0:00:02 > 0:00:03June 11th, 1955.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07The most prestigious event in motor racing is under way.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12For an entire day, the world's greatest drivers
0:00:12 > 0:00:16are pitted against each other in the Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19known the world over simply as Le Mans.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Hundreds of thousands of spectators, many British,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28are packed around the narrow track,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32eager to witness 120 daredevil drivers battle it out
0:00:32 > 0:00:36in the fastest cars the world has ever seen.
0:00:38 > 0:00:45The 1955 race promised to be a dazzling chapter in the history of this glamorous event.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Instead, it was destined to be remembered
0:00:47 > 0:00:51as the most catastrophic event in motor racing history.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57A sporting tragedy on an unprecedented scale,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01leaving scores dead and many more fighting for their lives.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Next to me the guy's shoulder was decapitated.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Using never seen before home movies,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25amateur photos and firsthand accounts of those involved.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28- He was out of control.- "Bloody hell," he said, "this is suicide."
0:01:28 > 0:01:32This is the inside story of how what should have been Le Mans'
0:01:32 > 0:01:37most exhilarating race came to be remembered as The Deadliest Crash.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52The 1950s.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56After periods of economic depression and wartime austerity,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00a new wave of optimism was sweeping across Europe.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03And with it came a renewed appetite for sporting spectacle.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Tailor-made to satisfy this hunger,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08were the thrills and spills of motor racing.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11This was to be the golden decade -
0:02:11 > 0:02:15an era when motor racing truly came of age.
0:02:18 > 0:02:19I love speed.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24The faster they are, they better.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32I could do it all day, beautiful.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35It's a challenge and it's tough and it's difficult.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39It's trying and it's stressful and demanding.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42It's everything.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45It's life, you know, condensed.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53To say I passed a Mercedes at 192 miles per hour.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Beautiful, excellent.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57For any rising star of the era
0:02:57 > 0:03:00there was one victory that could not be equalled.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04To be on the podium at Le Mans, the biggest race in the world,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06was every driver's dream.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09For American driver John Fitch,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14now 92, 1955 was his year to grab the spotlight.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15Did we want to win in Le Mans?
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Everyone who goes to Le Mans wants to win, of course, yes.
0:03:19 > 0:03:25Norman Dewis, now 89, was also there challenging for the title.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Since its origin in 1923,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the 24-hour event had become one of the toughest
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and most dangerous events in the season.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Consequently it had become the most respected meeting in the sport.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47And in 1955 all the elements were in place for a monumental race.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53The 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans in northern France
0:03:53 > 0:03:57was designed as a harsher, more demanding race than Grand Prix.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00It set out to cram more racing into one day
0:04:00 > 0:04:02than a whole season of Formula One.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08It challenged manufactures to field cars that were not only fast
0:04:08 > 0:04:09but reliable.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14The car that has finished the most laps after 24 hours wins the race.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17The top teams often entered not one but three cars,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19each car with two drivers.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22They hope that one of these cars will be strong enough
0:04:22 > 0:04:28to survive racing flat out non-stop for an entire day and win the race.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Le Mans is more of a strategy.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35It takes a tremendous amount of preparation
0:04:35 > 0:04:41and thought to win Le Mans and also it needs a lot of luck.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Le Mans provided a spectacle
0:04:45 > 0:04:49that television and cinema were taking to the rest of the world.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Suddenly, the greatest drivers and manufacturers were attracted
0:04:53 > 0:04:56to the event that offered a brilliant marketing opportunity.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Win the race on Sunday and you'd sell cars on the Monday.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Very few races capture
0:05:06 > 0:05:09that fact that it is such a massive social
0:05:09 > 0:05:12gathering and event,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15triggered by
0:05:15 > 0:05:18the race, which is a great race.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It's THE event,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22the event of the year.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34The world's most influential manufacturers, Ferrari, Maserati,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39vied with one another to showcase
0:05:39 > 0:05:42their most dazzling technical innovations.
0:05:42 > 0:05:461955 was shaping up to be a special year.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49A great head-to-head battle was on the cards.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Two arch rivals stood out.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Jaguar and Mercedes.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58It was to be billed as World War II on the track.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I think you could say it was World War II on the track.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05It was certainly
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Britain versus Germany, in what had been occupied France...
0:06:11 > 0:06:14..at a time when the British car industry was very strong...
