1955 24 Hours of Le Mans
| 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
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The Les 24 Heures du Mans was the 23rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 11 and 12 June 1955 on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. A huge crowd had gathered for Europe's classic sports car race, around the 8.38-mile course. In the golden age of sports car racing, the top-quality entry list meant this race promised to be the most eagerly anticipated of the decade. Instead this is remembered for the disaster that killed 84 people, plus some 120 injured in the most catastrophic accident in motor racing history.
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) again lifted the replenishment window (just changed the year before) of fuel, oil and water from 30 to 32 laps (just over 430 km), but by the same token, the maximum fuel allowance for all cars was increased to 200 litres for the race.
On the track, road improvements continued with the whole back section, from Tertre Rouge around to Maison Blanche resurfaced.
A total of 87 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 70 arrived for practice, to qualify for the 60 places on the starting grid, and included 15 factory teams. Curiously, not one of the 60 starting cars had a roof.
The great battle of the previous year's race between Coventry and Maranello was raised to a higher level with the return of Mercedes-Benz, fresh from an awe-inspiring debut triumph in the Mille Miglia with their new Mercedes-Benz 300SLR. Along with dark-horses Cunningham, Aston Martin and Maserati – all with new 3-litre cars – and Talbot, Gordini, Cooper and Austin-Healey, it led observers to the highest expectations and anticipation for a great contest.
Title-holders Ferrari arrived with the 121 LM, a new lighter, smaller design from Aurelio Lampredi with a straight-six engine derived from the previous year's Formula 1 car (and stepping away from the usual 12-cylinder Ferrari engines) producing a mighty 360 bhp. The works team mixed its current F1 drivers along with new talent: Eugenio Castellotti with Paolo Marzotto, Maurice Trintignant with Harry Schell and Umberto Maglioli drove with Phil Hill (Maglioli and Hill had been Ferrari rivals in the previous Carrera Panamericana, narrowly won by the works driver. Hill was invited to the works team after the recent death of Alberto Ascari. There were also two 3-litre 750 Monza's run by French private entries.
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