This two-minute newsreel from British Pathe reports on the most terrible disaster in motorsports history: the crash and fire at Le Mans in 1955 that claimed the lives of 84 people.
Entire books have been written, documentary films have been produced, and the debates have rattled on for decades about exactly what happened on lap 35 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955—and who might be to blame. Briefly: The Mercedes 300SLR of Pierre Levegh vaulted over the rear deck of Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey, hurtling fire and auto parts into the densely packed crowd along the pit straight. Levegh and 83 spectators were killed in the catastrophe, and another 120 were injured.
To this day, Le Mans ’55 is the most horrible disaster in the history of auto racing, and the sport was changed forever. With typical British decorum, this British Pathe newsreel feature briefly and competently describes the tragic events of that day. (View a color video recap of the entire race here at Mac’s Motor City Garage.) If you’re a student of the automobile and auto racing, this is a necessary moment in the curriculum. Video below.
While the scale of this accident was extraordinary, we forget just how dangerous motor sport was in those days. Deaths of drivers and particularly riders were a regular occurrence, and spectators weren’t so safe either. It was more or less accepted that motor sport was a dangerous activity – old film clips show racing on tree-lined circuits, unbelted drivers sitting in cockpits alongside simple tanks of liquid fuel. And with spectators viewing from the very edge of the track. Thank God those days are gone.
In case you’re unaware, a car flew over the catchfence at Nurburgring yesterday and killed at least one spectator. It was flat bottomed and caught air cresting a hill.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3016244/Spectator-dies-Nurburgring-British-racing-driver-Jann-Mardenborough-s-car-flips-air-crashes-crowd.html
Indeed, GT3 cars now banned there.