0:06:15 > 0:06:19..with worldwide sales and worldwide reputation
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and Jaguar was a very exotic name.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23And Mercedes were coming back
0:06:23 > 0:06:26after the factory was smashed during the war.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31So, in a sense, it was Jaguar trying
0:06:31 > 0:06:35to maintain what they had against the Germans,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38who were emerging so strongly.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Since the beginning of Le Mans in 1923,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48the British had won almost half the races.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Jaguar had recently become the most dominant force,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55winning in 1951 and 1953.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Jaguar was a small company with big ambitions to produce the world's
0:06:59 > 0:07:01best sports cars, both for the track
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and more importantly for consumers.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06To stamp their dominance in 1955,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09they returned with the fastest car
0:07:09 > 0:07:10they had ever made -
0:07:10 > 0:07:12the long nose D-type.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23It's so tempting to go into stereotypes, but I will do.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27The Jaguar looked somehow more feline
0:07:27 > 0:07:31and the Mercedes looked much more
0:07:31 > 0:07:36somehow squarer, solid, reliable.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40In that sense perhaps more Germanic.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42So when you look at the two cars,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46you are looking at two different styles, two different approaches
0:07:46 > 0:07:49to the same problem of making a car go fast.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54After the war, Germany and Mercedes Benz returned to motor racing
0:07:54 > 0:07:56to win the Grand Prix championship.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00They were thought unstoppable and held prestigious prizes
0:08:00 > 0:08:02like the world speed record.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Alongside their ambitions to dominate car manufacturing,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Mercedes Benz and its Silver Arrow team
0:08:08 > 0:08:11were out to smash the stranglehold the British had on Le Mans.
0:08:11 > 0:08:17It was always recognised with the spectators this is going
0:08:17 > 0:08:21to be a race and a half, when there is Mercedes with Jaguar.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25With this intense, escalating rivalry,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28the 1955 Le Mans was set up to be a thrilling race.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34300,000 spectators were piling through the turnstiles.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Bernard Chotard is a lifelong fan of Le Mans.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41The race colours some of his earliest memories.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Bernard and his wife, Jacqueline,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05had married just eight days before the 1955 Le Mans.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Going to the race was a part of their honeymoon celebrations.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52For Giselle Pasquier and her husband, Henri,
0:09:52 > 0:09:53it was also a special outing.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Jacques Grelley always dreamed of being a racing driver.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37He loved the event and went every year.
0:10:39 > 0:10:40Just like a show.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Everybody walked with a bottle of wine in their hand
0:10:43 > 0:10:44or a bottle of champagne.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47People were drinking, happy, watching the race.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Some were not even looking at the race, just talking.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54It's mostly the atmosphere of a fair.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Women were very well dressed,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03most of the men come dressed with ties. A show.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21The Circuit de la Sarthe was and remains
0:11:21 > 0:11:23the largest track in the world
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and features the legendary four-mile long Mulsanne straight,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29the longest and fastest racing
0:11:29 > 0:11:32straight of any circuit in the world,
0:11:32 > 0:11:37where cars in the 1950s were already approaching 190 miles per hour.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40There are fewer corners compared to most circuits.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Le Mans bends are tight after incredibly fast straights.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48This stresses the cars and especially, over 24 hours,
0:11:48 > 0:11:49the drivers.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54An added challenge for the drivers is that Le Mans is not a purpose-built race track.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58The Circuit de la Sarthe is made up of country lanes.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The Le Mans surface, unlike most racing tracks
0:12:02 > 0:12:05which are smooth and clean, is rough and lethal.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08In addition, the course is surrounded by trees
0:12:08 > 0:12:09and other hazards,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13all threats to racing drivers travelling at full throttle.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14Le Mans is also unique
0:12:14 > 0:12:18in that different classes of car race at the same time.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Some high speed, like the racing Jaguar, some low speed,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24like the road-going Austin Healey.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26This means there is a lot of overtaking,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29which delights the fans and challenges the drivers.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32But when there are cars of vastly different speeds
0:12:32 > 0:12:34racing on the same track,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36there could be serious consequences.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40People go to a race because it's dangerous.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Tertre Rouge was always packed
0:12:42 > 0:12:44because they expected at that place that
0:12:44 > 0:12:49always one car or more car would lose control and hit the wall.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53I think most people that go probably expect to see one.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55It's expected of it.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01There's was one poor sod carted off dead.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07It livens it up if it happens in front of you.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12At the end of the Mulsanne straight,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16where you turn right, you really have to push the brakes very hard
0:13:16 > 0:13:20to make it and if you didn't make it you're on a sand bank
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and here you fly over the sand bank.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24While these circumstances
0:13:24 > 0:13:27might provide endless thrills for the crowd,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30they could be a matter of life and death for the drivers.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37In the '50s, track and car safety was all but absent,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40drivers preferring not to have seat belts,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42believing it was better
0:13:42 > 0:13:45to be thrown from a wreck than remain in it on impact.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Drivers were killed.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Probably used to get at least two or three a year.
0:13:52 > 0:14:00We lost friends every season, which is almost unheard of now.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06It says on your ticket that motor racing is dangerous, on the back.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10I don't take any notice of it.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15By 1955, seven drivers had already been killed at Le Mans.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Anybody who measures their desires against their own life
0:14:19 > 0:14:21has to be respected,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and in an era where a lot got killed respected even more.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30The levels of danger set motor racing apart from all other sports.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The cult of the legendary driver was born.
