Tonight BBC FOUR Sunday 16 May 21:00
Discussion
Not allowed to watch it here in France but have recorded it for Wednesday. By coincidence I met a sprightly octogenerian yesterday who still bears the scars of that day (caused by burning magnesium) and his description was very vivid. It's quite amazing how many people I meet were there that day.
As ever, the producers forgot to mention Lofty met with his counterpart Neubauer after the accident.It was Loftys` idea BOTH teams withdraw there and then, but Neubauer refused and wanted to see out the race,only to withdraw the Mercedes team after they had LOST .Mistake 1
I`m surprised Dewis didn`t state that in the interview.
He never raced again because Lyons decided to change the structure of the company. He simply did not want the expense of the comps dept.Nothing to do with the accident. They DID return with the lightweight Es in the early 60s, not some 30 years after the 55 accident.Mistake 2
Fitch was rambling on about Mike, he didn`t cause it, it was after all a tragic racing accident, like Dundrod in the same year.Fitch has not changed his mind at all since 55, maybe because he was denied his driveand some sour grapes. Simular situation for Dewis , when Beauman shoved their D into the sand bank. Now if Norman had been out there Mike would have fetched him up to second I`m sure . Imagine that, a Jaguar 1/2...........
I`m surprised Dewis didn`t state that in the interview.
He never raced again because Lyons decided to change the structure of the company. He simply did not want the expense of the comps dept.Nothing to do with the accident. They DID return with the lightweight Es in the early 60s, not some 30 years after the 55 accident.Mistake 2
Fitch was rambling on about Mike, he didn`t cause it, it was after all a tragic racing accident, like Dundrod in the same year.Fitch has not changed his mind at all since 55, maybe because he was denied his driveand some sour grapes. Simular situation for Dewis , when Beauman shoved their D into the sand bank. Now if Norman had been out there Mike would have fetched him up to second I`m sure . Imagine that, a Jaguar 1/2...........
I don`t buy that.Are you seriously telling me that none of the Merc Directors were present at such an important race?? The Merc team was run much the same as it was in pre war days. One tech director, with two lieutenants plus the engineers working on the cars .All attended the race meetings when Englishman Dick Seaman drove for them.
Neubauer, ( team affairs organising the race drivers) and Uhlenhaut
( experimental, testing , chief engineer) formed the backbone of the management team, together with the overall tech director.
They would have been present,maybe even the Chairman too. Same for Jaguar. Lyons(The chairman), Lofty ( race team manager) and Bill Heynes ( Engineer director) were at Le Mans, 51/53 and 55. Both Management teams could have agreed to withdraw, Merc decided against it.
What the program failed to convey was why Hawthorn drove out of his skin that day.Inspirational driving needs inspiration. Back in 1950, Mike had been given the Prince Chula book on Dick Seaman by a mate for his Birthday. He had read it several times over and the book took pride of place in his office up until the time he was killed. Perhaps Mike had felt Seaman had got a rum deal back in 38 when Merc refused to let Britains best driver compete at Le Mans in a Lagonda. Instead they made him a 4th placed reserve over and above the German drivers.
Maybe this is where his inspiration came from.Certainly Seaman was one driver Mike held in very high regard,him being the first Englishman to win the German Grand Prix, Mike emulated him to be the second.
Neubauer, ( team affairs organising the race drivers) and Uhlenhaut
( experimental, testing , chief engineer) formed the backbone of the management team, together with the overall tech director.
They would have been present,maybe even the Chairman too. Same for Jaguar. Lyons(The chairman), Lofty ( race team manager) and Bill Heynes ( Engineer director) were at Le Mans, 51/53 and 55. Both Management teams could have agreed to withdraw, Merc decided against it.
What the program failed to convey was why Hawthorn drove out of his skin that day.Inspirational driving needs inspiration. Back in 1950, Mike had been given the Prince Chula book on Dick Seaman by a mate for his Birthday. He had read it several times over and the book took pride of place in his office up until the time he was killed. Perhaps Mike had felt Seaman had got a rum deal back in 38 when Merc refused to let Britains best driver compete at Le Mans in a Lagonda. Instead they made him a 4th placed reserve over and above the German drivers.
Maybe this is where his inspiration came from.Certainly Seaman was one driver Mike held in very high regard,him being the first Englishman to win the German Grand Prix, Mike emulated him to be the second.
Totally agree Paul, this is certainly how I always understood it from the various relevent biogs etc.
Unfortunately & sadly for Mike I think he did blame himself although he undoubtedly did not cause it, TBH I always thought that Macklin threw a few too many accusations around........but hey ho.
Also it was rather ambiguous at the end regarding Mike's fatal accident.
BUT the biggest shock of all for me & something which I never knew was the lack of a memorial at the site, that I found rather upsetting.
Al.
Unfortunately & sadly for Mike I think he did blame himself although he undoubtedly did not cause it, TBH I always thought that Macklin threw a few too many accusations around........but hey ho.
Also it was rather ambiguous at the end regarding Mike's fatal accident.
BUT the biggest shock of all for me & something which I never knew was the lack of a memorial at the site, that I found rather upsetting.
Al.
Well gulf, I stand corrcted if that is definetly Lofty`s quote. I have always understood Lofty had approached Merc and suggested withdrawl straight after the accident. Maybe this was the case and Mercedes team could not give that undertaking till later.I`m amazed that nobody in authority could make a decision on behalf of the team.I really thought the Merc directors were present.
alsaautomotive said:
Totally agree Paul, this is certainly how I always understood it from the various relevent biogs etc.
Unfortunately & sadly for Mike I think he did blame himself although he undoubtedly did not cause it, TBH I always thought that Macklin threw a few too many accusations around........but hey ho.
Also it was rather ambiguous at the end regarding Mike's fatal accident.
BUT the biggest shock of all for me & something which I never knew was the lack of a memorial at the site, that I found rather upsetting.
Al.
Agreed very strange .The fact they do not have an accurate record of who died that day is probably the reason why there is no memorial.Mike did blame himself for the accident.After he pulled into the pits for the driver change ,he kept saying `all my fault, I`ll never drive again`. I believe it was one of the wives who gave him a stiff drink. Lofty told him in no uncertain terms to `get a grip`, which did the trick.Unfortunately & sadly for Mike I think he did blame himself although he undoubtedly did not cause it, TBH I always thought that Macklin threw a few too many accusations around........but hey ho.
Also it was rather ambiguous at the end regarding Mike's fatal accident.
BUT the biggest shock of all for me & something which I never knew was the lack of a memorial at the site, that I found rather upsetting.
Al.
A simular incident occured at Spa when Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey were killed,61 I think.Jim Clark had witnessed Bristows death and did much the same as Mike in 55.Chapman did the same on Clark, luckily for us..........
As regards a memorial, I agree it is strange since a list of all the dead was published in the paper here, all 83 of them. You'd think though, that they would at least have tried to get some of their facts right in preparing the programme. I laughed out loud when I heard John Fitch referring to Pierre Levegh's being nicknamed "the bishop" because of his demeanour. This wasn't at all the case since his name was pronounced "Le-veck" not "Le-vay" as in the programme. It only remains to understand that the word "l'eveque" - pronounced "Le-veck" - means bishop in french.
Having watched the programme, I then re-read Mark Khan's book Death Race 55. A ghastly title but a good read and tells the story of the tragedy from a slightly unusual angle. There is much in the book that was omitted from the TV programme.
And, by the way, there is a memorial plaque on the wall where it all occurred - very stark, simple and understated and in my view quite appropriate.
And, by the way, there is a memorial plaque on the wall where it all occurred - very stark, simple and understated and in my view quite appropriate.
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