Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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forty-two
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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A couple of points worth mentioning on this topic (sorry if these have already been mentioned!):

1. I understand that as the car left the track, it then hit an earth bank which had the effect of a ramp, kicking the car onto a higher trajectory than it originally was.

2. The shape of the cars of the time caused the back end to make very effective launch ramps for following cars.

As for source for these, I THINK I picked these things up watching a documentary shown on ITV (I Think) in the UK back in 2007. But don't quote me on that!
The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the Universe and ... Everything?

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SiLo
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Correct forty-two!

They are going to be some of the main points of my argument (whatever that is)
Felipe Baby!

Richard
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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The Austin Healey that triggered the crash is being sold at auction today.

http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/11/17/video ... |DL_2_link


There's some irony that the car that resulted in MB leaving racing for 32 years is being sold at MB World at Brooklands.

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JohnsonsEvilTwin
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Nice scoop there Richard.

There is a sense of irony, you're right. But my overriding sense here is that this could bump the price up considerably, given the connections. I wonder if Stuttgart themselves might be drawn in to bidding...
More could have been done.
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olefud
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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It's been a long time, but as I recall Levegh was driving the race without benefit of relief. If so, this has to factor in when determining blame.

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strad
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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I think you are confusing this with his 1952 drive where he tried to make it by himself, but he missed a shift and blew his engine in the last hour.
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

olefud
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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strad wrote:I think you are confusing this with his 1952 drive where he tried to make it by himself, but he missed a shift and blew his engine in the last hour.
I stand corrected. Should have checked it.

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strad
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Checking the topic I don't see this posted..you may find it very interesting..I have some stuff but I think this is the most definitive..
http://www.stradsplace.com/VIDEOS/55-Le ... crashy.avi
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

Richard
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Here's the result of the Healey auction:

Lot 433

'Barn Find' fresh from 42 years in single ownership, The Ex-Works, Le Mans 24-Hours, Sebring 12-Hours, Carrera PanAmericana and Bahamas Speed Week, Nassau ,1953-55 Austin-Healey Special Test Car/100S Prototype Sports-Racing Two-Seater Chassis no. SPL 226/B Engine no. SPL 261-BN

£843,000

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.s ... leNo=19293

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strad
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Check out the video I posted..I think you'll find it interesting ;)
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

tok-tokkie
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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Can anyone give me a link to the recent(?) video about the '55 crash? NOT 'The Deadliest Crash' which is mostly the context for the crash. It is a video showing this Austin Healy and, more particularly, Mike Hawthorne & the Jaguar. It was most likely on F1Technical that I got the original link (last 3 months) but I can't find it with the Search function. This Wiki entry has a good description of the chain of events which the video showed from video only recently made public. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster

marcush.
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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just todays there was a feature about lemans on german TV news channel showing a very interesting picture sequence where you can clearly see the accident was triggered by Hawthorn ppassing the healey and slotting in directly in front of him and braking hard ...the healey has to avoid him and swerves to the left were Levegh is quickly coming up with a lot more speed and really without a sniff of chance to avoid an accident.He gets launched into the air with the results we find very hard to grasp even todays..
They also showed the Winning Hathorn drinking champagne in joy after the race and an old man called Stirling Moss stating he could not understand why Mercedes packed up and left the race in the night....Sometimes one has to shake his head how things have changed since then .....the man really said it would not bring back the lives of the people who were killed ór injured in the accident ,so why stop after a few hours ...they would have won this... #-o

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strad
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12928
Scroll down part way
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

Just_a_fan
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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marcush. wrote: They also showed the Winning Hathorn drinking champagne in joy after the race and an old man called Stirling Moss stating he could not understand why Mercedes packed up and left the race in the night....Sometimes one has to shake his head how things have changed since then .....the man really said it would not bring back the lives of the people who were killed ór injured in the accident ,so why stop after a few hours ...they would have won this... #-o
It was a different time and people had different attitudes to risk and death. You really can't look at it with 2012 eyes - you have to look at it through the eyes of people living in 1955. Prticularly the eyes of a racing driver in 1955 - they saw friends/competitors killed every few weeks, don't forget, and some would have survived the recent worldwide conflicts where death and injury were constant companions. We can't hope to understand that. Hell, I look back at myself as a 20 year old and think - could I have flown an aircraft, with the lives of several men in my hands, over enemy territory as a 20 year old? I very much doubt it, but that was the reality for many only 10 years before this terrible accident occurred. Different times. Different attitudes.

In some way I can understand the attitude that they're dead and nothing will change it. And in another way I can see how this is hurtful to those who lost loved ones. But the reality is that nothing could change the result - and the idea that everyone should slink away from the circuit afterwards doesn't exactly honour the dead in anyway. I've never understood the idea of events being cancelled "in honour of X who died". If the person was a follower/fan of that event, it would be much more of an honour to them to hold it in their memory.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

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strad
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Re: Le Mans 1955 Disaster

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I couldn't agree more Just-A-Fan. That was just the way it was. And that last part sums up my attitude exactly. =D>
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss