S4 Ep28: The Le Mans Motor Racing Disaster - 1955

The CRASH BANG WALLOP Podcast

It’s 1955. It’s Le Mans, France and a quarter of a million people have turned out to watch one of the most boring sporting events on the planet - The Le Mans 24 Hour.

In what rich, champagne-spraying playboys are already toasting as the 28th lap of the CB Wallop podcast, join Phil Jerrod and Phil Lucas as they discuss the Le Mans Motor Racing Disaster of 1955 - Dozens of very fast cars, thousands of very boring miles, and one tragic decision that led to the worst accident in motor racing history.

Is motor racing still boring though? ... yes... yes it is.

Trigger Warning: This one is all fun until about halfway through - then it’s really nasty. It has lots and lots of decapitations in it. It’s pretty horrid, but nothing too graphic (although Sterling Moss does get pissed on from a tree). It’s mainly about Motor Racing though, which, as I’m sure you know, is terribly boring.

Music by Steve Adam

Sound Clips:

Le Mans Motor Racing Disaster (1955) | British Pathé

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMoh5hZAaZk

British Pathé

Subscribe to the British Pathé YT Channel: https://goo.gl/hV1nkf

(Film ID: 531.05)

British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. https://www.britishpathe.com/

On Board with Mike Hawthorne at Le Mans 1956 | D-type Jaguar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpRFagIbcPE&t=71s

Cherry pink and apple blossom white-Eddie Calvert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TcLdJlA0Nc

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Artist Eddie Calvert

Album Cherry Pink

Licensed to YouTube by

WMG (on behalf of Cherished Records); LatinAutor - Warner Chappell, The Royalty Network (Publishing), UMPG Publishing, LatinAutor, Warner Chappell, SODRAC, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, PEDL, LatinAutor - UMPG, and 6 Music Rights Societies

Sources:

https://www.lemans.org/en/24-hours-of-le-mans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Mans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hawthorn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Levegh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMoh5hZAaZk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpOTNcro2wU&t=927s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggA0XXgnAJI&t=177s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMoh5hZAaZk&t=12s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFQ2CwA1NCM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggA0XXgnAJI&t=240s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Macklin

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1406160/Lance-Macklin.html

https://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/deadliest-crash-disaster-at-le-mans/article/what-happened-le-mans-1955/

https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/175213/Reckless-British-playboy-behind-motor-racing-s-biggest-disaster