Pages:
Click on one of the following images to open up the page:
Page 1 - Introduction - Explanatory Notes etc.
Page 2 - The Cast (In Alphabetical Order)
Page 3 - Preparations
Page 4 - Practice and Qualifications
Page 5 - The Race I: Before The Crash
Page 6 - The Crash
Page 7 - The Race II: After The Crash
Page 8 - Conclusion
Page 9 - Credits And Bibliography
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THE FASTLANE :: Features :: Le Mans 1955 Tribute :: Page 2
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2. The Cast (in alphabetical order)
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81 spectators, some anonymous (19xx-1955) (French, British, Belgian). So many were killed and over a hundred (at least 108) injured. These two in the photograph weren't among them but might easily have been. 2 American soldiers stationed in France, Christoff and Forney, posing during the race. In the far background to the middle left of the pic the Dunlop arch at Tertre Rouge is visible. Every type of age, gender and social class was represented among the casualties, from small children to middle-aged garage owners, to virtually whole families out to enjoy themselves. This is what makes the 1955 Le Mans tragedy a universal human disaster, and one which cannot be contained within the boundaries of motor racing, or even sport as a whole. The partial list of casualties* (excluding Pierre Levegh): From the UK ( 2 ): Jack Diamond, 24; Robert Loxley, 23. From France ( 78 ): Blanche Jeanbart, age unknown; M. Languille, age unknown; Louis Lapouge, 30; Simone Malfrey, 20; Aristide Neraud, 45; Bernard Piermay, 20; Daniel Pignot, 40; Jean Poussin, 42; Genevieve Quinton, age unknown; Jean Retif, 20; Claude Reye, age unknown; Roger Riboulin, age unknown; Jean-Claude Favetto, 16; Bernard Rabot, 31; Denise Audebert-Las Rochas, age unknown; Janine Fournier, age unknown; Constant Gandon, age unknown; Denise Hivert, 27; Louis Le Coze, 27; Auguste Lebreton, age unknown; Lepage, age unknown; Jacques Marin, 15; Gaston Neveu, age unknown; Emile Robert, 31; Louis Rocher, 38; Pierre Rouchy, age unknown; Jacques Ruille, 22; Solange Travers, 22; Henry Tual, age unknown; Marie-Isidore Vaugon, 32; Achille Weill, 52; Joseph Weiss, age unknown; Jean-André Audebert-Las Rochas, age unknown; François Besnard, age unknown; Geneviève Bichot, 41; François Boitard, age unknown; René Campion, age unknown; Raymonde Cherici, age unknown; Gilbert Domer, 20; Régine Jarry, age unknown; André Lebaupin, 18; André Leroy, 43; François Reye, 22; Gérard Cornuaille, 16; Léquipe, age unknown; De Saint-Léger, age unknown; Mme. Raymonde Cléricy, age unknown; Mme. Geneviève Foglih, 41; Louis Grimault, 23; Chantal Grellier, 7; Josette Gouraud, age unknown; Donatien Gouraud, 26; Albert Gombert; age unknown; Roger Gauvrit, age unknown; Philippe Gauvrit, 19; Mme. Gauguin, age unknown; Simone Fousset, age unknown; Roland Fournier, 30; Jacques Fournier, age unknown; Michel Fourey, 15; Manuel Erausquin, 46; Robert Emile, 31; Fernand Gesbert, 53; Max Girard, 23; Claude Gautier, age unknown; Jacques Daugey, 30; Georgette Benoist***, age unknown; Guy Bellicot, age unknown; Marcel Berges, age unknown; Roger Bridoux, age unknown; Marcel Brion, 31; Roland Brunet, age unknown; Claude Brunet, age unknown; Jean-Louis-Robert Delasalle, 26; Gilbert Delabarre, age unknown; Robert Divaret, 51. From Belgium ( 1 ): Simone Van den Eiden, née Delavigne, 22.
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The A. C. O., aka Automobile Club de l'Ouest. (1906-) (French) Organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As such responsible for track safety, among other things. No names of individuals connected with the organization are mentioned.
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Elie Bayol (1914-1995) (French), F1-driver who survived the awful Gordini T24S practice crash at the 1955 Le Mans. He would unsuccesfully return to F1 the following year, and then disappeared from racing - possibly due to after-effects of his Le Mans crash.
