1955 Le Mans disaster
Encyclopedia
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. The driver (Pierre Levegh
) was killed, as were 83 spectators. A further 120 people were injured. In terms of human toll, it is the most catastrophic accident in motorsports history.
as a factory driver that year. Part of his appeal to Mercedes was his determination shown in the 1952
race when he had driven for 23 straight hours, even though he did have a driver who could have replaced him. He failed to win only because of a missed gear change
due to exhaustion, resulting in engine failure in the final hour of the race.
Mercedes-Benz had debuted its new 300 SLR
sportscar in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
, with some notable success, including a win at the Mille Miglia
. The 300 SLR featured a body made of an ultralightweight magnesium
alloy called Elektron
with a specific gravity
of 1.8 (for reference, aluminium has a S.G. of 2.7 and steel 7.8). This body reduced the weight of the car, improving performance. The car lacked state-of-the-art disc brakes featured on the rival Jaguar D-Type
, employing instead the drum brake
system. The high power of the car forced Mercedes' engineers to incorporate a large air brake
behind the driver that could be raised to increase drag and slow the car with sufficient rapidity for most conditions.
Safety measures, commonplace today, were relatively unknown in 1955. The Le Mans circuit itself had remained largely unaltered since the inception of the race in 1923
, when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of 60 miles per hour (26.8 m/s). By 1955 top speeds were in excess of 185 miles per hour (82.7 m/s). The cars had no seatbelts, the drivers reasoning that it was preferable to be thrown clear in a collision rather than be trapped in a burning or damaged car.
began on 11 June, with Pierre Levegh behind the wheel of the #20 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR run by Daimler-Benz
. American John Fitch
was Levegh's assigned partner in the car, and he would take over driving duties later. Competition between Mercedes, Jaguar
, Ferrari
, Aston Martin
, and Maserati
was close, with all the marques fighting for the top positions early on. The race was extremely fast, with lap records being repeatedly broken.
At the end of Lap 35, Levegh was following Mike Hawthorn
's leading Jaguar D-type
, just as they were entering the pit straight. Hawthorn had just passed Lance Macklin
's slower Austin-Healey 100
when he belatedly noticed a pit signal to stop for fuel. Hawthorn slowed suddenly in an effort to stop rather than make another lap. Hawthorn's Jaguar, with the new disc brakes, slowed much more quickly than other cars using drum brakes, such as Levegh's Mercedes. The sudden, unexpected braking by Hawthorn caused Macklin in the Healey to hit his brakes, throwing up a small cloud of dust in front of Levegh, who trailed close behind. Macklin then swerved across the centre of the track, attempting to re-pass the slowing Jaguar, but also apparently out of control. Macklin had not noticed both Levegh and Juan Manuel Fangio
, in another 300 SLR, approaching rapidly from behind. Fangio was in second place at the time, but directly behind, and attempting to lap Levegh.
Levegh, ahead of Fangio on the track, did not have time to react. Levegh's car made contact with the left rear of Macklin's car as he closed rapidly (at about 150 mph) upon the slowed car. The aerodynamic design of the Austin-Healey featured a long, ramp-like rear. When Levegh hit the Austin-Healey from behind, his car became airborne, soaring towards the left side of the track, where it landed atop the earthen embankment separating spectators from the track itself.
and the front axle
, both of which separated from the frame and flew through the crowd. The bonnet decapitated tightly jammed spectators like a guillotine. With the front of the spaceframe chassis—and thus crucial engine mounts—destroyed, the car's heavy engine block also broke free and hurtled into the crowd. Spectators who had climbed onto trestle tables to get a better view of the track found themselves in the direct path of the lethal debris. Levegh was also thrown free of the tumbling car, fatally crushing his skull when he landed.
