Le Mans 1955 disaster

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The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 heures du Mans) is the world's most famous sports car endurance race, held annually at Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, in the French Sarthe département. The 1955 race was marred by a crash that killed over 80 people and had implications for both racing and the Mercedes-Benz company.

Unlike many other races where the speed in curves is more important than top speed, top speed was a critical parameter for being competitive in Le Mans. This led to special body designs like the "Long Tail" bodies pioneered by Charles Deutsch and Robert Choulet. Braking at the end of the straight is also critical; the first use of disc brakes on a car was in a Jaguar racing in Le Mans. Mercedes-Benz still used drum-brake in 1955, but also used a special hood as an "air brake".

Contents

1 Accident
2 Aftermath

2.1 Mercedes 1999 incidents

3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Accident

Diagram of 1955 crash

On June 11, 1955, Pierre Levegh was invited to drive a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR after his excellent previous efforts. He was chasing Mike Hawthorn, when Hawthorn's Jaguar passed the slower Austin-Healey of Lance Macklin before suddenly braking and pulling over to the right to enter the pits. This forced the Austin-Healey to move over to the left, into the path of two faster Mercedes driven by Levegh and Juan Manuel Fangio, who was approaching at high speed.

Fangio, driving behind Levegh, narrowly escaped. Levegh did not have time to react, and his car ran into the sloped back of the Austin-Healey, was catapulted into the air, and crashed on top of an earth bank designed to protect the crowd. The engine and other parts flew from the chassis and into the crowd. Levegh and 80 spectators were killed; many others were injured. Large portions of the car were made of magnesium which then ignited intense fires—which, due to the nature of magnesium combustion, were only accelerated when water was used in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

Aftermath

The race was continued, officially in order to prevent departing spectators from crowding the roads and slowing down ambulances. By order from Stuttgart, the remaining Mercedes cars (driven by Fangio, Stirling Moss and others) were withdrawn from the race during the night as a sign of respect to the victims. Mike Hawthorn and the Jaguar team kept driving and won the race; they refused to take responsibility for the crash, and later were cleared of any wrongdoing.

In the shock following this disaster, many major and minor races were cancelled in 1955, like the Formula One Grand Prix races in Germany and Switzerland - the latter country banned circuit automobile racing, a ban which still remains in effect today.

Mercedes 1999 incidents

At the end of the season, having won World Championships in Formula One and Sports Cars, Mercedes withdrew from motor racing generally, and did not return until 1987. That today's DaimlerChrysler Corporation, owner of the Mercedes marque, is still aware of and sensitive to this incident was evidenced by their re-withdrawal from sports car racing in 1999 after their CLR sports prototypes caught air and backflipped three times at Le Mans. Aerodynamic modifications made to the #4 car after a practice crash couldn't prevent it from becoming airborne again during the warm-up, this time at a different section of the track. The remaining two slightly different cars started the race, but the #5 car took off like an airplane and somersaulted into the forest, in front of a live TV audience. Incredibly, driver Peter Dumbreck escaped without injury, as Mark Webber had done twice before. Car #6 was retired immediately. Similar accidents involving a Porsche 911 GT1 and a BMW V12 LMR happened in the USA during the 1998 and 2000 racing seasons, respectively.

References

Le Mans 1965 in Automobile Historique n°48 May 2005 (in French)
24 heures du Mans 1973 in Automobile Historique n°49 June/July 2005 (in French)

External links

[LIFE magazine report of the 1955 Le Mans Disaster]
[Fangio site]
[Le Mans official site]
[Club Arnage]
[Planetlemans]
[Maison Blanche] - fan site
[Mulsannes Corner] - fan site
[The-Paddock.net] Le Mans & sportscar racing news and pictures