The Worst Crash In History - The Le Mans 1955 Disaster



The world of motorsport has come to terms with the reality of just how dangerous it can get for the drivers. Although safety innovations have continually made racing safer, drivers and riders alike are fully
aware of the risks involved.


Sadly, this risk often isn't solely limited to the drivers, with many examples of spectators and event staff being caught in the crossfire.


Possibly the worst example of a crash involving spectators was the le mans disaster of 1955. Despite the crash involving just 2 cars, over 83 people lost their lives, as a result of a freak accident paired with little in the way of spectator safety.


The 24 hour le mans event started as it would any other year, with intensely competitive driving which the fans were in awe of, right from the start. Sadly, just 35 laps in, the race would take a turn for the worst.
Mike Hawthorn, who was at the front of the pack in his Jaguar,
was fighting toe to toe with Lance Macklin, in an Austin Healey.
Hawthorn then quickly got on the brakes to make a pit stop.
At this point, Macklin was mere feet away from Hawthorn, and in an attempt to avoid crashing into Hawthorn's Jag, and keep at the front of the pack, he quickly darted to the side and braked. What he didn't realise at the time, was that this quick change of direction put him directly in the path of Pierre Levegh, who was piloting a Mercedes 300 SLR.
Much of the Mercedes had been made from a Magnesium Alloy, which is important later on. Pierre was now bombing towards Macklin's Healey at about 120 miles an hour, and a high speed crash at this point
was unavoidable. The Healey's rear end design is very low and sloping, a typical feature of many sports cars of the era. The front end of the mercedes was equally rounded, which meant that when the two collided, Pierre's Mercedes was launched into the air with immense force, with the Austin acting as a sort of ramp. This is a shockingly similar scenario to the RS6 Autobahn incident a couple of years ago.


From looking at the track's layout, it's clear to see that Pierre in his Mercedes were headed straight for a large grandstand,
which lay metres from the track, with spectators shielded by next to nothing.


The Mercedes landed with considerable force short of the spectators, however it bounced, before smashing into part of a large
concrete stairwell. The overwhelming force of the impact of the Mercedes with the barrier effectively turned the car into a massive frag grenade.


Huge pieces of Levegh's car were launched directly at the crowd, showering them in sharp, burning hot metal. But It wasn't just small fragments which made their way through the crowd, hitting anyone in the way. A majority of the car remained in large sections, flipping several times through the area, carving a hundred metre long path of mass casualties along the way. Almost the entire engine flew across the air, injuring several people. The car's thin, lightweight bonnet flew through the air like a frisbee, d* a number of spectators before finally landing.
The front suspension largely stayed intact, crushing dozens.


Pierre was thrown from the car, immediately passing from the severe impact from landing directly onto the track.


Mere seconds from the initial crash, the car's petrol tank exploded, after landing on the embankment. Since much of the bodywork was made from a magnesium alloy, it could catch fire at a considerably lower temperature than other metals. These components lit up, burning a white hot flame, which burned much of the crowd severely.


Unbeknownst to the emergency personnel, covering a magnesium fire with water doesn't put it out. In fact, it had the opposite effect.
After dousing the blaze, the fire burned even greater than before, and didn't stop burning for hours.


That wasn't the only crash of the day, however.
The Austin Healey, which the Mercedes had hit, smashed into a barrier, before swerving into the pit lane. He missed a number of cars in the pit, which had been refuelling. Instead, he crashed into a wall, hitting a policeman, photographer and two race officials.
All of those people were badly hurt.
Surprisingly, Macklin got away with only light injuries, after managing to hop out from the wreck.
What followed this huge catastrophe is also heart-breaking.


Despite the widespread panic and chaos that day, the race continued.


Mike Hawthorn, who was in the Jaguar and had driven in for the pits, was distraught. Immediately after getting out, his team ordered him to get back in and do an additional lap, to get away from whatever was going on around them. When he came back to the pit one lap later, he was beside himself. He was adamant he was responsible for the disaster.

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