0:14:36 > 0:14:42None were greater than Juan Manuel Fangio, nicknamed El Maestro.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45He was on his way to winning the world championship five times,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49a record that would remain his for over 45 years.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52With his graceful and fluid racing style,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Fangio was soon to become the best driver of all time.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59He was an absolute presence,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02he was phenomenal
0:15:02 > 0:15:07and he was a thoroughly good person.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10He was from nowhere, absolutely nowhere.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16He was a mechanic for years and years before he got in a decent car.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19He began his career almost in middle age because of the war,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24a gentlemanly figure, slightly portly...
0:15:24 > 0:15:27very dignified looking man.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30And he won race after race after race.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33However, Fangio had yet to conquer the demands
0:15:33 > 0:15:35of the 24 hours of Le Mans,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38failing to finish here three times before.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40He was out to prove himself.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Fangio was Mercedes' star man.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48But each car needed two drivers to take shifts over the 24 hours.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Fangio's co-driver was Stirling Moss.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Stirling Moss was then a rising prospect in Formula One and sports car racing.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59He was already one of Britain's best known
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and most highly skilled drivers.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04This was Mercedes' number one pairing
0:16:04 > 0:16:08but because of the uncertainty of cars surviving this harsh contest,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11many crashing or breaking down,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14top teams often entered more than one car.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18In 1955, Mercedes entered three.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19American John Fitch
0:16:19 > 0:16:23was selected to race that day in the second Mercedes Benz.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25I had one opportunity.
0:16:25 > 0:16:32Here I was, a member of what was thought to be the most successful
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and effective racing team.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36And I was on that team.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It was...
0:16:38 > 0:16:40the opportunity of a lifetime.
0:16:40 > 0:16:48And I had to be very sure that I turned in my best performance.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52This was the big one, this was the grand opportunity
0:16:52 > 0:16:55which I was very fortunate to get.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59The talent in the Mercedes team ran deep,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01drawing on names from across the world.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Co-driving with John Fitch in the second Mercedes
0:17:05 > 0:17:07was French icon Pierre Levegh.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10At 50, he was older than Fangio,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14and had driven more miles at Le Mans than any other driver there,
0:17:14 > 0:17:18but despite having competed several times, almost winning
0:17:18 > 0:17:23single handedly in 1952, he had never won at Le Mans.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25He was a folk hero for the French,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29a fact not lost on Mercedes team boss Naubauer.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34They had Levegh as a great gesture to France.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37A heroic French figure who had tried to win it by himself was
0:17:37 > 0:17:42now being given a chance in front of a French crowd in France to win it.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45He was called the Bishop,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47privately among other drivers,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52not to his face, because he was rather solemn,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56and he was an old guy. He was 50 years old.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00He was a good driver. I know that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Levegh was in hallowed company and completed a formidable line up.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08It made Mercedes Benz the team to beat.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12The press believing nothing could challenge the combination
0:18:12 > 0:18:13of Moss and Fangio.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Yet Jaguar had an ace up their sleeve.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Their very own British rising star.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24A driver that had no intention of letting a German company take all the glory.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29The British selected Mike Hawthorn as its number one driver,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33one of the greatest mavericks the sport has ever known.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Hawthorn, only 26-years-old,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39was already on his way to becoming a motor racing hero.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Mike Hawthorn was everybody's idea of a public school boy.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47He drove in a bow tie, even Grands Prix he wore a bowtie.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52Behind the wheel of the best cars, Hawthorn was the young turk on the international circuit,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56achieving podium places at Grand Prix level.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58He was a real threat to Fangio.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02But it was not just his reputation as a talented driver
0:19:02 > 0:19:05which set Hawthorn apart from the crowd.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Mike would go out and have a party night
0:19:07 > 0:19:10and then get up and get in the car and race, you know?
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Carefree and flamboyant,
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Hawthorn seemed the epitome of the light-hearted gentleman amateur,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19racing for the pure enjoyment of competition,
0:19:19 > 0:19:20and living life to the full.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24But there was another side to the man, a side that
0:19:24 > 0:19:29did not always endear him to some of his fellow racing drivers.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32He did have this sort of low ebb sometimes.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36He had a kidney complaint, he'd had one kidney taken away anyway
0:19:36 > 0:19:38and the other one wasn't doing too good.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40He was on a time scale of about...
