37 replies to this topic

[HistoryFan]

1955 was a terrible year for motorsport: the catastrophic Le Mans crash, the death of former World Champion Ascari and former Indy 500 winner Vukovich and so on.

 

A lot of races were cancelled afterwards. Road Racing was banned in Switzerland.

 

I think that was the biggest crises in Racing. Was there any thoughts about the end of Racing at all? How deep was that crises?

[Paul Parker]

Yes it was a terrible year, but by the standards of the era only due to the extent of the Le Mans catastrophe, which really was a tragedy in waiting, ditto the Dundrod TT, where three drivers died.

 

Otherwise the death of Ascari and Vukovich were just the usual collateral damage, Indianapolis was always potentially lethal and fatal crashes during practice and the race were regular occurences more or less up to date, albeit now far less often. The same applied to all races across Europe and the UK for decades, 1968 stands out as a particularly dark year.

 

The demise of the Swiss GP was inevitable, the Bremgarten circuit had a fairly savage history and the Swiss government were not comfortable with this and banned circuit racing in Switzerland, but not hillclimbs, plus of course the circuit was prime building land and most of it was subsequently built upon complete with roads and all the usual paraphenalia of population increase.

[Stephen W]

I think a lot of the collateral damage from the 1955 Le Mans tragedy was politically expedient. It was also the excuse for other actions taken within motorsport not just the banning of 'circuit racing' in Switzerland. 

[D-Type]

The prime concern was the safety of spectators.  Drivers deaths were considered the norm before Jackie Stewart's campaign.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Paul Parker
.....the Bremgarten circuit..... was prime building land and most of it was subsequently built upon complete with roads and all the usual paraphenalia of population increase.

Just two short pieces of the circuit are 'building land'...

Most of it is buried under forest while there is also a freeway which cuts through the middle of it.

I have photos somewhere...

And more on topic, the effects of the Le Mans crash caused a slow-down of the 'Around the Houses' racing so popular in Western Australia at the time, local authorities becoming very nervous of the dangers. But it would be over ten years before the last of those race meetings would be held.

[Paul Parker]

Just two short pieces of the circuit are 'building land'...

Most of it is buried under forest while there is also a freeway which cuts through the middle of it.

I have photos somewhere...

And more on topic, the effects of the Le Mans crash caused a slow-down of the 'Around the Houses' racing so popular in Western Australia at the time, local authorities becoming very nervous of the dangers. But it would be over ten years before the last of those race meetings would be held.

I went looking for the circuit some many years ago and the only original bit of period structure I could find was a wooden grandstand in the forest, otherwise all I saw was a lot housing, feeder roads and I found the motorway that had been built across part of the circuit.

I presumed the quarry had long gone but the local people I spoke to were unaware of its existence.

[Charlieman]

The prime concern was the safety of spectators.  Drivers deaths were considered the norm before Jackie Stewart's campaign.

The uproar was all about spectator deaths, as Duncan says. Six years later, Wolfgang von Trips had a knock and crashed into a crowd killing fifteen spectators. Expletive and more.

 

I want to see action on the track up close but I don't want to see that sort of action. I want my cake.

[RobertE]

And do not forget the RAC TT at Dundrod...

[bill p]

And do not forget the RAC TT at Dundrod...

See post #2........

[RobertE]

Doh! My bad...

[Pat Clarke]

I remember the Parish Priest railing from the pulpit about the horrors of motor racing and the carnage on the Sunday after the Le Mans tragedy..

I understand the Church's official line had been decreed by the Vatican. (Pius 12 was the Pope and we know his history).

 

Pat

[Michael Ferner]

(Pius 12 was the Pope and we know his history).

Can you be less cryptic?

[Roger Clark]

Following Le Mans 1955, several governments, notably those in France and Italy, demanded modifications to circuit to improve spectator safety.  Circuits hosting major events were able to do this but many smaller ones were not.  This led to the loss of many circuits and of their non-championship Grands Prix.  This may have happened anyway as the closure of public roads for small races became less acceptable to "public opinion" but I am sure that Le Mans hastened the end.

[Tim Murray]

My understanding is that motor racing was temporarily banned in France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany in the aftermath of Le Mans. As we know, the Swiss ban turned out not to be temporary and lasted until very recently. The German ban appears to have been quite short, as there are results on the WSRP site of German races from August 1955 onwards.

What I can’t find is when the French and Spanish bans were lifted. I can’t find any French results on WSRP until April 1956, and there are too few Spanish results there to draw any conclusions. Does anyone know definitely?

[Eric Dunsdon]

We went to a BRSCC Brands Hatch meeting the weekend following the Le Mans crash and while the spectator banks were  not too crowded at the corners, things were pretty much back to normal by the end of the day. Back then we were accustomed to  wayward cars with Boreham in particular requiring quick reflexes and athletic ability. Right to the end of the 1950's there was often the chance of Masten Gregory joining you in the spectator areas!.

