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 6
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6. The Crash
In the 3rd hour, as Fangio led Hawthorn by almost a whole lap, and he and Hawthorn were about to lap Kling at Arnage, the prelude to disaster began. Hawthorn overtook the second slower Merc, driven by Levegh, at Maison Blanche, and between him and his upcoming pitstop lay only the unimportant and backmarking Austin Healey of Lance Macklin, which was 4 laps down already. Closing in on the very narrow funnel of the pit straight, the Mercs and Jag were doing 185mph, compared to the 110mph of Macklin. Fangio wanted to stay a bit behind, the better to see any signs from the pit, so he kept his distance. After the small kink at the 12-kilometer mark, Hawthorn overtook the Healey which kept to the right, and dove in towards the Jaguar pits in front of Macklin. Approaching on the outside was Levegh, at full speed. Hawthorn braked for the pits a little too hard and too soon, or else moved down through the gears, thus not showing Macklin any brake lights, and this caused Macklin (who was faced with the sudden choice of either crashing into the Jag or moving abruptly to the left) to make a desperate evasive maneouver to the left which took him across the track and directly into the path of Levegh, who raised his arm in warning or reflex, and then promptly hit the left rear end of the Healey, smashing off one of its tyres. The Merc then became airborne for 60 yards, landed to the left on the earthen protective barrier in front of an enclosure belonging to the Former Pilots' Club opposite the start of the pits, bounced off and flew another 40 yards through the air, then landed in a corner of the neighbouring Motor Dealers' enclosure killing 14 people instantly, and impacted with the entrance structure of the underground tunnel connecting the pits and the spectator area between enclosure and grandstand, disintegrated, ejecting Levegh who was flung 82 yards, and hurled large chunks of wreckage into the tightly packed spectator area ahead, before the rest of the chassis landed again with an explosion on the earthen barrier. The bonnet of the car didn't travel a long way, but the front axle with both wheels still attached sailed through the air and bounced off the mass of spectators in the middle of the flat area in front of the grandstand, and landed a little further on. The engine which had also been ripped out, also glanced off the spectators before coming to a rest in the far end of the flat spectator area, and the exhaust manifold flew even longer. 50 people were killed instantly right before the shocked witnesses in the grandstand, who were themselves miraculously unharmed. Still on the track and out of control, the Healey at first spun backwards to the right, impacting twice with the Mercedes pits, injuring a policeman and a journalist who was working as a track marshall, then spun to the left and hit the barrier before coming to a halt. With a split-second in which to react, Fangio had chosen the right way around the two crashing cars*, and made it through in the wake of the accident.
The Hawthorn Jaguar in the confusion had overshot the Jaguar pits when making its pitstop, and Lofty England in a manner either utterly cynical or revealing an extremely high degree of discipline and professional disregard of outer circumstances, instructed him to drive another lap, as reversing would have disqualified the car. At this time Hawthorn was in a state of half-panic, having seen the accident in his rear view mirror, and Macklin had freaked completely. After jumping about the pit straight for a while, Macklin suddenly steamed into the pits, wildly accusing Hawthorn of having caused the accident. He, unlike Hawthorn, had glimpsed the grisly result of Levegh's accident, and was probably losing it for sheer panic, for which one cannot blame him. A little further back was Kling's car, which also came in for a pitstop. Meanwhile, Bueb had seen the ghastly events on the other side of the pits, and pleaded with Lofty England to be excused from taking over from Hawthorn, who was going around the track with God knows what sort of thoughts going through his mind. The Jaguar manager, never losing his wits, incredibly managed to persuade Bueb to take over from Hawthorn. Levegh's wife, who, according to one commentator, had witnessed his husbands death, did in fact never see anything of the sort, as she was having a coffee behind the pits with John Fitch. Levegh wasn't due in, so there wouldn't have been any reason for her presence there, anyway. She on the contrary displayed an extremely high level of self-control, as the truth finally dawned upon her.
Immediately after the accident, both in the enclosures and across the track in the pits, panic reigned supreme as people scrambled for the exits, trying to get away from the accident scene, with people trampling down one another and having to kick locked doors in to escape, which had been barred to avoid curious spectators crowding in. The heat from the burning magnesium frame of Levegh's Merc could be felt across the track in the pits, where Phil Hill, Paul Frère, Norman Dewis, Eric Thompson, Jaroslav Juhan and Len Leston, among other drivers, had witnessed the whole tragedy. They all made surprisingly cohesive and detailed statements about the crash, unlike most other persons in their unenviable situation. Just above them on the public grandstand running along the entire length of the pits there was a far better view of the whole scene, and it would seem people there weren't panicking in the same way. Many pictures and some footage was filmed from that point of vantage, which is now essential to the understanding of the accident. Several American servicemen had journeyed from their bases in France, and interestingly many of them took pictures of the aftermath. I've always thought that perhaps they were somehow "immune" to these graphic displays of suffering, as they had probably witnessed a great deal worse (if possible) during their years of fighting in WW2. In any case, many of their gruesome photos especially from the grandstand enclosure are now vital motorsport historic documents, and they should not be criticised too harshly for taking them. There were plenty of people around to help the injured, and for most of them anyway it was far too late, as death had been instantaneous. Many victims had been decapitated by the flying wreckage, and there must be some level of comfort in the knowledge that they probably did not even realise what had hit them, nor did they suffer any great physical pain. It was far worse for the forever traumatised survivors, witnesses and the families of the victims.
