The worst crash in motor racing history - killing more than 80 people - was produced by a ferocious and haunting combination of circumstances: nationalism, raw speed, the nature of a 24-hour race, and chance. The crash drew in Mike Hawthorn, the blond playboy from Farnham, in a Jaguar, and Juan-Manuel Fangio, one of the greatest drivers of all, in a Mercedes. A crowd of 250,000 watched hypnotised as Hawthorn set out to break Fangio, the two cars going faster and faster...and faster. Another English playboy, Lance Macklin, was caught up in the crash in his Austin-Healey, along with a 50-year-old Frenchman driving under the assumed name of Pierre Levegh. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It cost him his life, even as his car was torn to pieces that scythed into the dense crowd. In this new and full study of the fateful day, Christopher Hilton sets the race itself in the context of the 1950s. Through a host of interviews - with drivers, team members, journalists and spectators - and original research at Le Mans and in the Mercedes archive in Stuttgart, he recreates every aspect of the race and the crash. Much of the material has never been seen before.He examines the aftermath - the bitter blame game, the conflicting testimonies, the direct threat to motorsport in Europe - and chronicles the beginning of the culture of safety that has affected what we see of motorsport on our television screens today.

The worst crash in motor racing history - killing more than 80 people - was produced by a ferocious and haunting combination of circumstances: nationalism, raw speed, the nature of a 24-hour race, and chance. This is why and how it happened. The crash dre

The number of athletes who have died competing in the sport of motor racing, including amateurs and professionals around the world, stretches into the thousands. Despite the danger, drivers continue to compete day in and day out for the thrill and joy of the race. In Taken by Speed: Fallen Heroes of Motor Sport and Their Legacies, Connie Ann Kirk pays tribute to professional racing drivers who died while competing in the sport they loved. Covering tragedies from 1955 to the present, Kirk carefully reflects on the legacies of the racers and the impact of the tragic events, including on safety regulations, innovations, and on society as a whole. Drivers and incidents covered in this book include the 24 Heures du Mans race of 1955 where over 80 people died; the 1964 crash at the Indianapolis 500 that stopped the race for the first time in history; and the tragic losses of racers Ayrton Senna, Dale Earnhardt, Alberto Ascari, Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, Gilles Villeneuve, Francois Cevert, Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson, and Jules Bianchi. Taken by Speed features exclusive interviews with legends of motor sport—Mario Andretti, Derek Bell, Sir Stirling Moss, Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman, and Sir Jackie Stewart—who raced in the sport’s most dangerous era. It also includes timelines of safety improvements in the sport and key moments in motor sport history. Using motor sports as its lens, this book explores moving stories of what it means to pursue a life’s passion with unwavering drive, commitment, and courage.

This book looks historically at the harm that has been inflicted in the practice of sport and at some of the issues, debates and controversies that have arisen as a result. Written by experts in history, sociology, sport journalism and public health, the book considers sport and injury in relation to matters of social class; gender; ethnicity and race; sexuality; political ideology and national identity; health and wellbeing; childhood; animal rights; and popular culture. These matters are, in turn, variously related to a range of sports, including ancient, pre- and early industrial sports; American football; boxing; wrestling and other combat sports; mountaineering; horseracing; cycling; motor racing; rugby football; cricket; association football; baseball; basketball; Crossfit; ice hockey; Olympic sports; Mixed Martial Arts; and sport in an imagined dystopian future.

Presents a look at the seven-car crash that took place at the Indy 500 on May 30th, 1964, describing the events, decisions, and attitudes about car racing that lead up to the crash, the lives of the two drivers who were killed, and interviews with six surviving drivers.

This book explores the history and politics of motor racing, one of the most popular and lucrative elements in the international sport industry. Written by a group of international scholars and motor racing specialists it discusses the sport’s origins, the relationship of motor racing to nation building and modernity (noting its links to fascism and dictatorship), the links between motor racing and the automobile industry, motor racing and the politics both of gender and of race, motor racing, the media and postmodernity, and motor racing, the spatial and globalization. This book speaks to scholars in history, politics, sport studies, the sociology of sport, sport management and cultural studies, along with the many lay readers who are interested in the relationship between motor sport and society.

Virgins motoring list has established an enviabel reputation for setti ng the highest standards of book design, illustration and content with much admired bestsellers such as Into The Red, The Glory Of Goodwood, Driving Ambition-The McLaren F1 and Jaguar-The Sporting Heritage. Le Mans is a worthy addition to this prestigious and exclusive list. Since 1923 for one long weekend each year in the early summer, the eyes of the motor racing world have focused on a small town in north wester n France, whose name has come synonymouswith the race that takes place annually on its outskirts. That race is The Grand Prix d'Endurance de Vingt-Quatre Heures du Mans, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Le Mans is an institution, an event where the tradition and the history the international rivalry, the heat and dust, the all-night-party atmosp here and the bleary dawn of the second day are as much a part of the experience as the race itself. And all of it is constructed around the colourful high-speed carnivalon the famous circuit. This book is the story of what makes Le Mans so special. With over 200 Photographs, many previously unpublished and taken from the archives at Le Mans, along with newly researched material and interveiws, Brian Laba n tells the full story of the races, the drivers, the teams and the tech nology behind the most famous motor race in the world.