As the remains of the 300 SLR slowed its somersault, the rear-mounted fuel tank ruptured. The ensuing fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron
bodywork past its flashpoint, which due to its high magnesium
content was already very low. The alloy burst into white-hot flames, sending searing embers onto the track and into the crowd. Rescue workers, totally unfamiliar with how to attack a magnesium fire, poured water on the inferno – greatly intensifying the fire. As a result, the car burned for several hours. Official accounts put the death total at 84 (83 spectators plus Levegh), either by flying debris or from the fire, with a further 120 injured. Other observers estimated the toll to be much higher.
Fangio, driving behind Levegh, narrowly escaped the heavily damaged Austin-Healey, which was now skidding to the right of the track, across his path. Macklin then hit the pit wall and bounced back to the left, crossing the track again. He impacted the barrier near the location of the now burning 300 SLR, causing the death of another single spectator, although Macklin survived the incident without serious injury.
and Karl Kling
/André Simon, were to immediately withdraw from the race as a sign of respect to the victims. At the time, Mercedes was leading the race over Jaguar. Mercedes invited Jaguar to also retire, but they declined.
Mike Hawthorn and the Jaguar team, led by motorsport manager Lofty England
, kept racing. Hawthorn won the race with teammate Bueb. As a mark of respect, the pair did not indulge in wild celebration. Funeral services for the dead were held the next day at the cathedral in the town of Le Mans
.
Nevertheless, an official inquiry into the accident ruled that Jaguar was not responsible for the crash, and that it was merely a racing incident. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for track design, leading to a ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland
, Germany, and other nations until the tracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. In the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) moved to dissolve their Contest Board
that had been the primary sanctioning body for autosport in the US (including the Indianapolis 500) since 1904. Switzerland's ban did not allow for the running of timed motorsports such as hillclimb
s, a race which allowed two cars to compete alongside one another. This forced Swiss racing promoters to organize circuit events in foreign countries including France, Italy, and Germany. In 2003 the Swiss parliament started a lengthy discussion about whether this ban should be lifted. The discussion focused on traffic policy and environmental questions rather than on safety. On 10 June 2009, the Ständerat
(one chamber of the parliament) was defeated for the second time and therefore definitively, which meant that the ban would stay.
The rest of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
was completed, with two more 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 accident. Mercedes-Benz
won both of these events, and were able to secure the constructors championship for the season.
Opinions differed widely, amongst the other drivers, as to who was directly to blame for the accident, and such differences remain even today. Levegh's co-driver, John Fitch, became a major safety advocate and began active development of safer road cars and racing circuits. At the Le Mans circuit itself, the Grandstand and pit areas were demolished and rebuilt soon after.
After also winning the last major race of the 1955 season, the Targa Florio, Mercedes-Benz announced that they would no longer participate in factory sponsored motorsport in order to concentrate on development of production cars. The self-imposed ban on circuit racing lasted until the 1980s. The Jaguar works racing team also closed down a few months later and did not return to Le Mans for over thirty years. Two drivers, Fangio and Jaguar's Norman Dewis, never raced at Le Mans again.
Macklin had regarded Hawthorn as a friend; but, when he read Hawthorn's autobiography "Challenge Me The Race" in 1958, he was embittered to find that Hawthorn disclaimed all responsibility for the accident without identifying who had actually caused it. With Levegh dead, Macklin presumed that Hawthorn's implication was that he (Macklin) had been responsible, and he began a libel action. The action was unresolved when Hawthorn was killed in a crash on the Guildford bypass in 1959.
1955 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 23rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 11 and 12, 1955. It was also the fourth round of the World Sportscar Championship....
motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. The driver (Pierre Levegh
Pierre Levegh
Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin was a French sportsman and racing driver. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh in memory of his uncle, a pioneering driver who died in 1904...
) was killed, as were 83 spectators. A further 120 people were injured. In terms of human toll, it is the most catastrophic accident in motorsports history.