*** Warning: the following pics show the full extent of the horrors of the crash ***
Crash, wreck and aftermath images:
View(s) from spectators (ground):
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As can be seen from this sequence, the Jaguar is not in the middle of the road, but staying to the right for the pitting. Macklin's Healey moves more than two car's breadths away from the Jag and into the path of the oncoming Mercedes. Fangio is behind, and in the distance is Kling. The photographer must have been standing in the Former Drivers' Club enclosure, and the car passed over his head or landing very close by. I actually find it strange that he should have been injured, it must have been flying wreckage. Had he been inside the following enclosure however, he would have been wiped out completely.
The wreckage flying through the air, while the car flips in the background, seen from the pits:
Various illustrations, showing either too little or wrong details. The bottom one, for instance, is pretty obviously, completely wrong:
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The crash as it really happened:
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Unknown artist's impression of the crash, showing Fangio's car:
People running away from blazing wreck:
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Immediate aftermath of crash:
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This unfortunate woman spectator was killed by the impact of Levegh with the tunnel entrance. Her dress was caught by the hub of the car and she was flung up in the air. She was at first mistaken for the body of the driver. Her body caught fire from the heat of the wreck, and a policeman on the scene is shown covering the body with a piece of advertising banner, but they leave her for dead, which she probably was:
Victim being carried on a stretcher, possibly the body of the woman wearing a shroud of advertisement banner, as shown in some of the video footage:
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Looking into the Car Sellers' Club enclosure from the Former Driver's Club enclosure. This was where the Mercedes came down before exploding. The bent fence shows where it landed, crushing the poor spectators who didn't stand a chance:
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Tunnel entrance with marks from the Mercedes' impact:
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Various angles of the wreck of Levegh's car:
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Same, but without corbis watermark:
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The "big killer", the front axle. People were literally mown down by this as it flew, crushing everything in its path:
Attempts to put out the magnesium fire:
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View(s) from spectators (grandstand):
Same pic, 2 different versions:
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Various angles of the big enclosure in front and to the side of the grandstand:
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Close to tunnel entrance. This tunnel was used to carry victims to the infield to receive medical attention. Someone walking in the tunnel at the time of impact heard a loud explosion-like bang which resounded down through the tunnel:
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Possibly Levegh's helmet lying in the foreground, and possibly the muffler from the car lying next to someone's shoe:
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The enclosure around the grandstand, looking down towards the wreck:
Here, a wheel can be seen in a corner near the tunnel entrance. This puzzles me, as the front axle had both wheels attached when it flew into the crowd, and the wreck of the Mercedes on the barrier is also shown to have both rear wheels on. It cannot have been one of Macklin's wheels, either. The tyre that came off his car was ripped to shreds. Could this then be a spare wheel from the Levegh car, which fell out?
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People in the enclosures on the other side of the earthen protective barrier were standing on stepladders, boxes, crates and chairs the better to see as the cars came down pit straight. This explains why for instance the people seen hit by the front axle in the videos flew so high in the air, they were already standing on a higher point than the other spectators. Some of them would definitely have survived had they been on the ground instead.
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Grandstand enclosure looking towards the grandstand:
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View(s) from pit:
Macklin, a Porsche and one of the Triumphs:
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Same as the previous one, but with an important detail to the left, the pitted #21 Merc of Kling, during the crash aftermath:
MG passing:
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View(s) from pit building:
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Another pit building view of Levegh's wreck:
View from finishing straight, outside track:
A Sportscaster Card, showing the "Landscape From Hell", as this and similar scene was later dubbed. You can see for as long as White House in the distance:
This is not the woman who fell onto the track, even though the injured person is bare-legged in this pic too:
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Awful picture of an injured person being carried, note the look on the little girls face:
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Pile of bodies in grandstand enclosure:
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A priest among the dead, giving last rites to the dying:
The hood or perhaps one door of Levegh's car among the debris and bodies:
Hawthorn overshooting the pits, while fire blazes in the background:
Macklin's wreck in the pits, note the extent of the rear damage:
Macklin's car pushed to the pits:
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Eerie pic of the deserted area. Here, note also the smoke column in the background of Dick Jacobs' accident:
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The crisis of his life: Neubauer and others in Mercedes pits, most likely discussing the crash:
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The barrier where the wreck burned, after the race:
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This taken after the race, with black replacement picket fencing:
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The pit area after the race, Macklin's impact with the Mercedes pits:
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A correct reconstruction of the accident. The car hit the barrier, bounced, then hit the tunnel entry, bounced again, somersaulting twice before landing on the barrier again:
Memorial:
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The Levegh crash site, as it looks today:
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*** Warning: the above pics show the full extent of the horrors of the crash ***
FOOTNOTES:
* = Fangio later stated that Levegh had saved his life by raising his hand.
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