[Lee Nicolle]

The worse thing is this still happens. Motor racing is so nannied and dumbed down to be nearly obsolete however rallying,,,, cars joining the spectators and the public at home on a regular occurence. How on earth they get away with it I have no idea.

Mind you the idiots stand where you would expect cars to come, and ofcourse where you would less expect too. And the 'official' spectator area are little better. And yes the cars get there as well.

Look at the rally crash vids on You Tube by the dozen. This in Europe, I guess Africa and even in Australia.

[Ray Bell]

I agree with you, Lee...

Rallying is courting disaster all the time and a big one could bring motor sport to its knees.

But with regard to 1955, I would like to hear the views of Colonel Capps on this one as he was there and watched the events unfold.

[Eric Dunsdon]

Me too but as a matter of interest the chap that I went to Brands with had actually witnessed the 55 Le Mans accident.

[GazChed]

The Silhouet.com site lists only British non championship Formula One races in the second half of the 1955 season apart from the Siracuse Grand Prix at the end of the season . I am at work at the moment but I have a feeling the length of the bans are mentioned in 'Four Wheel Drift 1945-1959' . If someone doesn't beat me to it I'll have a look when I get home . Also not wishing to teach you to suck eggs Tim , but is nothing mentioned in the 1955 Motorsport magazine archives ?

[Tim Murray]

Me too but as a matter of interest the chap that I went to Brands with had actually witnessed the 55 Le Mans accident.

... and posted here about it:

I have just picked up this thread, and while I offer no opinion on the causes of the accident, preferring to leave it as a racing incident, I thought it might be of some small interest that I was at Le Mans that day and witnessed the accident from my grandstand seat directly opposite the Jaguar pit.
I was 17 years old, which was still quite young in the '50's, and beginning to get a little bored with the constant procession of cars simply rushing past, when I said to myself; 'Come on Robert, this is Le Mans' In consequence of that thought I followed the progress of the next car through, Castellottti's Ferrari, until it passed from sight under the Motor Bridge, as I swung my head round to pick up the leaders my vision was filled with a huge ball of flame. The next thing I remember was standing at the very back of the grandstand with no idea how I got there, thinking I must not be killed as it would upset my Mum. Self preservation took over I suppose!
I never saw the events leading to the crash so can shed no light on things, but the members of our party spent ages trying to work out who had crashed by checking the numbers of the survivors. We had no idea whose car it was, or even how many were involved, but we could see Macklin's car on the track badly damaged.
Rescue efforts went on long into the night and the scene in front of us was utter devastaion, however, once the dead and injured had been moved away the crowds filled the area as if nothing had happened.

Trying to place blame in these situations is I believe odious and quite unneccessary, the track was basically unsuitable for such powerful cars, but we all knew the risks, spectators as much as the drivers. That it is how is was in 1955.
I have never returned to the Sarthe, but still retain my seat stub from the Guy Bouriot Tribune.

Bauble.

(taken from this thread:

Le Mans 1955

which also contains Don Capps’ account.)

[Roger Clark]

Autosport September 23 1955 had a small article headlined Racing Returns to France. A Government Commission had decided on additional safety measures, including: a minimum track width of 7metres, and pits no longer permitted alongside the road but must be situated on a “service lane”. The article, by Gerard Crombac, said that the first meeting was anticipated to be the Coupe du salon on 9th October but this did not, I think, take place.

[Tim Murray]

Thanks Roger.

[rudi]

Races cancelled in France:

Following Le Mans there was no more race in France in 1955.

[DCapps]

We went to a BRSCC Brands Hatch meeting the weekend following the Le Mans crash and while the spectator banks were  not too crowded at the corners, things were pretty much back to normal by the end of the day.

 

We went to the Dutch race at Zandvoort the week following Le Mans and it was pretty much a "normal" event to me. The only races I can still remember going to after the Dutch race was the one at Aintree and then later on Monza. We might have gone to another minor event or even two somewhere, but I do not think so, although it is possible, of course. One of my memories of the summer of 1955 is that I spent more of it attending track & field events and other such activities, baseball games on base, and then football matches towards the end of summer than going to the usual bunch of motor races. As a schoolboy, I did not realize just how much Le Mans, Vukovich, Ascari, and so forth rattled the racing business, but years later I began to fathom how much it shook things up, even if only temporarily in some instances. In 1956, it was pretty much back to normal as best that I can remember.

[Vitesse2]

Autosport September 23 1955 had a small article headlined Racing Returns to France. A Government Commission had decided on additional safety measures, including: a minimum track width of 7metres, and pits no longer permitted alongside the road but must be situated on a “service lane”. The article, by Gerard Crombac, said that the first meeting was anticipated to be the Coupe du salon on 9th October but this did not, I think, take place.