Before the accident
Pierre Levegh, aged 49, had been hired by Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
as a factory driver that year. Part of his appeal to Mercedes was his determination shown in the 1952
1952 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 20th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 - 15 1952 at Circuit de la Sarthe.Less than a decade after World War II, Mercedes-Benz scored a 1-2 victory with their Mercedes-Benz 300SL which was equipped with a 3.0L I6 engine that had less power than...
race when he had driven for 23 straight hours, even though he did have a driver who could have replaced him. He failed to win only because of a missed gear change
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
due to exhaustion, resulting in engine failure in the final hour of the race.
Mercedes-Benz had debuted its new 300 SLR
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was a sportscar racing car for the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season, which it won.-Technical highlights:...
sportscar in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
1955 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was the 3rd season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from January 23, 1955 to October 16, 1955, and was composed of six races.-Schedule:-Season results:Points...
, with some notable success, including a win at the Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
. The 300 SLR featured a body made of an ultralightweight magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
alloy called Elektron
Elektron (alloy)
Elektron was a magnesium alloy developed in Germany during the First World War between 1914-18 as a substitute for aluminium alloy. Elektron is unusually light and has a specific gravity of about 1.8 compared with the 2.8 of aluminium alloy. Elektron was used to make incendiary bombs: the B-1E...
with a specific gravity
Specific gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...
of 1.8 (for reference, aluminium has a S.G. of 2.7 and steel 7.8). This body reduced the weight of the car, improving performance. The car lacked state-of-the-art disc brakes featured on the rival Jaguar D-Type
Jaguar D-type
The Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the C-Type, was a factory-built race car. Although it shared the basic straight-6 XK engine design with the C-Type, the majority of the car was radically different...
, employing instead the drum brake
Drum brake
A drum brake is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or pads that press against a rotating drum-shaped part called a brake drum....
system. The high power of the car forced Mercedes' engineers to incorporate a large air brake
Air brake (aircraft)
In aeronautics, air brakes or speedbrakes are a type of flight control surface used on an aircraft to increase drag or increase the angle of approach during landing....
behind the driver that could be raised to increase drag and slow the car with sufficient rapidity for most conditions.
Safety measures, commonplace today, were relatively unknown in 1955. The Le Mans circuit itself had remained largely unaltered since the inception of the race in 1923
1923 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1923 24 Hours of Le Mans was the very first Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on May 26 and 27 1923.The original intention of the race was for a winner to be declared following three straight years of competition. The Rudge-Whitworth Cup would be given to the driver combination to...
, when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of 60 miles per hour (26.8 m/s). By 1955 top speeds were in excess of 185 miles per hour (82.7 m/s). The cars had no seatbelts, the drivers reasoning that it was preferable to be thrown clear in a collision rather than be trapped in a burning or damaged car.
Immediate cause
The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
began on 11 June, with Pierre Levegh behind the wheel of the #20 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR run by Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...
. American John Fitch
John Fitch (driver)
John Cooper Fitch is a racecar driver born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the postwar era...
was Levegh's assigned partner in the car, and he would take over driving duties later. Competition between Mercedes, Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
, Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
, Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
, and Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
was close, with all the marques fighting for the top positions early on. The race was extremely fast, with lap records being repeatedly broken.
At the end of Lap 35, Levegh was following Mike Hawthorn
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.-Racing career:...
's leading Jaguar D-type
Jaguar D-type
The Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the C-Type, was a factory-built race car. Although it shared the basic straight-6 XK engine design with the C-Type, the majority of the car was radically different...
, just as they were entering the pit straight. Hawthorn had just passed Lance Macklin
Lance Macklin
Lance Noel Macklin was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952....