0:19:40 > 0:19:44They reckoned he'd got about three years to live.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Fully aware of his own mortality,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Hawthorn was living life on the edge.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Like Mercedes, Jaguar also entered three cars,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08but this British team only had British drivers.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Hawthorn's co-driver was Le Mans newcomer Ivor Bueb.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton were in the second Jaguar
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and in the third, Don Beauman and Norman Dewis.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22All would have to be at their best
0:20:22 > 0:20:26if they were to have a chance of beating Mercedes Benz.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Manager Lofty England knew, however, that apart from Hawthorn,
0:20:30 > 0:20:36the Jaguar drivers were not in the same league as Fangio and Moss.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38And what it meant was that Hawthorn couldn't win
0:20:38 > 0:20:41because whenever he handed the over to Bueb,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Fangio would be handing over to Moss
0:20:44 > 0:20:49and Ivor Bueb couldn't live with Stirling Moss, not over hours and hours and hours.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Ivor Bueb was very, very concerned about
0:20:52 > 0:20:54the speeds he was going to do.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57He'd never been up in that speed range before.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02Going down that Mulsanne he said, "It's a bit scary," he said,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05"Getting up in the 180 mile an hour stuff."
0:21:05 > 0:21:11The spectators were all too aware of the tension building between the rival teams.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14As the countdown to the starter's flag continued
0:21:14 > 0:21:16they scrambled to get the best view.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Overlooking the pit area was the most prized position.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Le Mans really starts at 9am on Saturday.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29When the people start to come
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and choose their place where they are going to be.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Some people want to be right in front of the protection wall,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41just behind the pressing, nobody is going to be in front of us.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59I was mostly in front of the grandstand.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01To see when the car arrive,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06to see how fast the driver get out of his car, get on the wall,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10how fast the mechanic was able to change the tyre, refuel,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13until the car is speeding, leaving again.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15That always fascinated me.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38With tickets at only four francs a piece, the main grandstand on the
0:22:38 > 0:22:41pit start straight was accessible to everybody.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46The low picket fences meant an uninterrupted view of the action
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and as the sun shone down it filled to capacity.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Ten minutes to start time,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04the moment everyone has been waiting for.
0:23:04 > 0:23:10In all, 60 cars take their place to be raced by 120 drivers.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20When the cars are wheeled to their starting positions,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23the fastest go to the top of the line,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Ferrari, Mercedes and Jaguar.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Behind the scenes, the teams secretly worked on tactics
0:23:32 > 0:23:34to outwit the opposition.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37For Jaguar, Lofty England came up with a radical
0:23:37 > 0:23:41plan to combat Mercedes' ability to take a race dominating lead.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44They could not match them driver for driver
0:23:44 > 0:23:49but they might be able to turn Mercedes' advantage into a weakness
0:23:49 > 0:23:51in order to win a team victory.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54The only way Hawthorn could conceivably win,
0:23:54 > 0:23:55or Jaguar could win,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59was for Hawthorn to go out and try and blow up the Fangio car
0:23:59 > 0:24:01by stretching it so far it simply blew up
0:24:01 > 0:24:05and this apparently was the tactic they adopted.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08It was a strategy fraught with risk.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Right from the race start the pressure was on Mike Hawthorn to
0:24:11 > 0:24:15lure and stretch Fangio's car beyond its mechanical limits.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26The Le Mans start is one of the most charged in motor racing.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29The drivers stood waiting on the tarmac
0:24:29 > 0:24:32find it difficult to concentrate and focus.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33There's this plateau.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36The race takes over, the event.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40And it's full, you can't move and all the flags are up.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45It just builds up and builds up to this crescendo.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51The 1955 crowd is the largest ever seen at Le Mans.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The crowd does get to you a bit.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00It's probably one of the biggest spectator races,
0:25:00 > 0:25:04you get 300,000 there and that's a lot people.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06So you look across to the grandstand
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and the grandstand is packed with people.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13It's all about how fast the drivers can run to their cars and get away.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Everyone is watching the starter's flag.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22It goes quiet, and, you know, with a huge crowd like that
0:25:22 > 0:25:26you can just hear the fluttering of the flags.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34The tricolour comes down
0:25:34 > 0:25:38and 60 drivers sprint across the track and leap into their cars.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42From that silence moments earlier
0:25:42 > 0:25:45to this sort of sea of
0:25:45 > 0:25:48action and sound.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54There are no seat belts to don, nothing to slow them down.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Engines roar into life and cars accelerate away.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01All except Fangio, who is stranded -
0:26:01 > 0:26:03his trousers stuck on his gear stick.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Everyone is expecting their usual jockeying for position
0:26:09 > 0:26:13and a settling down as the front runners open up a lead ready for the long haul.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16It is clear right from the start, however,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19that this race is not going to be like that.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24Right away, Hawthorn is in second place, soon chasing the lead.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28After a poor start, Fangio has to battle through a mass of cars,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33but neither Hawthorn or Fangio are concerned about other cars.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37They know that this is a race between the mighty Mercedes
0:26:37 > 0:26:39and the unbreakable Jaguar.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41The Jaguar plan is put into action.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Mike Hawthorn goes flat out.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Fangio, El Maestro,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48is under pressure to respond.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Fangio's instructions were to race,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57not to run at an even pace and get to the end, race, race as you want.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01So he was a racer, Hawthorn was a racer, so they set off,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05they sprinted into the ultimate endurance test.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Fangio and Hawthorn seemed to forget that there was a 24-hour race.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10For the first...