There must have been a delay to fine-tune the details or in gaining final government approval. The Daily Telegraph i/d October 20th 1955 p12 carries a report datelined Paris the previous day, announcing the lifting of the ban as part of 'the promulgation to-day of new safety regulations for motor racing tracks' which were set out in broad terms. It was 'expected that big-scale racing will begin again in the new year.'

[Vitesse2]

Autosport September 23 1955 had a small article headlined Racing Returns to France. A Government Commission had decided on additional safety measures, including: a minimum track width of 7metres, and pits no longer permitted alongside the road but must be situated on a “service lane”. The article, by Gerard Crombac, said that the first meeting was anticipated to be the Coupe du salon on 9th October but this did not, I think, take place.

Actually previewed in The Times i/d September 15th 1955 p10, quoting Agence France Presse, which said they were 'expected to be published in the Journal Officiel soon.' There is a similar report to the Telegraph one I quoted above in The Times, same date, p10. This describes it as a 'government decree' publshed on the 19th. On December 31st, The Times also reported that the Reims circuit had been passed as 'safe for future racing' after various improvement works.

[nexfast]

My understanding is that motor racing was temporarily banned in France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany in the aftermath of Le Mans. As we know, the Swiss ban turned out not to be temporary and lasted until very recently. The German ban appears to have been quite short, as there are results on the WSRP site of German races from August 1955 onwards.

What I can’t find is when the French and Spanish bans were lifted. I can’t find any French results on WSRP until April 1956, and there are too few Spanish results there to draw any conclusions. Does anyone know definitely?

 I have a record of a race in Spain on 11July 1955 at the Barajas Airport  (Madrid) called II Gran Premio Nacional Sport Barajas. Actually we are talking about three night races that were on the programme according to engine capacity. Does it mean the ban had been rescinded by then or did this event take place before the ban was enacted?

[Eric Dunsdon]

Old Bauble and I also went to the 1955 British Grand Prix. Before the race there was a parade of the drivers seated in Austin Healeys and I remember that after getting a resounding cheer from the crowd at Waterways Corner Horace Gould  shouted across to us "You Wont Be Cheering When I Come Round Over There".

 

Seriously,  that was a dreadful year the loss of Ascari being a massive blow but the loss of talented, promising and likeable British drivers such a Mike Keen, Don Beauman, Jim Mayers  and Bill Smith was felt much more  personally having not only watched them drive but spoken to them in various circuit paddocks.  I remember them all fondly.

[Vitesse2]

 I have a record of a race in Spain on 11July 1955 at the Barajas Airport  (Madrid) called II Gran Premio Nacional Sport Barajas. Actually we are talking about three night races that were on the programme according to engine capacity. Does it mean the ban had been rescinded by then or did this event take place before the ban was enacted?

Actually on the 10th. Reported in El Mundo Deportivo on the 11th. Seven class winners listed, but it does indeed look like three races.

[nexfast]

Indeed, my source seems to be wrong concerning the date (it is the bio of Godia by GImeno Valledor and his attention to detail in this and in other of his works is not necessarily optimal). I can though confirm the three races since the book also has the entry list and classification of each race, referring the existence of  sub-classes in the first  two. By the way the article in El Mundo Deportivo is not accurate either at least about the names. For istance, "L. Liskin" the winner of the first sub-class does not exist, we are talking here of a well-known driver in Spanish racing circles, Luciano Eliakin.

[Vitesse2]

No doubt the usual crackly telephone line and/or inexperienced copytaker problem, given that El Mundo Deportivo is a Barcelona paper! I've seen some absolute horrors in the French and British press where names have been mangled.

[AmilcarJohn]

 

Has anyone seen one of these before? It is possible to see the general outline of such chocks in period pictures (especially of the start) but I haven't seen a picture showing the writing in detail. The story that came with it was that it was taken by a mechanic as a souvenir from Le Mans  1955, since he was convinced that the race would never run again.

 

Any information appreciated.

[D-Type]

 

Has anyone seen one of these before? It is possible to see the general outline of such chocks in period pictures (especially of the start) but I haven't seen a picture showing the writing in detail. The story that came with it was that it was taken by a mechanic as a souvenir from Le Mans  1955, since he was convinced that the race would never run again.

 

Any information appreciated.

I've never even noticed one of those in any period pictures.  Were they used to locate the cars at the start?  If so wouldn't they have been thrown everywhere as the cars moved off? 

[E1pix]

A sidebar for long-timers here: Bauble and I have kept in touch and he's doing well.

I miss him terribly here, though.

[GMACKIE]

A sidebar for long-timers here: Bauble and I have kept in touch and he's doing well.

I miss him terribly here, though.

 

As do I...on both counts. Bob has a 'proper' sense of humour. Sorry, but that is the correct spelling!

[E1pix]

Yes, I see your name on those lovely sendings of HUMOR. ;-)

[GMACKIE]

Stay back after school, and write 100 times "I must not spell HUMOUR with one U".

 

You don't drive a V single U, do you?

[E1pix]

VolksUagen.