The darkest day in the racing year – perhaps in motorsport history – 11 June 1955 is shadowed by a tragic accident on the 35th lap of that year's Le Mans 24 Hour that claimed over 80 lives and changed the course of our sport forever. Lance Macklin lost control of his Austin-Healey trying to avoid his colliding with Mike Hawthorn’s Jaguar as it dived into the pits. The Healey veered off and then back onto the track into the path of Pierre Levegh's Mercedes-Benz SLR travelling at 250km/h. The cars collided, Levegh’s car struck an earth bank and launched as the magnesium-alloy bodied machine exploded as it somersaulted 80 metres through the crowd. Levegh was among the...
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