STAFFY OWNER

Did anybody else watch the documentary on BBC4 at 9.00pm about the 1955 24 hour Le Mans race. It was an amazing program about one of the Mercedes race cars that crashed into the crowd killing 83 people (including the driver Pierre Levegh) and injuring another 120. Many of the spectators were standing on trestle tables to get a better view and as the car flew into the crowd a lot of them were decapitated or cut in half.
Ironically the driver who was blamed for the crash died later in a road crash on the Guildford bypass whilst overtaking another car in the rain - the car that he crashed into was a Mercedes.

If you get a chance to watch it on the BBCi player or anything similar it is well worth it, not in anyway gory but a real eye opener.

RickyLee53

I watched half then the little en took over the remote! Will put it on Iplayer later.

Paulo P

I'll stick this on the iplayer later thanks Sounds interesting. That accident was terrible though, probably the worst accident ever in motorsport?

Mike Kerbey

iTrader: (1)

I found it a very interesting program, I had no idea this had happened. I cant believe that the le mans 24 wasnt stopped altogether after an incident like that!

Rally Matt

There have been many incidents over the years where cars ended up in the crowds but look at the way things were and its easy to see why it used to happen. Motorsport is very very safe in comparison today so we can't image what the conditions were like back then.

I am sure it was this accident that lead to the motorsport ban in Austria.

I remember the terrible accident in Portugal when one of the Ford RS200's ploughed into the crowds, 14 were killed. Years later driving for FIAT in Argentina I saw first hand just how mad some of the spectators can be filling the road in front of you, only moving at the last moment and trying to touch car as you pass! By then in Europe things had got a lot better with spectator control although it can still be a bit hairy.

Back to the Le mans incident, its hard to blame Mike Hawthorne, the guy in the Healey should have backed off and not turned infront of the Merc. Sadly today, if it were to happen, 2 cars would be out of a race and some cross words said and put down to "a racing incident"

STAFFY OWNER

It may surprise you even more then to know that even after that crash the race continued on to the end, apparently the race organisers were worried that if they stopped the race the 200,000 spectators leaving the circuit would cause problems for the incoming ambulances coming in to treat the casualties.
The blame was a grey area really with some blaming Macklin in the Healey and others blaming Hawthorn in the Jaguar. If the same thing happened nowadays there would be the typical knee jerk reaction to saturate motor racing with safety measures and procedures although i don't think an accident on that scale is ever likely to happen again because of the improved barriers and fencing etc, at Le Mans on the section of track where the crash happened there was only a wall of earth about waist high according to the program.

Versus_Creations

iTrader: (1)

I watched this and was very interesting.

However it wasnt till 20+ years after 1955 that the real cause was shown in some random photographers collection that was used to make a short moving video from all the still pictures, its only then that it become obvious what happens.

It wasnt the mercs fault, the other car was out of control and swerved into the path of the merc which then drove up the back of it and took of into the crowd.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Great programme -

If you watched it, check out this site - really interesting

http://www.mike-hawthorn.org.uk/finality.php

STAFFY OWNER

Being repeated again on BBC2 now for anyone who originally missed it.

paul0461

and topgear tonight lol

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

just finished watching it, I knew there was a serious accident there in 55, but I didn't know it was up to 120 dead.

squizxr

Yea i see it on bbc 2!! TBH i never even knew there was a major crash back then, was mental watching it!! How they could have a pit lane there is beyond me, was always goin to lead to a massive accident!!

What really shocked me, is that there is no memorial there for those who died, not even a plaque, nothing, to me thats disgusting

Kieron

I can't see anywhere mentioned what the programme was called? I would like to try and find it to watch.

squizxr

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/...955%20Disaster