1955 Le Mans Race Disaster

In this episode of 'History's a Disaster,' Andrew delves into the tragic events of the 1955 24 Hours of LeMans racing event in France, where a catastrophic accident led to the deaths of 84 people, making it the worst disaster in motorsport history. The episode recounts the sequence of events, starting from the race's inception, highlighting the poor track design, lack of safety measures, and a fateful chain of decisions that resulted in the horrific crash. The aftermath of the tragedy led to significant changes in racing safety regulations and a temporary ban on motorsports in several countries. The episode concludes by discussing the legacy of the disaster and its impact on future races.

00:00 The Worst Accident in Motor Sports History
00:37 Introduction to the 24 Hours of Le Mans
01:56 The Teams and Their Cars
05:21 The Race Begins
07:06 The Tragic Crash
11:05 The Aftermath and Reactions
14:09 Long-Term Consequences
17:02 Changes in Racing Safety
19:49 Conclusion and Reflections

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Transcript

Andrew: 0:00

In June of 1955, during France's 24 hours of Lamont's race event, one driver's poor choice combined with poor track design and lack of safety precautions would combine to set up a chain of events which would lead to the deaths of 84 people in what would become the worst accident in motor sports history. So what happened? I'm Andrew. This is History's a disaster. Tonight we are taking a dive into the tragedy that occurred during the 24 hours of LeMans racing event in 1955. It was the worst crash in mortar sport history that would end up getting racing banned in multiple countries. The 24 hours of Lamont is a race focused on endurance, meaning it's not about who has the best times, but who can go the furthest in 24 hours. It is considered one of the most prestigious races along with the Monaco Grand Prix in the Indy 500. The race is organized by France's largest car group, the a CO. It is held on the Circuit de la, which is a combination of public roads and dedicated racetracks located in Lamonts, France. The race obviously last for 24 hours, and the winner is whoever goes further. Car makers and their race teams had to find a balance between speed and the ability of the car to run for 24 hours without failing. Too much time in the pit could be the difference between winning and losing. In 1955, the three most anticipated teams were Ferrari, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz. All three teams were past champions, and all three had new and improved cars in the race. Mercedes had just unveiled their new 300 SLR, which featured an ultra lightweight body made from a magnesium alloy. However, instead of using the more effective disc brakes like Jaguar used, they opted to go with a drum brake and an air brake, which could be raised or lowered to slow the car down by increasing drag. That just sounds like a really stupid idea. Air brakes are typically used in aircraft to slow the speed of the craft down by the increasing drag doesn't really sound like something you'd want in a vehicle where you need to slow down or stop right now, but what the fuck do I know? I don't even change my own oil. Other than two small changes to the trek to make it shorter and the streets wider. The trek was largely unchanged since the race began in 1923, which sounds great. You race it enough, you know the roads right. Which that's all fine and good. However, the average speed of the race in 1923 was 60 miles per hour. The average speed in 1955 was one 70. Roads made when cars were slower are not exactly ideal for speeds, almost tripled for what they were made to handle. The most major changes were made when the grand stands and pits had been rebuilt, but they did not put up any kind of barricades between the track and the pits and just a four foot Earthed bank between the spectators and the racetrack. So basically the people watching had a pile of dirt between them and the speeding cars. Oh, and the cars had no seat belts.'cause apparently being thrown from the car was preferred to being trapped in the car that was possibly burning all the cars were open to. So in a way it makes sense. I mean, I could be wrong here, but in the event of a rollover, being ejected might be more survivable than being strapped in a convertible. Either way, it's not gonna be a good day for the driver. The start and finish line was the most exciting place to be. It was also the most dangerous. This was where the quarter mile pit area of the track was. The area was extremely narrow with no separation from the main track and the pit. There was no deceleration lane going into the pit, so you had to slow down on the track before going into the pits, and to top this all off, as drivers came into this area, they had to deal with this weird right turn coming in on Saturday, June 11th at 4:00 PM exactly. The French flag dropped. The drivers ran across the track and hopped into their waiting cars for a standing start. Juan fang's luck failed. As he hopped into his car, his gear shift got caught on his pant leg, causing him to start in the rear. Eugenio Castelli took an early lead in his Ferrari setting a new record for his first lap. Mike Hawthorne and his Jaguar pushed ahead to slide into second place. Juan fought through his first two laps to finally take third as he finished his third lap. These three would set 10 new lap records in the first two hours of the race. They set a fast pace, more like a Grand Prix. The crowd grew excited. They were all over standing on tables and chairs. All to get a better view over the dirt pile. Half an hour into the race, they were going so fast. They were starting to left the score cars on the track. 