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. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, and it prompted Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from motor racing until 1989. Also, to a certain level to know which car makes the lowest pit stops throughout the race. As the Austin-Healey moved across the road, Levegh raised his hand. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Just behind Hawthorn was a much slower Austin-Healey, actually a lap down on Hawthorn. Neubauer got the French authorities to test residual fuel left in the wreck's fuel injection and the result vindicated the company. 2023 Getty Images. Le Mans, France: Rescue workers pursue the grim task of extricating . Macklin survived the incident without serious injury, jumping out of the wreck and over the bank. That was my first thought. Le Mans, France: The wreckage of the death car and bodies of some of the victims felled by the explosion on Saturday. Mercedes-Benz won both of these events, and was able to secure the constructors championship for the season. He tried to avoid a collision with Macklin but he was too close and too fast. 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. "He pulled across in front of me, and then I remember being surprised to see his brake lights come on. With the Mercedes team withdrawn and the Ferraris all out of commission, Jaguar's main competition had gone. The Lola was completely destroyed, debris from the car were all around the forest, Bonnier had been killed upon impact. Even after modifications had been made to the Circuit de la Sarthe after 1955, Louis Hry was killed on his own just a year later. . The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. Macklin moves over to the right to let him pass. (AP Photo/Jacques Marqueton), Spectators flee the searing flames of a smashed Mercedes racing car after an accident at Le Mans, France, endurance race which killed more than 80 persons, June 11, 1955. The scene in the aftermath was hellish. 1950s, accident & disaster, event & history, footage & video, france, Le Mans, sports, vehicles The circuit goes through a dedicated section of the racing track too. [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]. Simplifiez votre flux de travail avec notre systme de gestion des fichiers numriques. Additional details emerged when the stills reviewed by Frre were converted to video form. French magazin L'Auto-Journal published the image with the sarcastic laden caption, votre sant, Monsieur Hawthorn. ("To your health, Mr Hawthorn."). It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, and it prompted Mercedes-Benz to retire from motor racing until 1989. I should say that the 'pits' were completely undivided from the racetrack back then. The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France on June 11, 1955. Andr Guilbert was the first driver to die in June 1925 during the race's third year, although this was due to a collision with a van while en route to the race,[1] but is classified by race historians and authors of the official yearbooks, Christian Moity and Jean-Marc Teissedre. [30], Most countries lifted their racing bans within a year after the disaster. The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. These roads are not predictable and can have so many unforeseen dangers. "Mike could have been mistaken about how fast my car was going," Macklin would tell Sports Illustrated in a 1986 interview. Indeed, the German company withdrew from all motor racing at the end of that season and did not return until 1987. 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. The fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron bodywork past its ignition temperature, which was lower than that of other metal alloys due to its high magnesium content. In 1969, it was bought for 155 (equivalent to 2,714 in 2021). Macklin swerved out from behind the slowing Jaguar into the path of Levegh, who was passing on the left in his much faster Elektron magnesium-alloy bodied Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Despite expectations for the race to be red-flagged and stopped entirely, race officials, led by race director Charles Faroux, kept the race running. The final verdict assigned blame to no one. [1], After conquering F1, Mercedes-Benz had debuted its new 300 SLR in that year's World Sportscar Championship, including a record-setting win at the Mille Miglia for Stirling Moss. The official government inquiry into the accident called officials, drivers, and team personnel to be questioned and give evidence. There were two key factors regarding the track layout at that time first, there was no designated deceleration lane for cars coming into the pits, and second, that just before the main straight, there was a very slight right-hand kink in the road just after which Hawthorn started braking. A reporter for Life magazine recounted that: the Mercedes took off like a rocket, struck the embankment beside the track, hurtled end over end and then disintegrated over the crowd. This is another in the series made by US soldier Jimmy Prickett of Electra, Texas. Much recrimination was directed at Hawthorn, saying that he had suddenly cut in front of Macklin and slammed on the brakes near the entrance to the pits, forcing Macklin to take desperate evasive action into the path of Levegh. Waiting until 1:45 am, when many spectators had left, he stepped onto the track and quietly called his cars into the pits, at the time running first and third. Levegh and competitor Mike Hawthorn were running near each other at the beginning of the pit lane when Hawthorn slowed for a pit stop. The weather had closed in on Sunday morning and there was no victory celebration. One British race report praised the variety of the field representing "a United Nations of motor racing." The Jaguar team in turn questioned the fitness and competence of Macklin and Levegh as drivers. Jaguar concentrated their racing almost exclusively on Le Mans and had a very experienced driver line-up, including Formula 1 (F1) Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn. 