The Le Mans 24, one of auto racing's oldest and most dangerous endurance races, has seen its share of fatal accidents over the past 100 years. That's thanks to mixed surfaces, sharp corners and curves, unpredictable weather, and very, very fast driving for hours at a time. Spectators at Le Mans expect to see the cutting edge of automotive technology from all the major European carmakers PLUS expert driving skills, and most years they get exactly that.
In the 1955 race, however, the delicate balance of speed, skill, and conditions failed, causing a single-car crash that snowballed into the worst accident in motorsports history. On this episode, we're looking at the history of the race, the quirks of the course, and what exactly happened the evening of June 11, 1955.
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Sources for this episode include:
"THE TRAGEDY AT LE MANS", by B. Newman for Sports Illustrated, 1986
"Le Mans 1955: the disaster that changed motorsport forever", by B. Goodhart for GQ, 2020
"On Auto Racing’s Deadliest Day", by B. Spurgeon for the NY Times, 2015
"Le Mans 1955", short film by Q. Baillieux, 2018
"Everything You Need to Know about the 24 Hours of Le Mans Race" by R. Ceppos for Car and Driver, 2021
