And what an era it was. Just look at the names against whom Dan competed: Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill… was there ever a greater depth of talent on the grid? And of course there was Jack Brabham, a man who provides a useful yardstick with which to provide a perhaps more reliable guide to just how good was Dan. Because for three seasons they were in the same team, so there’s no blaming the machinery. That team was, of course, Brabham, and despite Black Jack being the one whose name was on the door, in all three years (1963-65) Dan ended up with more points than his boss. Ok, maybe Jack got unlucky in the races. But there’s no hiding from qualifying, and in the 25 races they did together, Dan was faster than Jack no fewer than 18 times, beating a man who already had two World Championships to his name and who would add a third the year after Dan left the team. No wonder Gurney was the driver Jim Clark most feared.
Something else Dan did for Jack was to provide his team with its first championship win, taking the flag at the 1964 French Grand Prix, some 24 seconds ahead of Graham Hill, with Jack back in third. And to win at Rouen required something truly special. If you’ve been there and seen the section of downhill corners after the pits you’ll know there was no greater challenge in Formula 1. David Purley, a former member of the Parachute Regiment who’d win the George Medal trying to save Roger Williamson’s life, said the only way he could go flat down that hill was to shout in his helmet. And he was talking about a Formula 2 car…