's slower Austin-Healey 100
Austin-Healey 100
The Austin-Healey 100 is a sports car built from 1953 until 1959. There were two models, the original four-cylinder Austin-Healey 100, built 1953-1956, and the six-cylinder Austin-Healey 100-6, built 1956-1959....
when he belatedly noticed a pit signal to stop for fuel. Hawthorn slowed suddenly in an effort to stop rather than make another lap. Hawthorn's Jaguar, with the new disc brakes, slowed much more quickly than other cars using drum brakes, such as Levegh's Mercedes. The sudden, unexpected braking by Hawthorn caused Macklin in the Healey to hit his brakes, throwing up a small cloud of dust in front of Levegh, who trailed close behind. Macklin then swerved across the centre of the track, attempting to re-pass the slowing Jaguar, but also apparently out of control. Macklin had not noticed both Levegh and Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
, in another 300 SLR, approaching rapidly from behind. Fangio was in second place at the time, but directly behind, and attempting to lap Levegh.
Levegh, ahead of Fangio on the track, did not have time to react. Levegh's car made contact with the left rear of Macklin's car as he closed rapidly (at about 150 mph) upon the slowed car. The aerodynamic design of the Austin-Healey featured a long, ramp-like rear. When Levegh hit the Austin-Healey from behind, his car became airborne, soaring towards the left side of the track, where it landed atop the earthen embankment separating spectators from the track itself.
Collision
Levegh's 300 SLR struck the mound at such speed and angle that it was launched into a somersault, which caused some parts of the car, already damaged and loosened by the collision, to be flung from the vehicle at very great speeds. This included the bonnetHood (vehicle)
The hood or bonnet is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles that allows access to the engine compartment for maintenance and repair. In British terminology, hood refers to a fabric cover over the passenger compartment of the car...
and the front axle
Axle
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...
, both of which separated from the frame and flew through the crowd. The bonnet decapitated tightly jammed spectators like a guillotine. With the front of the spaceframe chassis—and thus crucial engine mounts—destroyed, the car's heavy engine block also broke free and hurtled into the crowd. Spectators who had climbed onto trestle tables to get a better view of the track found themselves in the direct path of the lethal debris. Levegh was also thrown free of the tumbling car, fatally crushing his skull when he landed.
As the remains of the 300 SLR slowed its somersault, the rear-mounted fuel tank ruptured. The ensuing fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron
Elektron (alloy)
Elektron was a magnesium alloy developed in Germany during the First World War between 1914-18 as a substitute for aluminium alloy. Elektron is unusually light and has a specific gravity of about 1.8 compared with the 2.8 of aluminium alloy. Elektron was used to make incendiary bombs: the B-1E...
bodywork past its flashpoint, which due to its high magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
content was already very low. The alloy burst into white-hot flames, sending searing embers onto the track and into the crowd. Rescue workers, totally unfamiliar with how to attack a magnesium fire, poured water on the inferno – greatly intensifying the fire. As a result, the car burned for several hours. Official accounts put the death total at 84 (83 spectators plus Levegh), either by flying debris or from the fire, with a further 120 injured. Other observers estimated the toll to be much higher.
Fangio, driving behind Levegh, narrowly escaped the heavily damaged Austin-Healey, which was now skidding to the right of the track, across his path. Macklin then hit the pit wall and bounced back to the left, crossing the track again. He impacted the barrier near the location of the now burning 300 SLR, causing the death of another single spectator, although Macklin survived the incident without serious injury.
Conclusion of the race
The race was continued, officially in order to prevent departing spectators from crowding the roads and slowing down ambulances. In the immediate wake of the disaster, an emergency midnight meeting of the Daimler-Benz board of directors was convened. The Daimler board, mindful of sensitivities involving German cars in a French race just 10 years after the end of World War II, made their decision. Eight hours after the accident, the official order came through: pull out. The two remaining Mercedes cars, driven by Juan Manuel Fangio/Stirling MossStirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
and Karl Kling
Karl Kling
Karl Kling was a motor racing driver and manager from Germany. He participated in 11 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 4 July 1954. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.It is said, that he was born too late and too early...
/André Simon, were to immediately withdraw from the race as a sign of respect to the victims. At the time, Mercedes was leading the race over Jaguar. Mercedes invited Jaguar to also retire, but they declined.
