Mike Hawthorn 1955 - 1959

Pictorial movie about Mike Hawthorn. Starting from his 1955 victory at Le Mans to his fatal accident on the Guildford Bypass on January 22, 1959.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Hawthorn
• Mans
• 1955
• Bueb
• Jaguar
• D-type

[whiplash3825]

Considering he was the man who caused the horrible 1955 Lemans disaster... maybe Karma?

[Flaminiasupersport]

No he did not. It was due to a sum of circumstances within an extremely dangerous sport at a time when safety measures were unexistant. That's all.

[999widgey]

money. toffs high perfomance cars divided by risk equals a percentage of DEATH. liked this guy though. this stuff should not be dwelled on.

[Flaminiasupersport]

@999widgey Yes, a lot has been written about the accident. Paul Frère's theory is probably the most accurate one, altough we will never know. Racing was an extremely dangerous sport. Who's to blame for all these accidents? Was it wreckless behaviour only? I don't think so. It was most often due to a sum of circumstances where no one can be blamed for. And is hawthorn's reaction not simply human? Study several versions, watch the movies & images , and you'll see it is not as simple as it looks.

[jt2958]

Really enjoyed this, Mike Hawthorn was my mums 2nd cousin, great to see other people still remember him. Thanks.

[52xk]

2 hours of dicing with fangio, setting lap records as he went, he tried to pit at the last moment, and macklin's austin healey couldn't brake nearly as well as the jag, so he had to swerve to his left to avoid hitting hawthorn up the back, and leveagh launched right up and over...a racing accident, pure and simple, no fault

[Gruntol5]

@whiplash3825: A stupid and ignorant remark, presumably by a stupid and ignorant person.

[goddamnedbush]

Ice Cold Driver. WC of stone heart.

[Sillach]

84 people dead, why is he celebrating? He may not have been causing the crash, but he could have had the good taste of showing some respect to the diseased. Heartless bastard.

[douglastkennedy]

@ambroseave Check out the mike-hawthorn (uk.org) site.  Hawthorn's move to pit was well within accepted racing behavior (from film clips). Even Macklin's was somewhat. Levegh was not responsive to Macklin's move to the track center. Also know: a) Mercedes raced for 6 more hours before withdrawing; b) Mercedes mounted a full-on campaign to blame Hawthorn for the crash; and c) "accounts" blaming Hawthorn by a sudden pulling in and braking in front of Macklin don't match film evidence

[douglastkennedy]

@52xk Mike didn't try to pit at the last moment. He was in front of Macklin's Austin-Healey for the vast majority of the 700m+ between Maison Blanche & the pit area. He was also driving on the right side down the Finishing Straight . . . a position no Mercedes 300SLR nor Jaguar D-Type would be driving in '55 if they were intending to do anything but pit. Btw, Levegh & Fangio were just to the left of the center of the track and Macklin only crossed the center of the road slightly.

[douglastkennedy]

@whiplash3825 "Caused" as in if Mike had not braked from the far right side of the Finishing Straight and into the pits, sure. "Caused" as in "blame", far from it. If anything, Lane Macklin (Austin-Healey) or Pierre Levegh (Mercedes 300SLR) were more proximately at fault. See newly available pictures made from the grandstand side by a spectators filming down the LeMans Finishing Straight to Maison Blanche (White House) curve. Google (mike-hawthorn, golden boy). Free reg required.

[stephenbiboy]

is there a way if banning all Americans on U tube?

[999LightBeam666]

plz whats the name of the first song ? the long one