It ended with the usual champagne, as well. It was a whole different world back then.1955 was certainly a landmark automotive year – groundbreaking cars such as the MB 300SL, Citroen DS, Continental Mk2, Jaguar D type, and others ……… and this tragedy.Hats off and and pay due respects to Sir Jackie Stewart, (and others) who spearheaded a campaign for greater safety in GP racing, not always with full support from all drivers or circuit owners.45 years ago, a golfing buddy of my Dad’s who drove an E-Type coupe for his every day car gave me his collection of Road & Track magazines, which ran, sporadically from 1952 to 1972.
Thank God those days are gone.In case you’re unaware, a car flew over the catchfence at Nurburgring yesterday and killed at least one spectator. As motor cars became faster and more sophisticated as the 20th century wore on, death rates would increase exponentially, both on and off the track.In the years following WW2, the performance of modern sports racing cars had far exceeded the capacity of the archaic circuits that they frequently raced on, leading to some rather spectacular mishaps. All Rights Reserved. Briefly: The Mercedes 300SLR of Pierre Levegh vaulted over the rear deck of Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey, hurtling fire and auto parts into the densely packed crowd along the pit straight. The grim specter of death was ever-present and cast a long and wide shadow over every event. Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
How Kamala Harris compares with Joe Biden on Medicare for All, gun control, marijuana legalization, and 7 other key issues About a month earlier, Bill Vukovich died in a nasty crash at Indianapolis.That black and white film from opposite the pits publicly surfaced only recently. I agree the organisers should have carried most of the blame.Thank you for posting this video. Please try again later.
TS. The brave men who climbed behind the wheel of these beasts were fully aware of the lethal hazards they faced, but casually brushed them off with a mixture of macho bravado and quiet resignation.At the 24 Hueres Du Mans in July 1955, the inevitable finally happened. Crowd watching. Ever since the first two Roman gladiators squared off against each other in their horse-drawn chariots, vehicular speed and endurance contests all too often ended with a funeral. (View a color video recap of the entire race While the scale of this accident was extraordinary, we forget just how dangerous motor sport was in those days.
as used in List of disasters), I moved the article to 1955 Le Mans disaster. Rating is available when the video has been rented. Even now, over half a century later, the echos of that dark day still reverberate in the hearts and minds of everyone who lived through it.A final, chilling footnote.
Aerial view of Le Mans course. Le Mans, France. The fans loved the spectacle, but not everyone was thrilled.
I think that if that were to happen today, the “blame” would be on the race track owner or race sanctioning body for not building the track safe enough. as used in Le Mans 24h races) and disasters (e.g. Font Size: On this day in 1955, the world’s worst racing disaster took place.
This sporting tragedy is the most catastrophic accident in motor racing history. Others would like to see it get crushed and melted down, for obvious reasons.1955 was a bad year for racing. Avid race fans came to watch the beautifully styled and impeccably engineered race cars rush past them at death-defying speeds mere feet away. The 100s was the lightweight competition version of the Healey 100, looks the same except for different grill shape.Macklin’s AH was one of four factory prototypes. This sporting tragedy is the most catastrophic accident in motor racing history. Le Mans Videos. Even then, racing fatalities were nothing new. Throwback: Watch the horrifying 1955 Le Mans racing disaster in slow motion [VIDEO] Comments Paxton Delany Contributor. Driver and spectator safety were an afterthought, if they were even thought of at all. It is also hard to imagine that these countries were at war killing millions only a decade earlier.Copyright 2011 - 2020 Curbside Classics. Video: The 1955 Le Mans Disaster. In those days, racing was less about huge cash prizes and lucrative sponsorships, and more a matter of both national pride and personal fortitude.Beyond all the pomp and circumstance, the fierce flag-waving and the hero worship of the drivers, darker forces were lurking just beneath the surface.
Le Mans Videos.
ENeville 18:43, 22 September 2006 (UTC) Comment on the cause and withdrawal Others are glad to see such a rare and valuable piece of racing history restored to its former glory. Le Mans, start of the 24-hour sports car race, pan with cars as they streak away. It was tragedy that led to improvements in racetrack design and safety, which is the only way to salvage some good from such a terrible event.Haven’t seen those photos of the Healey before. By the dawn of the 1950s, international motor racing had become more colorful, more exciting, and more glamorous than ever before. I still have that issue, and it still affects me as it did then.It was difficult to watch, but worth it. Entire books have been written, documentary films have been produced, and the debates have rattled on for decades about exactly what happened on lap 35 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955—and who might be to blame. Published on Apr 13, 2014. Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed and blew up at 125mph, killing Levegh and sending debris flying in to the crowd. Posted on March 29, 2015 by MCG. Le Mans Disaster (1955): 83 people were killed and 120 were injured. There is also the fact that Levegh was past his prime, and even had forebodings about this very race, and yet he was piloting one of the fastest vehicles on earth. The car at the center of all this, Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healy 100 prototype, was repaired just one year after the crash. Fifty-nine years ago, the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race started like any other. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It turned friends into enemies, fans into critics, and winners into losers.
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