"I believe he wanted to turn the car over at his stop, still in the lead. The Mercedes trucks were packed up and gone by morning. He invented traffic safety devices currently in use on highways, including the sand-and-air-filled Fitch barrels. Years later Fitch claimed, based on his own recollection and from what he heard from others, that Hawthorn had caused it. Fitch explained that he only got an idea of how bad things were when he overheard a journalist friend of his reporting news that some 65 people were reported dead. Fifty-nine years ago, the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race started like any other. These were the days of patriots racing Red, Blue, Green, White and Silver cars for the national glory of their country. This forced Swiss racing promoters to organize circuit events in foreign countries including France, Italy, and West Germany. Just behind Hawthorn was a much slower Austin-Healey, actually a lap down on Hawthorn. Fitch approached one of the Mercedes team bosses and explained to him why it made sense for the very German team (many of those working at the team were very much active when Mercedes race cars had swastikas painted on the side) to pull out of this French race. Thirty-five laps in the worst disaster in motorsports history unfolded. Profitez de millions dimages, de vidos et morceaux de musique de qualit. By clicking on 'Sign Up' you will be the first to know about our latest and best sporting content on this browser. Sign in The Worst Accident in. Everything started when Hawthorn in his Jaguar cut in for the pits. The film cuts short as the recorder dives for cover. The other team cars were being kept on tighter leashes to conserve the cars, but still racing in the top ten. The greatest carmakers in the world were competing, as were the best drivers. [14] Half an hour after the crash Fitch realised that news was probably being broadcast on the radio, and he needed to telephone his family to reassure them that he was not the driver of the crashed car. 1955 - the Le Mans Crash in 90+ pictures from the Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site. The weather had closed in on Sunday morning and there was no victory celebration. [15][16], Prior to the crash, the car was involved in a previous incident with partial damage to the front bodywork, as photographic evidence shows. All of this was from one car cutting through the crowd alone. Years later Fitch claimed, based on his own recollection and from what he heard from others, that Hawthorn had caused it. When Mercedes pulled out, they approached the Jaguar team. The circuit goes through a dedicated section of the racing track too. Switzerland's motorsports ban still stands today. The pieces of the Mercedes ripped through the crowd, crushing and decapitating. Future British F1 champion Mike Hawthorn drove for Jaguar and then-F1 champion Fangio drove for Mercedes, along with British phenom Stirling Moss, American John Fitch, and Frenchman Pierre Levegh. Within hours of the crash, the local police reported sixty five dead, as one racer remembered, and now the death toll is usually reported as something in the 80s. Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 23:30, "Historic Motor Racing - historicracing.com", "Lucien Bianchi Profile - Drivers - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com", "Race Car Driver Deaths: The Medical Causes of Racing Deaths w Examples", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans_fatalities&oldid=1140404005, Guilbert was making his way to the circuit during the morning of the race in his Ravel, a car designed by. Catastrophe aux 24 heures du Mans en 1955 (France 3 Ouest, 2008), Apokalypse in Le Mans Das Rennen in den Tod (2010), Deadliest Crash: the Le Mans 1955 Disaster (Programme Website), "Crash and carnage at 150 mph This is how the worst racing accident happened", "1955 24 Hours of Le Mans - History, Profile, Information and Photos", "Mike Hawthorn & the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans: The Cause and the Effect", "BBC Four - The Deadliest Crash: the Le Mans 1955 Disaster", "1956 Sebring 12 Hours Grand Prix - Race Photos, History, Profile", "Switzerland Officially Lifts 67-Year Ban On Circuit Racing", "Sir Jackie Stewart and Halo: No stranger to F1 safety ridicule", "Historic Austin-Healey car in Le Mans disaster to fetch '1m at auction", "1953 Austin-Healey has been restored to its former glory", Le Mans 1955 from The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site, Newsreel footage of the 1955 race and crash, Life Magazine report of the 1955 Le Mans Disaster, 1955 Le Mans Disaster depicted and analyzed in depth by a witness (currently available only in French), Deadliest Crash: The Le Mans 1955 Disaster, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1955_Le_Mans_disaster&oldid=1142738568, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2017, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, that if the huge crowd of spectators had tried to leave, that firms participating in the race could have sued the race organizers for huge sums of money, that "the rough law of sport dictates that the race shall go on"; Faroux specifically pointing to the, that he did not, in fact, have the authority to stop the race at all, and that, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 02:57. [8][9] What caught Macklin out though was that Hawthorn, using the Jaguar's advanced disc brakes, braked hard enough to slow his Jaguar from such a speed in time.[10][11][12][13]. During a downpour of rain at dusk, Brussin entered the Dunlop Curve too fast and rolled after hitting an earth bank. [3], Both Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz issued official statements, mainly in self-defense against the accusations leveled against them and their drivers. At Arnage during the final hours of the race, Marchal's Aston Martin spun while attempting to pass another competitor. The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large fragments of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. Most vehicle manufacturers focus on this particular race to test the fuel efficiency of their vehicles and know the viability of their cars and engines throughout the 24 hours rather than learning how fast their cars can go. One spectator actually recorded the crash head-on. Vintage Everyday On 10 June 2009, the Stnderat (upper house of the Swiss parliament) defeated a proposal to lift the ban for the second time. Le Mans, France: Rescue workers pursue the grim task of extricating . then went back and tried to rescue others.". The French magazine L'Auto-Journal published it with the sarcastic caption, " votre sant, Monsieur Hawthorn!" On the one hand: worst accident in autoracing so far, with one dead pilot and about 80 dead spectators. Extricating the Dead and Dying. 