An excellent account of the disaster appears in Chris Nixon's book Mon Ami
Mate. A series of photos of the crash shows Lance Macklin in the centre of
the narrow road with a significant gap between his car and Mike Hawthorn's D
Type. Macklin left insufficient room for Levegh who launched off the back
of the Healey into the crowd with devastating results.
After reading the accounts and examining the photos I've always felt that
Macklin must have been day dreaming when Hawthorn passed him and braked for
the pits. He only had to keep his foot on the throttle and steer round the
Jaguar - instead he nearly ran into the back of the car - had a moment and
ended up in the middle of the track. He blamed Hawthorn for starting the
sequence of events - which he clearly did - but Macklin should have been
able to cope with the situation if he'd been on the ball.
The speed differential of the cars did not contribute to the accident. The
significant difference in braking performance of the Jaguar over the Healey
may have been a factor.
regards
Jeremy Braithwaite
Age & Treachery Racing Australia
----- Original Message -----
From: <S800Racer@aol.com>
To: <hayes@mediaone.net>; <Transmancat@aol.com>;
<vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2000 1:28 AM
Subject: Re: Speed differentials and the ultimate place to race?
>
>
> In a message dated 3/23/00 2:03:13 AM, hayes@mediaone.net writes:
>
> <<Who was Levegh's co driver?
> Who swerved into the pits possibly causing the accident?>>
>
> Can't recall Levegh's co-driver but the ultimate winner of the race, Mike
> Hawthorn swerved in front of Macklin and braked sharply causing Macklin to
> swerve into Levegh's path.
|