The
new order would not come into effect in the next race, where Fangio and Moss
were teamed to drive the same car. Unfortunately, with Juan in it at the time,
the Mercedes came perilously close to being involved in the worst ever
motorsport disaster.
***
"I
was lucky to escape from that crash, it was by pure chance, destiny if you
like, and after I had passed through the crashing cars, without touching
anything or anyone, I started to tremble and shake. For at that moment I had
been waiting for the blow, holding tightly onto the steering wheel. But the
blow never came and instead the way opened and I passed through." - Juan
Manuel Fangio
For
the ill-fated 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans Mercedes entered three 300SLR
sportscars, modified especially for the round-the-clock race to include air
brakes. These took the form of a hinged flap that automatically rose up behind
the driver's head whenever second gear was engaged. To drive the German cars in
the most important endurance race in the world the team had six drivers. Led by
Fangio and Moss sharing one car, were Kling and Simon (still filling in for the
injured Hermann) and in the third car, John Fitch and Pierre Levegh. Fitch, an
American, was the Daimler-Benz representative in the USA, while the Parisian Levegh
was included in the team to have a French driver in that country's classic
race, and also because of his Le Mans experience.
Levegh,
just a few months short of his 50th birthday, was a wealthy industrialist whose
real name was Pierre Bouillon. He raced under the surname of his uncle, who had
been one of the pioneer French drivers. An excellent athlete, Levegh played
tennis at a high level and also international ice hockey, though his primary
passion was racing, which he first took up in 1938. He had some success, but in
the 1947 Grand Prix de le A.C.F at Lyon, his Delage crashed into the crowd,
killing four spectators and injuring 11 others. After finishing fourth at Le
Mans in 1951, he very nearly won the race the next year, with an epic solo
effort that created a sensation at the time. Without a co-driver, Levegh had
taken his Talbot into a massive lead by the 22-hour mark. By now greatly
fatigued, he missed a gearchange and the engine blew up, enabling a Mercedes to
win.
From
the beginning, the 1955 Le Mans weekend seemed jinxed. On the first night's
practice a pit lane accident involving Moss's Mercedes and another car injured
three bystanders, among them Jean Behra who was hospitalized and unable to
drive for Maserati. The next evening Elie Bayol crashed his Gordini and
received serious head injuries, and there were several other accidents out on
the 8.5-mile circuit, where many lives had been lost in the 32 years since the
race was first held, and where over 200,000 spectators had gathered to watch the
traditional 4:00pm start on Saturday, 11 June, 1955.
As
expected, following their fastest practice times, the race for top honours
began as a tri-nation contest featuring the silver German Mercedes, the red
Italian Ferraris and the green British Jaguars. Crossing the line first on the
opening lap was Castellotti's Ferrari, followed by Hawthorn's Jaguar, then a
high-speed procession that included the Mercedes of Levegh and Kling, whose
team mate Fangio was back in 14th place, having lost time when he jumped into
the car and the gearlever slipped up under his trouser leg. However, an hour
later, the frontrunning trio consisted of Castellotti, Hawthorn and Fangio,
with Kling and Levegh in sixth and seventh. By 6 o'clock, with Castellotti's
Ferrari falling back to third, the race at the front had settled into a
straight fight between Hawthorn's Jaguar and Fangio's Mercedes. Reminiscent of
their fabulous duel in the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims, Hawthorn and Fangio
set a terrific pace, rushing side-by-side down Le Mans's long Mulsanne straight
at close to 180mph, tearing down the pit straight at nearly 130mph, and trading
fastest laps at speeds averaging well over 120mph.
Juan
Manuel Fangio: "By 6:30 drivers were changing over and cars refueled, and
there was a lot of coming and going in the pits. There were five us going along
the pit straight. In front of Hawthorn and I were Macklin (the Englishman Lance
Macklin, several laps down in an Austin Healey), Levegh and Kling (both a lap
down). From behind, I saw it all happen as if on a cinema screen. Hawthorn
passed Macklin, and then pulled rather violently to the right to get into his
pits. Macklin, possibly surprised, pulled to the left. Levegh then raised his
hand to signal me that he was about to pull to one side. I saw this gesture
clearly, as Kling went into the pits on our right. It all happened very
quickly. I was doing about 135mph and Levegh must have been doing more than
125mph.
"Levegh
had not left himself enough space, and ran up and over the rear of Macklin's
car. I gripped my wheel hard. Levegh's Mercedes flew into the air and into the
fence of the spectators' area, while Macklin's car went skidding along the road
out of control. As I passed it I saw the sparks thrown up by the wheel dragging
on the ground. I kept going. The last thing I remember was an explosion behind
me. At that instant I felt no emotion. A few moments later I realized that
something terrible had happened, and I shuddered when I realized I had escaped
without a scratch. For a time I was shaking as I drove. When I came past the
pits again there was nothing but smoke and flames. But until I came in three
laps later so that Moss could take over, I had no idea of the full extent of
the disaster."
After
being launched over the back of Macklin's car, which then spun harmlessly into
the pit wall, Levegh's Mercedes flew towards the grandstand area in front of
which was a packed spectator enclosure. The car ploughed along an earth bank,
hit a post and rose higher into the air, spinning twice before crashlanding
upside down, then executing a second airborne spin. On returning to the ground
the car hit a cement parapet and exploded in a ball of fire. The flaming front
part of the car including the engine broke away and scythed sickenly through
the crowd. Poor Levegh died instantly, as did an estimated 84 spectators, while
over a hundred more were injured.
Despite
the apalling carnage the race went on because the organizer's felt that
stopping it would hinder the firemen, gendarmes and medical personnel, who
worked feverishly to assist the victims and transfer them to ambulances which
took them to the hospital in Le Mans. It was some time before the full horror
of the calamity became apparent and in the gathering darkness out on the track
the Jaguar versus Mercedes battle continued at unabated speed. By midnight the
Moss-Fangio car was nearly two laps ahead of the Hawthorn-Bueb Jaguar, with the
Kling-Simon Mercedes in third.
Juan
Manuel Fangio: "But deep down, I felt happier at two in the morning when
orders came from Stuttgart for Mercedes to pull out of the race as a gesture of
mourning and respect. I knew that if we had won, it would be a bitter victory
with all those people killed. Before his Jaguar went on to win Hawthorn came to
me in the pits and he was crying, saying the accident was his fault. I told him
it wasn't, and that these things can happen. Racing is like that."
As
a result of the Le Mans tragedy all around Europe there were demands that motor
racing should be banned, though the only country passing a law prohibiting it
was Switzerland. The Swiss Grand Prix was cancelled, as were the 1955 World
Championship events in Germany, France and Spain. The races in Holland, Britain
and Italy went ahead as scheduled, with the team mates Fangio and Moss
continuing to dominate in what were little more than demonstration runs for
Mercedes, though their personal battles were not without interest.
- excerpt From FANGIO The Life Behind The Legend
by Gerald Donaldson
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