[14] Levegh's lifeless body, severely burned, lay in full view on the pavement until a gendarme hauled down a banner to cover it. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. [15][8] The Jaguar team in turn questioned the fitness and competence of Macklin and Levegh as drivers. The wreckage was examined and tested and, finally, returned to Mercedes-Benz nearly 12 months after the catastrophe. When he pit stopped during the next lap, he staggered out of the car completely distraught, adamant that he had caused the catastrophe. Five days after his accident, Hansgen died in the American military hospital of Orlans, France, where he had been admitted. But widen the scope of the camera, and you get a real feel that this victory had been tainted with something utterly terrible. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Mike Hawthorne, the leader in the Jaguar, was getting close to the pit area as he approached driver Lance Macklin who he would lap. [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. Browse 305 le mans 1955 stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. . The car split into three pieces. . The French police files have never been opened, and one long time Le Mans racing chief later estimated the death toll at 130. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. The French magazine L'Auto-Journal published it with the sarcastic caption, " votre sant, Monsieur Hawthorn!" The significant chunk of the car slammed into a concrete structure and disintegrated, causing the fuel tank to explode. Here, a man holds the body of a child. - It exploded like a grenade spewing debris through the grandstand, killing anyone within the blast radius. [3][25][27], Hawthorn and the Jaguar team kept racing. Tirez parti du rseau mondial GettyImages, avec plus de 340 000 crateurs, pour dvelopper un contenu exclusif, cr spcialement pour votre marque. Here is a full view of the crash site from the nearby stands. That said, the circuit had been resurfaced and widened after the Second World War. Below is that interview in full. 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. On Sunday morning, Bonnier approached the Indianapolis bend before Arnage and tried to avoid the slowly driven Ferrari 365GTB4 #35 of Florian Vetsch. On the other hand: damn those Jaguar D-types look nice. Entering the straight, his Matra veered off the inside of the track and exploded into flames. French magazin L'Auto-Journal published the image with the sarcastic laden caption, votre sant, Monsieur Hawthorn. ("To your health, Mr Hawthorn."). The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. It ended with the usual champagne, as well. Also, to a certain level to know which car makes the lowest pit stops throughout the race. 2023 Getty Images. The next round of the World Sportscar Championship at the Nrburgring was cancelled, as was the non-championship Carrera Panamericana. It's not long before you see bodies piled up. In the background of the picture below, you can see people on the other side of the track, standing on top of teams' pit garages, trying to see how bad things were. In the current world of social distancing, it is hard to imagine the crowd of. The importance of the crash is not how two cars crashed into each other. Exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, Larivire lost control of his car and launched over a sandbank along the. In all, a total of 22 drivers have died in and around the Circuit de la Sarthe,[1] with more than half occurring along the circuit's Mulsanne Straight. The horror of the crash caused some drivers present, including Americans Fitch (after completing the season with Mercedes), Phil Walters (who had been offered a drive with Ferrari for the rest of the season[2]), and Sherwood Johnston, to retire from racing. [25][26] Their retirement was briefly announced over the public address system. Fitch said that in light of "recent unpleasantness," Mercedes "should not win this race over the bodies of however many.. French people." Other bodies are scattered near the picket fence where the Mercedes racer crashed. What stands out in these pictures is the confusion. 312 Le Mans 1955 Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE 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. The media also speculated on the violent fire that engulfed the wreck, which intensified when fire marshals poured their water-based extinguishers on the flames. 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. I'll try and give an explanation of how it happened, why so many people died, and why the organizers didn't cancel the race after the crash. 2023 Getty Images. These big wigs included Ferrari, Jaguar, and Mercedes Benz, who were past winners of the competition. "Mike could have been mistaken about how fast my car was going," Macklin would tell Sports Illustrated in a 1986 interview. 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. The Le Mans organizers did not actually stop the race. On the one hand: worst accident in autoracing so far, with one dead pilot and about 80 dead spectators. Browse 312 le mans 1955 stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. He recalled: "The scene on the other side of the road was indescribable. You have accepted push notifications for this content. 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. With his eyes shut, Fangio with his own quick reflexes squeezed through the carnage and brushed Hawthorn's then-stationary Jaguar in the pits, allowing him to pass unscathed. The circuit at Le Mans is incredibly long, and information was even more sparse away from the immediate vicinity of the crash. 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. The investigation zeroed in on Hawthorns attempt to overtake British driver Lance Macklins Austin Healey and a sudden catastrophic decision to pit. Cole was thrown from the car and died at the scene. The dead and dying were everywhere; the cries of pain, anguish, and despair screamed catastrophe. The discussion focused on traffic policy and environmental questions rather than on safety. Showing Editorial results for le mans 1955. Stewart's campaign gained momentum after the deaths of Lorenzo Bandini and Jim Clark. Levegh was killed outright as he was flung from the car and thrown onto the track. There was also the criticism of the winner Mike Hawthorne for celebrating excessively, but he pushed back, saying it was no fault of his. Look at how dense the crowd was. Levegh's Mercedes flipped into the air and struck the sandbank at the side of the track. (AP Photo/Jimmy Prickett), A man holds a child in the left background while a woman bends over a lifeless body following the racing car crash and explosion during the 24 hour endurance race at Le Mans, France, June 11, 1955. Fangio never raced at Le Mans again. During preliminary tests on a wet track on Saturday morning, April 2, 1966 he lost control and drove down an escape road. Life in Harlem in 1970 Photographed by Jack Garofalo, The Burning Monk: The Story Behind the Shocking and Iconic Image of Thich Quang Duc Immolating Himself on a Saigon Street, 1963. At exactly 4:00pm, the race began with the normal pace expected, with some of the big wigs such as Mercedes-Benz having a slow start and falling behind lesser-known names. The car lacked the more effective state-of-the-art disc brakes featured on the rival Jaguar D-Type, instead incorporating inboard drum brakes and a large air brake behind the driver that could be raised to increase drag and slow the car.[2]. Eighty-three spectators and driver Pierre Levegh died and 120 more were injured in the most catastrophic accident in motorsport history. It had been Levegh's unprecedented solo drive in the 1952 race that failed in the last hour, which allowed Mercedes-Benz their first Le Mans victory. In picture, shown on Finishing Straight, car numbered '25' (Jaguar Works, XKD 605, 'long-nose') was 6th at Le Mans in 1956. Two hours later, photographers captured priests performing last rites. I stood as if in a dream, too horrified to even think. A special mass was held in the morning in the Le Mans Cathedral for the first funerals of the victims. [8] Coming out of the Maison Blanche portion of the course, he rapidly caught Lance Macklin in his Austin Healey 100S, who had seen him and moved over to the right to let him pass. 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. ", Get the latest news from the world of sport along with the best opinion from our outstanding team of sport writers, direct to your inbox every Friday. 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. As a contemporary issue of LIFE states, it was to signal to Fangio behind him to slow down. The cars touched, Bonnier's was launched over the barriers and ended up in the trees. Both Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz issued official statements, mainly in self-defense against the accusations leveled against them and their drivers. 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. It's hard to say just how many people died in the crash. The grandstand was demolished and rebuilt with new spectator terraces and a wide ditch between them and the racetrack. 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 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. The Mercedes' body was partially made of a magnesium alloy. Accdez au meilleur de Getty Images avec un simple abonnement. [3], Jaguar driver Duncan Hamilton, watching from the pit wall, recalled, "The scene on the other side of the road was indescribable. [25][3] Tony Rolt and other drivers had been raising concerns about the pit straight since 1953. (AP Photo), 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. Macklin survived the incident without serious injury, jumping out of the wreck and over the bank. It was an appalling tragedy that shocked the world and changed the face of motorsports forever. In the middle as many as 130 died in the most horrific disaster in. Hawthorn retired from motorsport soon after but was ironically killed when overtaking a Mercedes on a slippery road near his Surrey home in 1959. They argued that if the accident was announced, panic might sweep through the spectators and flood the streets, and that will make crowd control extreme and might have made rescue efforts very difficult. Innocence - along with a tragic human toll - was lost forever. The Lola was completely destroyed, debris from the car were all around the forest, Bonnier had been killed upon impact. "I felt the heat of his exhaust as he went by me, no more than three feet over my shoulder. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for the track design. Levegh would die before sunset. [25] Additional details emerged when the stills reviewed by Frre were converted to video form. Levegh crashed into the back of the Austin-Healey. Leveghs car, which was estimated to be travelling at over 150mph (240khm), flipped over and flew on before slamming into the bank by the spectator enclosure. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. They included: After an emergency meeting and vote of Mercedes-Benz company directors by telephone in Stuttgart, West Germany, Neubauer finally got the call approving his team's withdrawal just before midnight. 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. Le Mans, France: The wreckage of the death car and bodies of some of the victims felled by the explosion on Saturday. Maybe that's what makes these pictures still so very chilling. In 1957, D-Types were placed 1-2-3-4-6, with only a solitary Ferrari in 5th spoiling the parade. I've seen many shots of the '55 disaster, but never all of them in one place outside of the AP archives. The car overturned and exploded in flames following impact, killing Enjolras instantly. An initial news report claims 82 spectators killed, some decapitated by a flying hood "like a guillotine." As the Austin-Healey moved across the road, Levegh raised his hand. Cole was killed when his Ferrari left the road, impacting one of several farm houses lining the road at Maison Blanche. Even then, it took hours for that Mercedes boss to reach his superiors and get their approval to withdraw their cars. Showing Editorial results for le mans 1955. 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. Le Mans, France: The wreckage of the death car and bodies of some of the victims felled by the explosion on Saturday. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. His Monopole flipped at Maison Blanche, trapping and killing the driver. Aside from two layout changes to make the circuit shorter, the Circuit de la Sarthe was largely unaltered since the inception of the race in 1923, when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of 100km/h (60mph). By 1955, top speeds for the leading cars were over 270km/h (170mph). 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. Putting another lap on Macklin coming up to the main straight, Hawthorn then raised his hand to indicate he was pitting and pulled across to the right (from Hawthorn's testimony). Just behind Hawthorn was a much slower Austin-Healey, actually a lap down on Hawthorn. The dead and dying were everywhere; the cries of pain, anguish, and despair screamed catastrophe. (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. Indeed, the German company withdrew from all motor racing at the end of that season and did not return until 1987. Other pictures show them dragging his body to the pits. 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. At the Circuit de la Sarthe, the audience stands at the pits were demolished. 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. The film cuts short as the recorder dives for cover. [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]. The crash started when Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorn pulled to the right side of the track in front of Austin-Healey driver Lance Macklin and started braking for his pit stop. In the current world of social distancing, it is hard to imagine the crowd of spectators who had squeezed into Le Mans on the afternoon of June 11, 1955. 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. The dead and dying were everywhere; the cries of pain, anguish, and despair screamed catastrophe. The cars continued to zoom around the massive 8.383-mile circuit as emergency morgues were set up and ambulances ferried the walking wounded to hospitals. Instead it pointed the finger of blame at the track layout which was deemed unsuitable for such high- speed racing. then went back and tried to rescue others.". 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. 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. A further 120 people were injured. [9][14], The critical kink in the road put the car on a direct trajectory toward the packed terraces and grandstand. Jaguar went on to win the race. When Mercedes pulled out, they approached the Jaguar team. Organise, control, distribute, and measure all of your digital content. 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.