0:27:10 > 0:27:14nearly two hours it was just an out and out Grand Prix.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Every lap
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Fangio was leading or Hawthorn was leading
0:27:19 > 0:27:24and they were breaking the lap record consistently lap after lap.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26The two were dicing, dicing,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30and Hawthorn had so much guts in those days, he really had guts.
0:27:30 > 0:27:36A driver of that calibre always intends to win a race,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40and he has to go to considerable...
0:27:40 > 0:27:44lengths in effort, in willpower,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47pressing himself,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49risking his life,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51everything to win a race.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Just to hear those cars, the noise of the cars when
0:28:02 > 0:28:04they were flat on the floor.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06When you hear the noise
0:28:06 > 0:28:10of the Ferrari passing by, the noise was fantastic
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and the Mercedes had a lot of noise also.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25It so happened that Hawthorn,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30who on that day equalled the driving ability of Fangio,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32he was equally...as good as Fangio,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37neither one of those two could get ahead and get a good lead.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Fangio was...
0:28:39 > 0:28:40what...
0:28:40 > 0:28:43three feet behind the Jaguar, not even,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46sometimes they were going to touch.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48If Hawthorn had put his foot up a little bit
0:28:48 > 0:28:51I'm sure Fangio would give him a push.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10It generated a self-sustaining atmosphere
0:29:10 > 0:29:13of going faster and faster and faster,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15with a huge crowd, perhaps 300,000,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19getting more and more intoxicated as this duel went on.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Who is going to break first, Fangio or Hawthorn?
0:29:22 > 0:29:23One of the two,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28at the speed they were going, one of the two has to break down.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47It was certainly the notion that we must beat the Germans
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and several people have told me that the French, who of course
0:29:50 > 0:29:54do remember the occupation, were absolutely thrilled
0:29:54 > 0:29:56that the Jaguar was doing this to a German team.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58So that added another dimension to it.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06This, however, was not just World War II on the track.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09It was also a confrontation between David and Goliath.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13The Mercedes 300 SLR was produced by a battalion of engineers,
0:30:13 > 0:30:14backed by of one of the world's
0:30:14 > 0:30:20most powerful manufacturers in the heart of industrial Germany.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25The D-type Jaguar was engineered by 14 men in Coventry.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30But both companies had produced cars packed with innovation,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33utilising the most advanced technology.
0:30:33 > 0:30:40The difference between the D-type Jaguar and the 300 SLR Mercedes
0:30:40 > 0:30:43was the difference between day and night.
0:30:43 > 0:30:50The 300 SLR was a complete revolution in design and in concept.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55The 300 SLR's sleek body shape owed its success to a unique chassis.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00It was constructed on a revolutionary space frame principal,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04a rigid structure made from interlocking struts
0:31:04 > 0:31:05in a geometric pattern.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07With magnesium body panels,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11it was incredibly light and extremely strong.
0:31:11 > 0:31:17It was designed by a genius whose name was Rudolph Ulenhaut.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22The 300 SLR had a three litre, eight cylinder Formula One engine,
0:31:22 > 0:31:26relatively small compared to other top cars at Le Mans.
0:31:26 > 0:31:27But its cutting edge technology,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29such as desmodromic valves
0:31:29 > 0:31:33and a specially developed fuel injection system,
0:31:33 > 0:31:37gave the engine 310 horse power - a lot for its size.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41This was effectively a Grand Prix car with a sports car body.
0:31:41 > 0:31:48The Jaguar D-type had a larger 3.4 litre engine with 295 horse power.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54It also had an innovative chassis and body and was available as a road car as well as a racer.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Jaguar may not have had the financial resources of Mercedes,
0:31:58 > 0:31:59but, by reputation,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03they were able to attract the most creative engineers and designers.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Malcolm Sayer, he brought the aircraft principal into the D type.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09They bolted a sub frame onto the bulkhead
0:32:09 > 0:32:12and the engine was put into that sub frame.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16So he adopted these principals way ahead of everybody else.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21The Jaguar also incorporated an aerodynamic tail-plane at the rear
0:32:21 > 0:32:23to give it superior stability at high speed.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27But the biggest difference was the Jaguar's brakes.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32The disc brakes were highly developed by British manufacturers.
0:32:32 > 0:32:38They were not so highly developed by the German manufacturers,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40so they didn't use them.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43They used huge drum brakes, that's the old technology.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49Mercedes were getting a bit near the bone, the speeds were going up
0:32:49 > 0:32:53but the brakes could not match the performance to stop the car.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58Mercedes' old-fashioned heavy drum brakes, prone to overheating,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01seemed unlikely to last a 24-hour race.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Their radical solution?
0:33:03 > 0:33:05An air-brake!
