In memoriam: 60 years ago, horror petrified the 24 Hours of Le Mans

On Saturday, June 11, 1955, the accident and the off-track incident of Pierre Levegh in his Mercedes No. 20 triggered a chain reaction that remains to this day one of the most terrible tragedies in motorsports.

The famous and prestigious race in Le Mans had surpassed the two-hour mark. It was 18:18. Mike Hawthorn, future Formula 1 World Champion, and incidentally, future winner of a race that would not even be stopped, was leading, closely followed by a certain Juan Manuel Fangio in a Mercedes. The Englishman then wanted to refuel; he overtook his compatriot Lance Macklin, lapping him, then braked abruptly to enter the pits. Macklin was forced to swerve to avoid the collision. He was driving an Austin-Healey with a braking system much less effective than Hawthorn’s Jaguar. Behind the two men, Pierre Levegh was caught off guard by the maneuver and could not avoid the crash, at 200 km/h, brutal and devastating.

Horror in the popular stands

Levegh’s Mercedes flies into the stands, crosses a protective embankment. The engine and front axle disintegrate. The lives of many spectators are snuffed out in a flash, cut down as if by bomb fragments, noted Le Télégramme. The driver himself will not survive. His car explodes. The total toll will amount to 82 dead and several dozen injured, many of them children. On the circuit, it’s absolute horror. Jean-Paul Guittet, now a member of the medical team for the event, recalls the Renault trucks in which bodies were placed and which were bleeding from the rear (Ouest-France).

An investigative commission will be appointed to clarify the causes of the tragedy. It will not accuse Hawthorn, Levegh, Mercedes, or the security around the spectators. Nonetheless, motorsport is deeply affected and must face itself. The safety conditions at Le Mans – although considered a standard at the time – are significantly increased, at the expense of speeds now deemed out of control.

A chain reaction

Automobile racing in general is designated as the scapegoat by public opinion and by political leaders. Many races, on every continent, will be banned in the months and years following the catastrophe. The F1 Grand Prix races in France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland are canceled. In Mexico, the famous Carrera Panamericana is skipped. Switzerland, moreover, still bans circuit racing. But Le Mans will return the following year.

Involved in the accident, Mercedes decides to withdraw from motorsport, in endurance racing as well as in Formula 1. Juan Manuel Fangio had been crowned with the Silver Arrows in 1954 and 1955. Mercedes would return as an F1 engine supplier in 1993 only, and as a full constructor in 2010. Lewis Hamilton, in 2014, thus became the first Mercedes driver to be crowned Formula 1 World Champion with Mercedes since Juan Manuel Fangio.

In Search of Zero Risk

The 1955 Le Mans disaster is the origin of a profound crisis in motorsport, while also allowing for a serious reevaluation around safety issues. Never has a tragedy shaken the Le Mans event so much. Nevertheless, Le Mans still claims lives in the last forty years: André Halier, Jean-Louis Lafosse, Jo Gartner, Sébastien Enjolras, and Allan Simonsen (in 2013, at Tertre Rouge) have lost their lives competing in this legendary race.

As the 2015 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is about to begin, Vincent Beaumesnil, Sports Director at the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, highlights his recent priorities: « We worked on the structures, on the visibility, and we also installed wheel retention cables so that, in the event of an accident, a stray wheel doesn’t go anywhere ». 1674 race marshals will oversee the drivers participating this weekend.