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. The accident reportedly occurred in heavy fog. [3] Levegh was thrown out of his tumbling car and hit the ground, crushing his skull upon impact and killing him instantly. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for the track design. On lap 35, Hawthorn and Fangio were racing as hard as ever. A large tree behind the Armco has been considered to be an integral part of the impact, causing an aortal separation in the driver's chest. 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. 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. The next round of the World Sportscar Championship at the Nrburgring was cancelled, as was the non-championship Carrera Panamericana. Shortly before he died, he wrote of the race: "It was as though we were at the point where a great rock had been hurled into a pond, sending out waves of shock and horror and indignation which would later flow back, bringing consequences which no one could foresee. On the other hand: damn those Jaguar D-types look nice. Chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut had gone to the Jaguar pits to ask if the Jaguar team would respond in kind, out of respect for the crash victims. The race authorities never called the race off. Another 120 were "maimed," according to current writing, though initial news stories estimated around 70. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring nearly 180 more. Showing Editorial results for le mans 1955. However, an inopportune press photograph showed Hawthorn smiling on the podium swigging from the victors bottle of champagne. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Levegh had no time to evade, and with possibly his last action, raised his hand, warning Fangio, thereby probably saving Fangio's life. Neubauer got the French authorities to test residual fuel left in the wrecks fuel injection and the result vindicated the company. Its sloping back acted like a ramp for Levegh's Mercedes, however, which flew into the air. Bianchi decided to start early as organisers were speculating a wet session later in the day. The Austin-Healey spun into the wall, killing one spectator but leaving its driver unharmed. The first media accounts were wildly inaccurate, as shown by subsequent analysis of photographic evidence conducted by Road & Track editor (and 1955 second-place finisher) Paul Frre in 1975. Your brain acts so fast you can see everything, and I can remember as I was spinning I saw the timekeepers watching me from their booth. The wreckage was examined and tested and, finally, returned to Mercedes-Benz nearly 12 months after the catastrophe. With Levegh dead, Macklin presumed that Hawthorn's implication was that he (Macklin) had been responsible, and he began a libel action. Fifty-nine years ago, the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race started like any other. 312 Le Mans 1955 Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images EDITORIAL All Sports Entertainment News Archival Browse 312 le mans 1955 stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Life reported that it was days before drivers put together exactly what happened and the public at large learned the gravity of the crash. There was much debate over blame for the disaster. At 125 miles an hour, "he had no chance to do so himself.". Racing fuel exploded. Here is a full view of the crash site from the nearby stands. During trials the veteran. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh [lvk] in memory of his uncle, a pioneering driver who died in 1904. In picture, car numbered '17' (Equipe Los Amigos, XKD 513, 'short-nose') was third at Le Mans in 1957. The Austin-Healey driver had to swerve out of the way as Hawthorn darted into the pits. And the car's magnesium body burst into flames like a torch, burning others to death.. The Mercedes' body was partially made of a magnesium alloy. [2] Sixteen during the race itself, five during pre-race practice and testing sessions, and one en route to the race. Leveghs car skipped over a protective earthen berm at 200 km/h (125 mph) and made at least two impacts within the spectator area, the last of which caused it to disintegrate, throwing him onto the track where he was instantly killed, and sending large pieces of debris into the packed spectator area in front of the grandstand, including the engine block, front suspension, and hood. 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. The other team cars were being kept on tighter leashes to conserve the cars, but still racing in the top ten. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options await you. 2023 Getty Images. The deadliest crash ever in motor sports history happened in Le Mans, France, on June 12, 1955. The cars had no seat belts; the drivers reasoned that it was preferable to be thrown clear in a collision rather than be crushed or trapped in a burning car. The discussion focused on traffic policy and environmental questions rather than on safety. Having achieved that, Mercedes withdrew from motorsport. Instead it pointed the finger of blame at the track layout which was deemed unsuitable for such high- speed racing. . "It's a most extraordinary sensation," Macklin said when recalling an incident that spun his car around and sent it skittling down the track backward. [14][18] When he got to the media centre to use a telephone, he got his first inkling of the sheer enormity of the disaster, overhearing a reporter filing that 48 deaths were already confirmed. It exploded like a grenade spewing debris through the grandstand, killing anyone within the blast radius. Maybe that's what makes these pictures still so very chilling. [3][25][27], Hawthorn and the Jaguar team kept racing. He was among the dead. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. . At a gathering for his 92nd birthday, Mercedes driver John Fitch explained just how little the drivers knew. This put him into the path of Levegh's Mercedes, closing in at over 200km/h (120mph), intent on doing another lap and in front of Fangio, who was patiently waiting to pass. Extricating the Dead and Dying. It shows you not only how the crash happened, but how little stood between those watching and the flying wreckage. You can see a man here, his arms outstretched in shock. "He came alongside me, and I gave him the thumbs-up sign as he overtook me to wish him luck. Levegh's wife was inconsolable and Fitch stayed with her until she could be comforted. Extricating the Dead and Dying. Cole was killed when his Ferrari left the road, impacting one of several farm houses lining the road at Maison Blanche. In the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) dissolved their Contest Board that had been the primary sanctioning body for motorsport in the US (including the Indianapolis 500) since 1904. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. 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. 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. Hawthorn retired from motorsport soon after but was ironically killed when overtaking a Mercedes on a slippery road near his Surrey home in 1959. His car skidded off the road on a wet British highway in 1959. So what are we, in 2014, left with? Le Mans, France: Rescue workers pursue the grim task of extricating . Large pieces of debris, including the Mercedes' engine block, radiator, front suspension, and bonnet (hood), were sent flying into the packed spectator area in front of the grandstand. They saw the whole catastrophe unfold. outstanding team of sports writers. [15] The initial media accounts were wildly inaccurate, as shown by subsequent analysis of photographic evidence conducted by Road & Track editor (and 1955 second-place finisher) Paul Frre in 1975. Levegh was thrown from the car and killed, while burning pieces of the car were flung into the crowd and caught fire, killing 83 others. Many other drivers tried to describe the whole crash as a blameless 'racing incident,' but Hawthorn blamed Lance Macklin, the driver of the Austin-Healey. Tirez parti du rseau mondial GettyImages, avec plus de 340 000 crateurs, pour dvelopper un contenu exclusif, cr spcialement pour votre marque. On 10 June 2009, the Stnderat (upper house of the Swiss parliament) defeated a proposal to lift the ban for the second time. Sign in The Worst Accident in. 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. Jaguar driver Duncan Hamilton, watching from the pit wall, recalled, The scene on the other side of the road was indescribable. '"[6][7] The lap before, Hawthorn's pit crew had signalled for him to come in the next lap. The cars touched, Bonnier's was launched over the barriers and ended up in the trees. The 1955 Le Mans disaster of 11th June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. The 300 SLR featured a body made of an ultra-lightweight magnesium alloy called Elektron. The French police files have never been opened, and one long time Le Mans racing chief later estimated the death toll at 130. On the one hand: worst accident in autoracing so far, with one dead pilot and about 80 dead spectators. These are all that are available to Jalopnik. [15][8], Macklin, on reading Hawthorn's 1958 autobiography, Challenge Me the Race, was embittered when he found that Hawthorn now disclaimed all responsibility for the crash without identifying who had caused it. . During the first lap of Haller's stint (and his second participation) at 9 pm, his, Near the end of his driving stint and half an hour after the green flag came out, the Rondeau of Lafosse, who was lying in seventh place at 5:03 pm, was approaching the Lola T600 of, At 12:40 pm, part of the rear bodywork of Enjolras's WM came loose at Arnage, causing the car to go airborne over the safety barriers. Find Le Mans Disaster stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. In the history of racing disasters, the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans tragedy still exists in a category of . The healthy carry bodies away from the wreckage. Exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, Larivire lost control of his car and launched over a sandbank along the. Once it was extinguished, there was nothing left but the frame. The images may be black and white but even the faded frames of a tragedy 65 years ago still pack a powerful punch.