0:33:05 > 0:33:11The driver pressed a button and the whole panel at the back of the car,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14like a big boot lid, it came up vertical,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18and that acted as an airbrake to slow the car down.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20People like Moss realised very quickly
0:33:20 > 0:33:22that you could use this air brake
0:33:22 > 0:33:25to stabilise the car through corners.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30So that in theory would have given it an enormous advantage,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33excepting that Le Mans is not about corners,
0:33:33 > 0:33:38it's really about naked speed and the Jaguar had that.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53The Jaguar was...brutalised,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57he didn't beat the car he brutalised the car.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Hawthorn was at the limit.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Hawthorn never accepted that a German car could pass a British car.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12That's what he was doing,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16dicing with a Mercedes, to be in front of that Mercedes.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19It was his aim all the time to be in front.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21I mean he did it time and time again,
0:34:21 > 0:34:25he passed Fangio time and time again, and Fangio passed him.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28They must have changed places well over a dozen times.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Hawthorn with no braking, you could see that he was not braking,
0:34:32 > 0:34:33went straight past him
0:34:33 > 0:34:38and when he braked for the Dunlop bridge the car snaked unbelievably.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43He would be determined to beat that Mercedes at all costs.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54The smell of the racing oil.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56All the cars had racing oil in the car
0:34:56 > 0:34:58and they passed by and it smells good!
0:35:13 > 0:35:16Part of the armoury of being a driver
0:35:16 > 0:35:18is almost a...
0:35:20 > 0:35:23A sense of superiority or aloofness that...
0:35:25 > 0:35:28..shows other drivers, don't mess with me
0:35:28 > 0:35:30because I am the biggest dog here.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Race drivers don't really care how fast they are going.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38We don't even have speedometers in the cars, we don't care.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42All we want to know is if we are in control, that's all.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45And we keep going faster and faster
0:35:45 > 0:35:48until we approach that limit of control
0:35:48 > 0:35:52and that's where we balance ourselves and try to stay
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and that's how we make good time.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07It's lap 35.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09The crowd in the grandstand
0:36:09 > 0:36:13strain to see as the lead cars roar into view.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Hawthorn is leading Fangio and is about to lap Pierre Levegh.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21The slower Lance Macklin, in his Austin Healey, is in the way.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26The cars are heavily bunched-up as they round White House,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29approaching at 150 miles per hour.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Suddenly someone say, here they come,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44so on the tip of our toes just to look a little more.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57A Mercedes has left the track.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00I remember the car high, high in the air,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03as high as the top of an electric pole.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51The momentum of the car has taken it into the packed grandstand.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54You hear a whistle like a car at speed like a wind.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01It scythed through the crowd that was tightly packed.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08That's why a lot of people got decapitated.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18People were cut in two pieces.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23You look down on the ground and see the guy lying down
0:38:23 > 0:38:26with the binocular around his head and the head is gone.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58The Mercedes is now a raging fireball,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02its magnesium body spitting out balls of molten metal.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Drivers are still racing by unaware of what is really happening.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53People rushed to help their friends in vain,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56whilst others are given the last rights.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01The 25 doctors on standby were not prepared for something like this.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07The race carries on.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11John Fitch is waiting to take over driving from Pierre Levegh
0:41:11 > 0:41:13in the second Mercedes.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16He is standing with Mrs Levegh in the pit area.
0:41:16 > 0:41:23Someone shouted out that it was number 20, our car,
0:41:23 > 0:41:28and Madame Levegh repeated several times her conviction
0:41:28 > 0:41:31that her Pierre was dead.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35She knew without confirmation
0:41:35 > 0:41:39by anyone else that he was dead.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42I am certain that he died at the wall.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Or if he didn't die at the wall,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48seconds after, because if you look at the photographs
0:41:48 > 0:41:50of what remained of the car,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54what could possibly remain of a human being after that?
0:42:06 > 0:42:10Pierre Levegh, the most senior of the Mercedes team, is dead.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18The pit area is in disarray. Nobody knows what is happening.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Macklin's car lies wrecked by the side of the track,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24though miraculously he has survived.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29Hawthorn, having done another lap, finally comes in to pit.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33Hawthorn was a broken man, in tears and agony,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35and a mistake that he's just made
0:42:35 > 0:42:41that has caused the death of innocent people by the scores.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44That breaks men
0:42:44 > 0:42:47and that broke Mike Hawthorn.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51As stretchers rush past, Hawthorn's co-driver Ivor Bueb
0:42:51 > 0:42:55is in the unenviable position of taking over at the wheel
0:42:55 > 0:42:58He just turns to me and he said, "Bloody hell, this is suicide.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02"I'm not going to drive it," he said, "I'm not going to drive in this."
0:43:02 > 0:43:07I really pushed Bueb and I said, "Get in the car and drive, come on,
0:43:07 > 0:43:09"the race is still on."