70 minutes into the race, Eugenio fucked up and nearly lost control of the car. In his struggle to regain control, Mike and Juan passed him to take the lead. They fought each other hard to take and keep first place. Juan would get ahead only to lose the lead. By lap 18, he took and held the lead longer. Mike was pissed and pushed ahead, harder to take first. Again, his only thought was to get ahead and stay ahead. Nothing else mattered. Going into LAP 33, Mike was signaled to refuel and change drivers. On the upward slope leading to the pit strait with the grandstand approaching. He lapped Pierre's Mercedes for the first time and began to gain rapidly on a slower car that he had lapped three times already. Lance Macklin's Austin Healy, Lance traveling at 135 miles per hour, had seen him coming in his rear view mirror and moved to the right to let him pass by. Mike overtook him and then signaled he was going to pit. He swung back in front of Lance suddenly as he slammed on his brakes for his pit entry. This forced Lance to slam on his brakes, realizing he was about to rear end the Jaguar. He swerved left to avoid it unaware. This would put him directly in the path of Pierre's Mercedes flying up at over 120 miles per hour. Pierre had no time to avoid what was coming. He threw off a quick hand signal to Juan who was coming up behind him to slow down. Pierre's Mercedes collided with the sloping rear of the Austin Healy at nearly 150 miles per hour and was launched into the air. Lance could feel the heat from the Mercedes exhaust as it passed over his head. The Mercedes would roll and over end for 300 feet, as Pierre was thrown from the car dying instantly as his skull was crushed between the car and the pavement. The car bounced off. The dirt pile meant to protect the spectators before it crashed into a concrete stairwell and exploded. Sending shards of hot metal hurdling into an open public enclosure next to the grandstand. Spectators on both sides of the track said that the impact sounded like a bomb going off. The grandstands turned into screaming chaos. The huge impact had torn the engine and front axle from the car and sent both of these large pieces along with the hood, which had torn loose slicing through a shoulder to shoulder crowd. 50 people were killed in an instant. Many of them decapitated As the hood spun through the crowd, the engine and axle would travel nearly 300 feet through the grandstand, crushing anyone in its path. The burning chassis appears. Mercedes sat atop the embankment, his dead body below. Marshall sprayed water on the flames, which only made the magnesium components in the chassis burn stronger. It would be hours before the blaze would finally go out. The collision had sent Lance's Austin Healy spinning backwards through the pits. It ran down. A cop, a photographer, and two race officials, all four. Seriously injured. Surprisingly, Lance exited his vehicle, unhurt Juan, who had been coming up behind. Pierre, had cut such a tight path through the crashing vehicles that a streak of green paint from one of the British cars was later found on his Mercedes. He would later say that, Pierre, by raising his arm and warning right before the collision had saved his life. Mike had overshot the Jaguar pits and was trying to get out of his car distraught because the rules prohibited Driving backwards, team manager Lofty England, ordered him back into his car to do another lap before handing the car over to teammate Iver Boob. The entire area was in chaos as panicked. Spectators attempted to flee. Cops and volunteers fought against the crowd as they made their way to the scene. Advertising boards were written down to be used as stretchers. Doctors on hand dealt with the dead and wounded priests went through the crowd offering last rights to the dead in French and German. In the Mercedes pit driver, John Fitch was standing suited up and ready to take over with Pierre's wife. They watched the whole thing. As it happened. Pierre's severely burnt body still lay on the pavement in full view. A cop would eventually take down a banner to cover it. The Mercedes team urged a withdrawal from the race. The team manager did not have the authority to do so. Within a half hour of the crash, the news was reporting 48 confirmed deaths. That number would continue to rise. Race officials let the race continue. They would later issue multiple reasons for not canceling the race from either not having the authority. To fear that the gathered crowd leaving all at the same time would clog the roads and prevent medical personnel from reaching the area to help the company. Directors of Mercedes-Benz held an emergency meeting and voted for pulling out of the race just before midnight. The call came into the race team with that approval. Alfred Neubauer, the Mercedes team manager waited nearly