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Pierre Eugènne Alfred "Levegh"** Bouillin (1905-1955) (French) Unlucky veteran driver who only ever wanted to win Le Mans, after watching the race as a spectator in 1930. Pierre drove in the 1938, 39, 52, 52, 53, 54 and 55 Le Mans, and was probably in terms of endurance racing the most experienced of all the drivers in the tragic race, along with Reg Parnell and Eric Thompson. Hired that year (because Paul Frère had declined Neubauer's offer to join in 1954, and on the merits of his famous 1952 feat****) by Mercedes-Benz to drive the third 300SLR in the race with John Fitch, who never got to drive the car. Nicknamed "The Bishop" due to his "senior" age and appearance.
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Ivor Bueb (1923-1959) (English) Very good Formula Junior and F3 driver, albeit inexperienced in long-distance and sportscar races. Was picked to substitute for Jimmy Stewart (older brother of Jackie) after he the same year had crashed and injured himself in the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring, a decision with which Hawthorn didn't agree, preferring Don Beauman as co-driver. Bueb later co-won the Le Mans again, this time with Ron Flockhart in a D-Type Jaguar in 1957, for Ecurie Ecosse. Died in a non-Championship F2 crash at Clérmont-Ferrand.
Bueb's fatal crash aftermath:
* *
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Eugenio Castellotti (1930-1957) (Italian) Led the 1955 Le Mans in the early hours of the race, and had fastest time in practice. Joined Ferrari in 1955 when the Lancia-team was bought by Enzo Ferrari. First-class if somewhat overpassionate F1-driver who'd go on to improve tremendously in sportscars, winning both the 1956 Mille Miglia and the 12 Hours of Sebring (co-won with Fangio), as well as the 1957 1000km of Buenos Aires, until a tragic F1 testing accident at Modena would end his short life.
Castellotti's death:
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F. R. W. "Lofty" England (19xx-2002) (British) Former motorcycle TT rider and racing mechanic. Successful Jaguar motorsports team manager, and later CEO of Jaguar. Won Le Mans 1953, 1955, and 1956 (lastly for Ecurie Ecosse).
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Juan Manuel Fangio (1911-1995) (Argentinian) Legendary F1-driver of the 50s, and quintruple World Champion. Had to make a split-second decision coming up close behind the accident in his Mercedes 300SLR shared with Moss, when he saw Levegh raise his arm in warning or as a reflex. This possibly saved his life, as he kept to the right, passing through the accident as it happened. Joined Ferrari after the Mercedes-Benz team folded.
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John Fitch (1917-) (American) Levegh's co-driver, who never got to drive that year. 1953 co-winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring with Phil Walters, and Speed Age "Driver Of The Year"; first SCCA Champion, and first significant American Works driver for a European team. Drove 6 Le Mans races, 3rd place best result. 1955 Mille Miglia class winner in a Mercedes 300SL, and co-winner of the 1955 Ulster TT at Dundrod with Moss. 1st manager of Lime Rock Park Raceway. Corvette racing team manager 1956-7. Motivated by the tragedy at Le Mans he later invented and developed various safety implements for race cars and tracks, among these the so-called "Fitch Barrels", used for instance at Watkins Glen, compression barriers, displaceable guardrails and safety cages known as "capsules". The "Toilet Roll"-device using which Moss and Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia in a Mercedes SLR in 1955 was also one of John Fitch's ingenuities.
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John Michael "Mike" Hawthorn (1929-1959) (English) World class driver but also an easy-living and somewhat immature prankster. Had his Le Mans début in 1953, but missed out in 1954 due to his father's death, ironically also in a car accident, and the burns he'd suffered after a crash in the 1954 non-championship Syracuse GP.
Reason for Hawthorn's absence from the 1954 Le Mans, the crash at Syracuse:
Had co-won the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier on in the season, in this car, another D-type Jaguar: * *
Probably the only driver around at the time who could truly match the combined skills of Fangio and Moss. Won this infamous race with Ivor Bueb as co-driver, after a semi-epic battle with Fangio, who was withdrawn after the crash along with the rest of the Mercedes team. Drove the fastest lap of the race. Went on to win the drivers' World F1 Championship in 1958, but died in a tragic car crash the following year, when he was about to retire from the sport. Called "The Butterfly" because he always wore a bow tie, even in the car, and "The Farnham Flyer", as he was known locally around his Farnham home in England.