0:43:09 > 0:43:13On the other side of the track in the grandstand, it is much worse
0:43:13 > 0:43:19than anyone could have imagined, the death count rising towards 100.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22For three hours I could not say a single word.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25If I tried to talk...ugh, ugh, ugh.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27It was... I was stuck. I was stuck.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32Hours later, Jacques Grelley manages to find his way home.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Unable to telephone ahead, his grandfather is convinced he's dead.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38I walked up the stairs,
0:43:38 > 0:43:45opened the door, his eyes were huge and he said, "But you are not dead!"
0:43:45 > 0:43:49I said, "No" because the rumour was that he was gone.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57On the table there was a picture of me, a candle and a crucifix.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03You know, when you passed away, the memorial was already right there.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07The race still carries on.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Hawthorn is back in the driving seat again,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13challenging Fangio for the lead.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16One of the most controversial aspects of the crash, of the
0:44:16 > 0:44:21aftermath of the crash, is that the race was not stopped.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25The officials did not want to stop the race for fear 300,000 spectators
0:44:25 > 0:44:27would block the side roads,
0:44:27 > 0:44:32preventing the movement of ambulances and the 200 injured.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Giselle Pasquier was one of them.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52Soon after, Madam Pasquier's severely burnt hands were bandaged.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Her injuries were so bad she feared she would never
0:45:06 > 0:45:08hold her newborn baby again.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Even when the dead and injured were taken away,
0:45:34 > 0:45:36the race was still not stopped.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Mercedes continued racing for almost eight hours,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43eventually pulling out to avoid a public relations disaster.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47They invited Jaguar to do the same, but they abruptly declined.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49The Mercedes director's words down the phone
0:45:49 > 0:45:51to the press chief came terribly true.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54"What are you going to do when you win?"
0:45:54 > 0:45:58And the answer to that was that when Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb won it,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02they shook up the champagne and smiled
0:46:02 > 0:46:06and French newspapers carried that photograph
0:46:06 > 0:46:08with really very savage captions.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14"Cheers, Mr Hawthorn," they said. "Cheers."
0:46:16 > 0:46:20I suspect that in the heat of battle, which is what
0:46:20 > 0:46:24it certainly was, nobody at Jaguar was thinking what it would look like
0:46:24 > 0:46:26in 50 years further down the line.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31Nobody, and you can forgive them for that, you really can.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36You can forgive them also in that although that it was apparent that
0:46:36 > 0:46:40the accident happened across from the pits, a lot of people saw that
0:46:40 > 0:46:42terrible things had happened,
0:46:42 > 0:46:45but they weren't totally aware of the scale of it.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51'When the world's greatest motor race,
0:46:51 > 0:46:54'the Le Man 24 Hours, opens on a perfect summer's day, none of the
0:46:54 > 0:46:58'spectators can suspect the utter devastation that lies ahead.'
0:47:00 > 0:47:03The events of the 1955 Le Mans shocked the world.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07There were no easy ways to explain how such a tragedy occurred.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12A picture had to be built from eye witness accounts and hearsay.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17No-one could say definitively what happened between the four cars involved in the collision.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Inevitably, blame and accusation soon followed.
0:47:24 > 0:47:30Mike Hawthorn, by my evidence, the things that I saw and heard
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and knew from this event, caused the accident.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36I'd never blame Hawthorn, no.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39Never blame Hawthorn.
0:47:39 > 0:47:44Hawthorn simply made a miscalculation.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49In the intoxication of the moment he made a miscalculation
0:47:49 > 0:47:51and it had the most terrible consequences.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54I would put most of the blame on Macklin myself, yeah,
0:47:54 > 0:47:59because if he'd have looked in his mirror, he couldn't possibly pull out
0:47:59 > 0:48:03because the Merc is coming here, he knew he wouldn't have done it.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12The main weight of culpability fell on Pierre Levegh.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14He was mid-fifties,
0:48:14 > 0:48:18if his reactions had been quicker, he'd have reacted quicker but
0:48:18 > 0:48:20there was something else about Levegh.
0:48:20 > 0:48:26He was dead, and the dead don't sue you whatever you say about them.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30My personal feeling is Levegh shouldn't have been in the Mercedes team.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32The car was too quick for him, for his age.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35That's my personal opinion.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37Hawthorn had...