77 deaths at Le Mans Mon 13 Jun 1955 04.33 EDT Le Mans, June 12 Le Mans is in mourning today for the 77 people killed when the blazing wreckage of a Mercedes sports car crashed through. The Austin-Healey driver had to swerve out of the way as Hawthorn darted into the pits. You have accepted push notifications for this content. [40], Macklin's Austin-Healey 100 was sold to several private buyers before appearing on the public auction block. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. I've seen many shots of the '55 disaster, but never all of them in one place outside of the AP archives. Even for the 50's I am surprised they kept on racing. In 1955 Mercedes offered Levegh the opportunity to race with John Fitch in their 300SLR sports car. [34] The ban was lifted in May 2022.[35]. The only people on and around the podium that day who had mixed emotions at the race end were either race officials who were trying (and failing) to put on a faade for the camera and were grateful for an end to a disastrous race or other workers at the Le Mans circuit who had no stake in the race. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, and it prompted Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from motor racing until 1989. This was indeed one of the most terrible accidents in the early decades of motorsports. Macklin claimed that Hawthorn's move to the pits was sudden, causing an emergency that led him to swerve into Levegh's path. The circuit at Le Mans is incredibly long, and information was even more sparse away from the immediate vicinity of the crash. The 300 SLR featured a body made of an ultra-lightweight magnesium alloy called Elektron. His Mercedes Benz clipped the edge of the Austin Healey and was launched skywards. It decided that auto racing detracted from its primary goals, and the United States Automobile Club was formed to take over the race sanctioning and officiating. That said, many contemporary race reports treat the crash unbelievably mildly. It turned friends into enemies, fans into critics, and winners into losers. French Memorial Site. The race authorities never called the race off. On lap 35, Hawthorn and Fangio were racing as hard as ever. On that date, the Ministry of the Interior released new regulations for racing events and codified the approval process that future racing events would need to follow. [14][9] As a result, the car burned for several hours. RELATED: These Le Mans Racers Dominated The Worlds Most Famous Race. It might have been the case that determined who was at fault once and for all, but Hawthorn died before the case could be resolved. But after Hawthorne makes the move, he suddenly decides to cut right and breaks very hard to enter his pit area. Behind these fleeing spectators is the scene where many were killed when hit by flying pieces of the racer which exploded after crashing into a retaining wall. Mike Hawthorn celebrating the 1955 Le Mans victory despite causing the deadliest accident in history of racing. Norman Dewis ventured the opinions that Macklins move around Hawthorn was careless and that Levegh was not competent to meet the demands of driving at the speeds the 300SLR was capable of. Levegh's Mercedes flipped into the air and struck the sandbank at the side of the track. The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race in Le Mans, France in June 1955, when a crash caused large fragments of debris to fly into the crowd. Innocence - along with a tragic human toll - was lost forever. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Entering the straight, his Matra veered off the inside of the track and exploded into flames. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Hawthorn and Bueb won the race by a margin of five laps from Aston Martin. Select from premium Le Mans Disaster of the highest quality. Le Mans, France: Rescue workers pursue the grim task of . The dead and dying were everywhere; the cries of pain, anguish, and despair screamed catastrophe. That said, the circuit had been resurfaced and widened after the Second World War. The official inquiry cleared all drivers of any fault. An estimated attendance of between 250,000 and 300,000 crammed together to witness one of the most spectacular driver line ups ever assembled to contest the venue's iconic 24-Hour race. A special mass was held in the morning in the Le Mans Cathedral for the first funerals of the victims. There was much debate over blame for the disaster. Here he is, still in his car after crossing the finish line, reaching up for a kiss from a local girl. With the Mercedes team withdrawn and the Ferraris all out of commission, Jaguar's main competition had gone. 