acceleration, but show it a dry road and the Lotus will hit 60mph in 4.6 seconds and max out at 172mph.

It’s away from the straights, though, that the Lotus turns physics on its head. Even in the wet (and it was very wet on Saturday), the Evora’s steering is precise and full of feedback. It corners
flat and without fuss, yet it’s so comfortable, as a non-jarring drive across the crater-strewn gravel tracks leading to Charterhall proved.

I’m sure Jim Clark would love the Evora. What he’d make of my driving skills, I can only imagine.

CAVALCADE IN DUNS

It’s a short drive from Clark’s former home at Edington Mains farm to Duns, and the Borders town is as inextricably linked to Clark as Clark is to Lotus, which is why members of the Club Lotus owners’ association make an annual pilgrimage here to honour their hero.

As last weekend’s event marked 50 years since Clark’s first Formula One World Championship title, aabout 100 Lotus cars took over the town centre for a cavalcade in front of thousands. Star cars included Clark’s 1963 F1 title-winning Lotus Type 25 and a Lotus Cortina raced by Clark. Attendees included Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s son Clive, former Lotus chief engineer Bob Dance, and Clark’s friend and mentor Ian Scott Watson.

Clark’s cousin, Doug Niven, said: “Knowing Jim, he’d probably be stood in the background, not wanting to be seen, because he was such an unassuming person. He never really looked for the limelight, but I’m sure he would be proud to see all the people here.”

I asked Doug where his cousin’s driving skill came from. He said: “People say it’s because we’re all born on the Berwickshire roads, with lots of right-angled bends and not so many cars as other parts of the country, but he was so sensitive with his cars and a naturally-gifted driver. Today, it’s computers that drive the cars to a larger extent.

“Cars were fragile in Jim’s day and tended to break down a bit but he could manage it and nurse his car home. I remember watching him at Brands Hatch in 1964 [the British Grand Prix, which Clark won]. Graham Hill was behind him and Jim was having a problem with oil pressure. The engine was liable to go bang at any second, so he’d coast round the corners to ease the strain on the engine until he got to the straights and accelerate again. He had a natural ability to drive round a problem.”

VITAL STATS

CAR Lotus Evora S Sports Racer 2+2

PRICE £65,900

CO2 EMISSIONS 229g/km

PERFORMANCE Max speed 172mph; 0-60mph 4.6 seconds

MPG (combined) 28.7mpg