Hawthorn's death and obituary:
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Richard W. "Dick" Jacobs (19??-????) (English) MG works driver, retired from racing after his near-fatal accident at Le Mans 1955 in an MG EX 182 shared with Irishman Joe Flynn (who never got to drive). Founded and managed the Dick Jacobs MG Racing Team, which successfully drove various MG models including the legendary Dick Jacobs Midgets, for the next decade, until the team disbanded in 1965. He also found time to pen the book "An MG Experience" (1976), and in 1972 entered an MG 1300 in the British Saloon Car Championship, driven by his long-time friend, the late Alan Foster.
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John Michael Lyons' (c1930-1955) (English) Son of Jaguar boss William Lyons. Was employed by the company, and about to travel to Le Mans for the race, when he died in a tragic road accident.
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Lawrence "Lance" Macklin (1919-2002) (English) A competent playboy driver in the wrong place at the wrong time, with catastrophic consequences as a result, as Levegh's car hit his, and went into the crowd. His Le Mans record includes all races since 1950, best result 3rd in 1951. Had Les Leston as co-driver, but he never got to drive. Macklin decided to quit racing after involvement in another fatal sportscar crash the same year at Dundrod, driving only a few times more after that. Was much later on in life infamously quoted saying that he'd thought at the time of the crash that the spectators "who had come to see an accident finally got themselves a good one".
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Sir Stirling Moss (1929-) (English) Equally legendary F1-driver of the 50s and early 60s, who however never became World Champion, nor sadly ever won Le Mans. He had driven in Le Mans in 1951, 52, 53, 54 - best result 2nd in 1953. Shared a Mercedes 300SLR with Fangio in the 1955 Le Mans, but wasn't driving it at the time of the accident. Moss joined the Maserati team after Mercedes-Benz' withdrawal from racing.
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Alfred Neubauer (1891-1980) (Austrian) A former racing driver and legendary long-time team manager for Mercedes-Benz. Indeed, speed was his life, and he later in life wrote a book of that title. Cried when the Mercedes team left the circuit after their withdrawal, never to return again in his lifetime. Died at an advanced age in the Mercedes hometown of Stuttgart.
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A. P. "Tony" Rolt (1918-) (English) Le Mans veteran, co-winner of the 1953 race. In 1954 expressed his concern about the narrowness of the pit straight, but still participated in the 1955-running, for Jaguar. Filled out a questionnaire***** about safety in 1954.
| Tony Rolt wrote: |
| The section past the pits [...] is definitely too narrow, and every year there are near accidents here. |
Rolt had seen as how, during the later years, average speed had increased tremendously at Le Mans, and in 1953 he himself became the first to break the hundred mile-barrier there. As at the same time the circuit remained much the same, the need for increased safety measures became more and more apparent. The Automobil Club de l'Ouest, organisers of the 24 hour race, overheard or ignored these warnings.
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FOOTNOTES:
* = In Christopher Hilton's book Le Mans '55, it at one point says that the death toll rose to 120 in the time following the accident, but I am unable to confirm this figure.
** = The origins of the anagramic pseudonym "Levegh": Alfred Velghe, uncle of Pierre Eugènne Alfred Bouillin, drove races in the early 20th century under the the name of "Levegh", being an anagram of Velghe. Pierre looked up to him, and chose this surname in his honour.
*** = Theoretically a relative of Robert Benoist, the 1937 Le Mans co-winner. I haven't been able to confirm that. Maybe it is not an unusual surname in France.
**** = This unique piece of motor racing history may be enjoyed in the last of the below videos. It has nothing as such to do with this post, but was included as a tribute to the man.
***** = The hazardous "blind" hill or hump on the road from Mulsanne towards Arnage, with a following slippery curve, which Rolt also mentioned in the questionnaire (made by Shell on behalf the A.C.O.), was called "Sommet de la Colline" ("The Hilltop"). This point on the track was regarded by Rolt as the most dangerous, with the pit entry a close 2nd.
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