A good book to read on the crash is Mon ami mate by Chris Nixon, a
double bio of Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn. There was an
investigation by the French police of Hawthorn's role in the crash.
Some believe he could have waited behind Macklin's car before
entering his pit or cut in front of him. Unfortunately, he chose to
cut in front of Macklin. As the D type had better brakes than the
Healey (sorry guys) Macklin had to stand on it to avoid a crash; at
the last minute even that wouldn't work, so Macklin eased his car the
the left to avoid Hawthorn's D type. That put him in the path of
Levegh's Mercedes, which hit the left rear of Macklin's Healey and
veered sharply towards the garss embankment, this is where the crash
film starts. Some say It was clearly Hawthorn's fault, possibly
Levegh's lack of experience, but I believe it was a combination of
things, what we call a "racing accident" Mercedes withdrew from the
race and from all motor racing later that year, Hawthorn died in '59
and John Healey told me Lance Macklin was never quite "right" after
that...
--
Alain Giguere
BN7 Bits
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