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In 1957, D-Types were placed 1-2-3-4-6, with only a solitary Ferrari in 5th spoiling the parade. [42] The car retained the original engine SPL 261-BN,[41] but was reported to be in 'barn find' condition. The 1955 Le Mans Disaster Via: Youtube On the 11th of June 1955, about 300,000 spectators gathered at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Northern France for another endurance car race event. Fifty-nine years ago, the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race started like any other. Rassembler, slectionner et commenter vos fichiers. Other pictures show them dragging his body to the pits. There was great anticipation for the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, as Ferrari, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz had all won the race previously and all three automakers had arrived with new and improved cars. Visible at left is the fire from burning Mercedes racer which careened crazily down the course, crashing into an earth barrier back of the picket fence. Meanwhile, Macklin's car, heavily damaged, rammed the left-side barrier, then veered to the right of the track into the pit lane, narrowly missing Kling's Mercedes-Benz, Roberto Mieres's Maserati, and Don Beauman's Jaguar, all of which were already in the pits refuelling before the accident. In the days after the disaster, several explanations were offered by Faroux for this course of action. In the middle as many as 130 died in the most horrific disaster in motorsports history. The deadliest crash ever in motor sports history happened in Le Mans, France, on June 12, 1955. Also, to a certain level to know which car makes the lowest pit stops throughout the race. In his biography, Hawthorn said he was "momentarily mesmerized by the legend of the Mercedes superiority Then I came to my senses and thought Damn it, why should a German car beat a British car. Extricating the Dead and Dying. [41] In December 2011, the car, estimated to raise 800,000 before the auction,[41] was sold for 843,000. On Sunday morning, Bonnier approached the Indianapolis bend before Arnage and tried to avoid the slowly driven Ferrari 365GTB4 #35 of Florian Vetsch. "He came alongside me, and I gave him the thumbs-up sign as he overtook me to wish him luck. When the rest of Levegh's car landed on the embankment, the rear-mounted fuel tank exploded. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Jaguar went on to win the race. The 1955 Le Mans tragedy was deemed a terrible accident but in truth was the end of an era that would never come again. It was Hawthorn's Jaguar that started the whole incident, after all. France and Switzerland both banned motor racing after Le Mans. The investigation zeroed in on Hawthorns attempt to overtake British driver Lance Macklins Austin Healey and a sudden catastrophic decision to pit. The Le Mans organizers did not actually stop the race. Levegh died in the 1955 Le Mans disaster which also killed 83 spectators during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans automobile race. . It smacked the barrier and the road shoulder rolling at hurtling speeds through 85 yards and over a further 100 yards, the engine, radiator, and suspension already ablaze were flung through a cluster of spectators destroying everything and anything in its part. During late night practice, a week before the race, Michelot went out to test one of the cars during the night following a meal at the Hunaudires restaurant. It was a sort of victory for motorsports somehow, a pyrrhic victory, albeit. The momentum of the heaviest components of the car the engine block, radiator, and front suspension hurtled straight on into the crowd for almost 100 metres (330ft), crushing all in their path. In total, two drivers died in the 1920s, another two in the 1930s, one in the 1940s, five in the 1950s, six in the 1960s, two in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, one in the 1990s, none in the 2000s, and one in the 2010s. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is safer, much safer, than it was in 1955, but it is still a deadly track. Macklin's car hit the unprotected pit-wall, just short of the Cunningham and Mercedes-Benz pits where Shell and Lockheed equipment were stationed, running down a policeman, a photographer and two officials (all seriously injured), then rebounded back across the track again to end up skating down the left-side fence for a second time. [14] Levegh's lifeless body, severely burned, lay in full view on the pavement until a gendarme hauled down a banner to cover it. Car and engine bits struck the crowd as there was only a 4 foot bank between spectators and cars traveling up to 170 MPH due to a lack of safety standards. The rest of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was completed, with the remaining two races at the British RAC Tourist Trophy and the Italian Targa Florio, although they were not run until September and October, several months after the catastrophe. Macklin claimed that Hawthorns move to the pits was sudden, causing an emergency that led him to swerve into Leveghs path. Look at how dense the crowd was. One marshal tried to douse the burning wreckage with water and sent huge bursts of white hot fire into the crowd, killing more as this recent history explains. I should say that the 'pits' were completely undivided from the racetrack back then. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for the track design. In the history of racing disasters, the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans tragedy still exists in a category of . ". . They suggested that Mercedes-Benz had tampered with the official fuel-supply with an explosive additive, but the intensity of the fire was due instead to the magnesium-alloy construction of the chassis. Browse 305 le mans 1955 stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The weather had closed in on Sunday morning and there was no victory celebration. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring nearly 180 more. The car landed on the earthen embankment between the spectators and the track, bounced, then slammed into a concrete stairwell structure and disintegrated. The final verdict assigned blame to no one. Discover the great outdoors on Ireland's best walking trailsStart Exploring, Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our It shows you not only how the crash happened, but how little stood between those watching and the flying wreckage. In the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) dissolved their Contest Board that had been the primary sanctioning body for motorsport in the U.S. (including the Indianapolis 500) since 1904. Racing fuel exploded. Le design Getty Images est une marque de Getty Images. [citation needed], Over the next year, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) set about making extensive track improvements and infrastructure changes at the Circuit de la Sarthethe pit straight was redesigned and widened to remove the kink just before the start-finish line, and to give room for a deceleration lane.