309:. Running up the side of Macklin's car, Levegh's car launched into the air, striking high on a retaining wall, disintegrating and scattering components into the crowd. Levegh was killed when he was flung from his car and his skull crushed by the landing impact. The flammable magnesium body of the Mercedes quickly ignited in the accident; the combination of the fire and flying car parts killed 83 spectators with over 100 injured. The race was continued in order to avoid a mass exodus of spectators, which would have blocked all access roads needed for use by the responding ambulances.
332:, whose entrants achieved a 1–2–3 finish in the 2-litre class at Le Mans that year, decided to abandon racing altogether as a result of the tragedy, scrapping all but one of their racing cars. Fitch became a safety advocate and began research into automotive safety, some of which have advanced into motorsport.
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The accident was a major contributor to changing attitudes about the acceptance of danger in motor racing and an increase in the desire to make courses safer for spectators and drivers alike. Most notably, Mercedes stopped all motor racing activities for the next 30 years. Likewise the small
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having come loose many hours earlier in the race, although many fans placed the blame on driver fatigue. Levegh had refused to let his co-driver take over because he felt only he could nurse the car home. In 1953 he came in eighth, and in 1954 he was involved in an accident in the seventh hour of
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Levegh may have saved the life of five-time
Formula One World Champion Fangio, who maintained that a hand-signal from Levegh to slow down moments before he struck Macklin's car was a deliberate warning, which saved Fangio from also crashing.
305:. Macklin was forced to make an evasive move away from Hawthorn, pulling across the track into the way of Levegh's faster Mercedes running just in front of Mercedes teammate Argentine
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failure in the last hour of the race with a four lap lead. The failure was due to a bolt in the central
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in four races, finishing fourth in 1951. In 1952, driving single-handedly, his car suffered an
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192:(22 December 1905 – 11 June 1955) was a French sportsman and
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209:, a pioneering driver who died in 1904. Levegh died in the
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347:Complete Formula One World Championship results
324:continued in their Jaguars to win the race.
297:cut into the pits, slowing in front of the
213:which also killed 83 spectators during the
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626:. January 2002. p. 23.
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196:. He took the racing name
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638:"1955 Le Mans Disaster"
205:in memory of his uncle
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172:1950 Belgian Grand Prix
786:Sport deaths in France
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229:, France, was also an
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711:Remember Le Mans 1955
620:"100 greatest drives"
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211:1955 Le Mans disaster
287:24 Hours of Le Mans
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59:(1955-06-11)
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741:1955 deaths
736:1905 births
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501:Talbot-Lago
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247:Talbot-Lago
243:Formula One
237:player. In
168:First entry
98:Talbot-Lago
72:Formula One
730:Categories
578:References
512:Straight-6
427:Straight-6
279:John Fitch
239:motorsport
231:ice hockey
178:Last entry
96:privateer
40:1905-12-22
322:Ivor Bueb
673:Archived
367:Chassis
364:Entrant
328:firm of
265:racing.
245:for the
66:, France
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370:Engine
132:Podiums
104:Entries
64:Le Mans
679:31 May
647:31 May
509:Talbot
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258:engine
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235:tennis
221:Career
361:Year
341:Paris
269:Death
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681:2016
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