0:48:37 > 0:48:40all kinds of problems.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44He recognised, as we have discussed,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48he told Rob Walker and Donald Healey
0:48:48 > 0:48:54and Lance Macklin that he was the cause of this tragedy.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58And he said his life as a driver was over.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01And he was shattered
0:49:01 > 0:49:04and in tears,
0:49:04 > 0:49:11and then, a few hours or a day later when he appeared publicly,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13he denied it all.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19A subsequent public enquiry absolved all the drivers of blame.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Important evidence in this was some amateur cine footage shot
0:49:22 > 0:49:28by a spectator, himself injured, hit by the debris of Levegh's car.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32This footage had been hidden away for almost 55 years.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36But journalist and Mike Hawthorn biographer Paul Skilleter,
0:49:36 > 0:49:38who's studied the tragedy for many years,
0:49:38 > 0:49:42has decided to share his archive and in particular
0:49:42 > 0:49:46a set of still photographs taken from the original film footage.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49This series of pictures offers a unique perspective,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53looking directly at the oncoming, colliding cars.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57When re-constructed as a moving image, this sequence
0:49:57 > 0:50:01shows how rapidly events unfolded, and how the disaster was triggered.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21As the lead cars approached the end of lap 35,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Mike Hawthorn started to move over.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26Overtaking Macklin's slower car,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30Hawthorn began to decelerate ready to re-fuel.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32He was now in front of Macklin.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37Macklin kicks up some dust,
0:50:37 > 0:50:42either from locking the brakes or drifting onto the grass verge.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45At this point, Levegh was bearing down on Macklin,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47aware that Fangio was behind.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52He would know this is no time to slow the lead Mercedes.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55Macklin then swerved to his left,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59crossing the central line, apparently out of control.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Macklin started to correct his course but was hit
0:51:02 > 0:51:08immediately by Pierre Levegh, racing at 150 miles per hour.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Levegh has no time to respond,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14and drove up the sloped back of Macklin's Austin Healey.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16This acted as a ramp
0:51:16 > 0:51:20and Levegh's Mercedes was launched towards the crowd.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Using a scale 3D model of the track as it was in 1955,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29we can see that the catastrophe
0:51:29 > 0:51:32was caused by more than just the actions of the drivers.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Firstly, the pit straight was narrow,
0:51:35 > 0:51:40merely three cars across, with the pits not separated from the track.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Secondly, it was a place where some cars
0:51:42 > 0:51:44were slowing to go into the pits
0:51:44 > 0:51:49while others continued racing full throttle, and so had to overtake.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53Both these factors created congestion at high speeds.
0:51:53 > 0:51:58Thirdly, there was a slight bend in the track here.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02The nature of this is seen clearly in this photo.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05At slow speed this bend would be un-noticeable,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09but at race speeds this was a serious bend for the drivers,
0:52:09 > 0:52:14which may explain why Levegh did not move to his left to avoid Macklin.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18Fourthly, the popular main grandstand
0:52:18 > 0:52:21was right on the outside of this bend.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Between the speeding cars and the spectators
0:52:26 > 0:52:30there was only a chest-high wattle and earth barrier.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32Any car out of control at this point
0:52:32 > 0:52:35had nowhere to go but into the crowd.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41When Le Mans was conceived in 1923,
0:52:41 > 0:52:47the cars averaged 55 miles per hour and the track was relatively safe.
0:52:47 > 0:52:5130 years later the cars were capable of speeds in excess
0:52:51 > 0:52:56of 190 miles per hour, yet the track had remained virtually the same.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59The cars had outgrown the track.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03A tragedy was perhaps inevitable.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06Even today, there is still no confirmed death toll.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10Estimates range from 80 to 120 dead.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16The 1955 Le Mans disaster went on to shape and scar
0:53:16 > 0:53:18the lives of many of those involved.
0:53:18 > 0:53:24Mercedes soon stopped racing for over 30 years.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28The Jaguar works racing team was closed down a few months later,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32not returning to Le Mans as a factory team for over 30 years.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Norman Dewis never drove at Le Mans again.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38He spent the rest of his career developing cars for Jaguar.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Fangio never raced at Le Mans again.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Three years later he retired.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49John Fitch continued racing, but became obsessed with road safety.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53He went on to invent the Fitch Inertial safety barrier
0:53:53 > 0:53:56which has saved thousands of motorist's lives.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59The once jovial and relaxed Lance Macklin
0:53:59 > 0:54:04became embittered and litigious, suing Mike Hawthorn for libel.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Mike Hawthorn went on to win the world championship in 1958.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11He retired shortly afterwards,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15only to die while overtaking on the rain-drenched Guildford bypass.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19The vehicle in his way was a Mercedes.
0:54:22 > 0:54:27For many, the accident at Le Mans in 1955 marked a watershed.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31The event came to represent motor sports' loss of innocence,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35an ugly episode that was quickly swept aside.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38An important police report remains buried
0:54:38 > 0:54:40under a secrecy law almost 60 years on.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45There is no lasting memorial, no remembrance service to attend.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48There was an immediate review of all race tracks,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51the beginning of a slow revolution
0:54:51 > 0:54:53in racing safety that continues to this day.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55The Le Mans pit area
0:54:55 > 0:55:00and grandstands were bulldozed and re-built soon after.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07Found in an archive is this extraordinary series of photographs
0:55:07 > 0:55:09taken before and after the crash.
0:55:09 > 0:55:10When put together,
0:55:10 > 0:55:15this panorama forms a tragic record of the scale of the disaster.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18The moment between life and death.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13It's a sad day.
0:57:13 > 0:57:14Very sad day.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:14 > 0:58:18E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk