The annual Le Mans 24 Hour race brings in hundreds of thousands of spectators to watch the giants of motor racing put their endurance to the ultimate test. Every year, technology improves and the cars get a little faster. In 1955, that push for ultimate speed results in a catastrophe that changes the sport forever.
Further reading
The primary sources for this episode were 24 Hours: 100 Years of Le Mans by Richard Williams, Juan Manuel Fangio’s My Racing Life and Mark Kahn’s classic text Death Race: Le Mans 1955 – which included an exclusive and candid interview with Lance Macklin and the eyewitness testimony of Francois Jardell.