two hours for most of the spectators to leave to pull his team off the track and announce they're leaving. They had currently been running in first place. Their trucks would be loaded up and they would be gone by morning. The Jaguar team had been asked if they were going to pull out also, but they declined to do so. Mike Hawthorne would return to the track and the team would keep racing. With Mercedes gone and the Ferrari's team outta commission, Jaguar's main competition was gone. Mike and teammate Iver would end up winning the race with the second place Aston Martin team finishing five laps behind them while there was no victory celebration. A photograph would appear of Mike smiling in drinking champagne from the Victor's bottle. A French auto magazine Auto Journal would later sarcastically publish it with the caption to your health, Mr. Hawthorne. The official death toll stands at 84 83 spectators and one driver, Pierre. With up to 180 suffering injuries from the crash, this would lead to a temporary ban on motor sports in most European countries until racetracks could meet a higher safety standard. In the United States, the American Automobile Association shut down their contest board, which had been their sanctioning arm for auto racing since 1904. It was felt that auto racing distracted them from their main focus, such as advocating for better road conditions and running driver safety programs. And much later. What? They're more commonly known for roadside assistance. The United States Automobile Club would end up being formed and take over auto racing in the states. Most countries would end up lifting their bands within a year of the crash. France would lift DURs within several months. With France's Ministry of the Interior, releasing several new reg, several new regulations regarding not only racing, but the approval of future race events. On the other side of the spectrum, you have Switzerland who would not even start talking about lifting nerve band until 2003. In 2015, it was partially lifted for electric cars and it would be fully lifted in 2022. The ban forced Swiss race promoters to organize events in foreign countries like France and Germany. The next race of the 1955 World Sports Car Championship being held in Berg, Germany was canceled along with another non championship race. The Carrera Pan Americana, a rally race held in Mexico. The rest of the season would be completed, but it would be set back a few months following the crash. The British RAC tourist trophy and the Italian Targa choreo would be held in September and October. The Mercedes team would go on to win both of these races. The horror of the crash caused several drivers to retire from racing either at the end of the race or after the season finished. The grand stance at the Lamonts track by the pit would be taken out for following races. The weird right hand turn would be straightened out and a deceleration lane would be added to the entrance of the pits. The official government inquiry into the crash after a lengthy investigation and examination of the wreckage would rule that no one was responsible and that it was just a tragic accident. The death of the spectators was blamed on poor safety standards in the tracks design. That was the official stance at least. In the years following, Mike would take a lot of shit and all of the blame in the media for slamming on his brakes and swerving, which led to the crash. This would become the somewhat official pronouncement from the Mercedes team and Lance Macklin's story. The Jaguar team would turn around and blame Lance and Pierre. Basically calling them out as incompetent and unable to drive at high speeds. In 1958, Mike released an autobiography in which he claimed no responsibility for the crash and put all the blame on Lance. And Lance was pissed. After he read the book, he would go on to file a defamation suit against Mike. However, Mike would be killed in 1959 while driving down a wet highway before the trial was finished. And ironically, the crash occurred while he was trying to pass a Mercedes in his Jaguar. At the end of the 1955 race season, Mercedes withdrew from racing. This was planned well ahead of the accident, so was not caused from it. They would return in the mid eighties as an engine supplier and would not have another race team until the nineties before quitting again for a final time in 99. In addition to safer tracks after the accident, safety standards for cars were improved, the use of fire resistant materials was required along with better structural integrity. In other words, the frames had to be stronger over time with more driver deaths during crashes. Safety standards would be constantly revisited and revised. Nobody wanted a repeat of 1955, and there was a major push to make sure it would never happen again, and that. Was the 1955 Lamont's Racing disaster, the worst accident in mortar sports history. Thanks for listening. And if you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on your Apple Choice, and you can also reach the show at Histories a disaster@gmail.com or on Facebook and Instagram at the same name. And don't forget to share the show because sharing is caring and if there was more caring in the world, maybe history wouldn't be a disaster. Thanks, Anne. Goodbye.