Mike Hawthorn and the Jaguar team, led by motorsport manager Lofty England
Lofty England
Frank Raymond Wilton "Lofty" England was an engineer and motor company manager from England. He rose to fame as the manager of the Jaguar Cars sports car racing team in the 1950s, during which time Jaguar cars won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race on five occasions...
, kept racing. Hawthorn won the race with teammate Bueb. As a mark of respect, the pair did not indulge in wild celebration. Funeral services for the dead were held the next day at the cathedral in the town of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
.
After the race
After the race the French press carried photographs of Hawthorn and Bueb celebrating their win with the customary champagne but treated them with scorn.Nevertheless, an official inquiry into the accident ruled that Jaguar was not responsible for the crash, and that it was merely a racing incident. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for track design, leading to a ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Germany, and other nations until the tracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. In the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) moved to dissolve their Contest Board
AAA Contest Board
The AAA Contest Board was the motorsports arm of American Automobile Association. The contest board sanctioned races from 1904 until 1955, when AAA dissolved the board and decided to focus strictly on helping the automobiling public, as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster...
that had been the primary sanctioning body for autosport in the US (including the Indianapolis 500) since 1904. Switzerland's ban did not allow for the running of timed motorsports such as hillclimb
Hillclimbing
Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....
s, a race which allowed two cars to compete alongside one another. This forced Swiss racing promoters to organize circuit events in foreign countries including France, Italy, and Germany. In 2003 the Swiss parliament started a lengthy discussion about whether this ban should be lifted. The discussion focused on traffic policy and environmental questions rather than on safety. On 10 June 2009, the Ständerat
Swiss Council of States
The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....
(one chamber of the parliament) was defeated for the second time and therefore definitively, which meant that the ban would stay.
The rest of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
1955 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was the 3rd season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from January 23, 1955 to October 16, 1955, and was composed of six races.-Schedule:-Season results:Points...
was completed, with two more races at the British RAC Tourist Trophy
RAC Tourist Trophy
The International Tourist Trophy is an award given by the Royal Automobile Club and awarded semi-annually to the winners of a selected motor racing event each year in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1905 and continues to be awarded to this day, making it the longest lasting trophy in...
and the Italian Targa Florio
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973...
, although they were not run until September and October, several months after the accident. Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
won both of these events, and were able to secure the constructors championship for the season.
Opinions differed widely, amongst the other drivers, as to who was directly to blame for the accident, and such differences remain even today. Levegh's co-driver, John Fitch, became a major safety advocate and began active development of safer road cars and racing circuits. At the Le Mans circuit itself, the Grandstand and pit areas were demolished and rebuilt soon after.
After also winning the last major race of the 1955 season, the Targa Florio, Mercedes-Benz announced that they would no longer participate in factory sponsored motorsport in order to concentrate on development of production cars. The self-imposed ban on circuit racing lasted until the 1980s. The Jaguar works racing team also closed down a few months later and did not return to Le Mans for over thirty years. Two drivers, Fangio and Jaguar's Norman Dewis, never raced at Le Mans again.
Macklin had regarded Hawthorn as a friend; but, when he read Hawthorn's autobiography "Challenge Me The Race" in 1958, he was embittered to find that Hawthorn disclaimed all responsibility for the accident without identifying who had actually caused it. With Levegh dead, Macklin presumed that Hawthorn's implication was that he (Macklin) had been responsible, and he began a libel action. The action was unresolved when Hawthorn was killed in a crash on the Guildford bypass in 1959.
External links
- Newsreel footage of the 1955 race and crash
- Le Mans 1955 from The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site – extensive 1955 Le Mans coverage, including reports, analysis and photos
- Life Magazine report of the 1955 Le Mans Disaster
- 1955 Le Mans Disaster depicted and analysed in depth by a witness (currently available only in French)
- BBC: On This Day: 11 June 1955
- Pierre Levegh at motorsportmemorial.org