List of 24 Hours of Le Mans fatalities

22 drivers have died while competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held at Circuit de la Sarthe, half of which occurred at the Mulsanne Straight.

This is a list of 24 Hours of Le Mans fatal accidents, which consists of all the drivers who have died during a 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend, or in pre-race testing or practice sessions in preparation of the event. It does not include track marshals and spectators or other race attendees, including the 1955 disaster which claimed the lives of 83 spectators. In all, a total of 22 drivers have died in and around the Circuit de la Sarthe, ^[1] with more than half occurring along the circuit's Mulsanne Straight. ^[2] Sixteen during the race itself, five during pre-race practice and testing sessions, and one en route to the race.

André Guilbert was the first driver to die in June 1925 during the race's third year, although this was due to a collision with a van while en route to the race, ^[1] but is classified by race historians and authors of the official yearbooks, Christian Moity and Jean-Marc Teissedre. ^[2] Marius Mestivier was the first race fatality, occurring only a few hours after Guilbert's death. The most recent death is Allan Simonsen, who died in the race of 2013. In total, two drivers died in the 1920s, another two in the 1930s, one in the 1940s, five in the 1950s, six in the 1960s, two in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, one in the 1990s, none in the 2000s, and one in the 2010s.

By year

Driver	Date	Car	Entrant	Section	During
André Guilbert	19 June, 1925	Ravel 12 CV Sport	Automobiles Ravel SA  [ de ]	Mulsanne Straight	Road accident
Guilbert was making his way to the circuit during the morning of the race in his Ravel, a car designed by Louis Ravel  [ fr ], the brother of the composer Maurice Ravel. His car was struck head-on by a van traveling at high speed on the wrong side of the road. Both vehicles had to be dragged away in order to clear the road. The van driver only suffered slight injuries, while Guilbert died a few hours later from his injuries. [2] [3]
Marius Mestivier	20 June, 1925	Amilcar Works Racing Car, CGS-based, special engine mounted into a modified chassis with a 2-seat 'coupe' style body.	Société Nouvelle de l'Automobile Amilcar	Mulsanne Straight	Race
At 8 pm, Mestivier's Amilcar spun on the Mulsanne on his eighteenth lap of the race. [4] The car suddenly swerved off the road and plunged head first into a ditch, killing him instantly. An early report claimed a blown tire or brake lock caused the crash, but many sources later claimed that he was struck by a flying bird, knocking him out. [2] [5]
Marcel Michelot	13 June, 1927	GM GC2	Automobiles Gendron & Cie  [ de ]	Arnage	Practice
During late night practice, a week before the race, Michelot went out to test one of the cars during the night following a meal at the Hunaudières restaurant. He lost control of the car three hours later in the early morning whilst approaching the Arnage esses and veered off the track on the left side and collided with an oak tree, killing the driver almost instantly with massive head and chest injuries. The accident reportedly occurred in heavy fog. [6]
Pat Fairfield	19 June, 1937	Frazer Nash BMW 328	David Murray	Maison Blanche	Race
René Kippeurth  [ fr ] ("Rekip")		Bugatti Type 44	René Kippeurth
Amateur driver Kippeurth lost control of his Bugatti at the Maison Blanche ("White House") corner in the opening laps of the event, hitting an earth bank and throwing him from the car. While other cars wrecked or swerved to avoid Kippuerth's body, Fairfield struck the wreckage of the Bugatti. Two further cars impacted Fairfield's Frazer Nash. Kippeurth died on the scene [7] while Fairfield died undergoing an operation in the hospital. [8] [9] [10]
Pierre Maréchal	27 June, 1949	Aston Martin DB2	Mrs R. P. Hichens	Arnage	Race
At Arnage during the final hours of the race, Maréchal's Aston Martin spun while attempting to pass another competitor. The car rolled over during the incident. Although Maréchal was taken to the hospital, he died the following day. [11] [12]
Jean Larivière	23 June, 1951	Ferrari 212 Export C	Johnny Claes	Tertre Rouge	Race
Exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, Larivière lost control of his car and launched over a sandbank along the Mulsanne Straight. The Ferrari landed in a garden beyond the road surface and Larivière was decapitated by a wire fence. [2] [13]
Tom Cole Jr.	14 June, 1953	Ferrari 340 MM Vignale	Luigi Chinetti	Maison Blanche	Race
Cole was killed when his Ferrari left the road, impacting one of several farm houses lining the road at Maison Blanche. Cole was thrown from the car and died at the scene. [14]
Pierre Levegh	11 June, 1955	Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR	Daimler-Benz A.G.	Pit straight	Race
Main article: 1955 Le Mans disaster Levegh and competitor Mike Hawthorn were running near each other at the beginning of the pit lane when Hawthorn slowed for a pit stop. Lance Macklin, who had just been lapped in his slower Austin-Healey moved across to avoid Hawthorn and Levegh ran into the back of his car. Levegh's Mercedes flipped into the air and struck the sandbank at the side of the track. Levegh was thrown from the car and killed, while burning pieces of the car were flung into the crowd and caught fire, killing 83 others. [15] [16]
Louis Héry	28 July, 1956	Panhard Monopole X86	Louis Héry	Maison Blanche	Race
Even after modifications had been made to the Circuit de la Sarthe after 1955, Louis Héry was killed on his own just a year later. His Monopole flipped at Maison Blanche, trapping and killing the driver. [17] [18]
Jean-Marie Brussin  [ fr ] ("Mary")	21 June, 1958	Jaguar D-Type	Henri Peignaux	Dunlop Curve	Race
During a downpour of rain at dusk, Brussin entered the Dunlop Curve too fast and rolled after hitting an earth bank. The car, lying on the track, was then hit by the Ferrari of Bruce Kessler. Brussin was killed in the wreck, while Kessler was burned. [19] [20]
Christian "Bino" Heins	15 June, 1963	Alpine M63  [ fr ] - Renault	Société Automobiles Alpine	Mulsanne Straight	Race
The engine of Bruce McLaren's Aston Martin DB4 blew, causing 20 liters of oil to spill onto the track. The two cars that followed, Ninian Sanderson's AC Cobra Hardtop and Michael Salmon's Ferrari 330 LMB, were fortunate enough to be able to squeeze through, but unfortunately the Jaguar E-type Lightweight of Roy Salvadori touched the oil, causing it to spin like a top and burst into flames, once it hit a bank. The René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6 of Jean-Pierre Manzon struck the Jaguar and was left sitting in the middle of the track as the Alpine of Heins closed in. He attempted to avoid the pile up, but doing so, he lost control of his car as it veered off the track, hitting a post and exploding into a fireball, killing him instantly. Manzon and Salvadori were injured from the resulting incident. [2] [21]
Lloyd "Lucky" Casner	10 April, 1965	Maserati Tipo 151/3	Camoradi Racing Team	Mulsanne Straight	Testing
As the car was thrown off balance over the hump on the Mulsanne Straight, the Maserati swerved off onto the grass, causing it to roll over twice and land in a ditch on the right-hand side of the road. Casner was thrown clear on the first somersault and was taken to the local hospital, where he later died from head injuries without regaining consciousness. [2] [22]
Walt Hansgen	7 April, 1966	Ford GT40 Mk II	Shelby American		Testing
During preliminary tests on a wet track on Saturday morning, April 2, 1966 he lost control and drove down an escape road. He was not aware that a barrier had been placed across the escape lane and he crashed heavily. Five days after his accident, Hansgen died in the American military hospital of Orléans, France, where he had been admitted. [23]
Roby Weber  [ fr ]	9 April, 1967	Matra MS630  [ it ] - BRM	Equipe Matra Sports	Mulsanne Straight	Practice
During the closing period of the preliminary practice session, Weber took an unscheduled lap of the circuit. Entering the straight, his Matra veered off the inside of the track and exploded into flames. [2] [24]
Lucien Bianchi	30 March, 1969	Alfa Romeo 33/3	Autodelta SpA	Tertre Rouge	Testing
Bianchi decided to start early as organisers were speculating a wet session later in the day. As his Alfa Romeo went through the Mulsanne hump slowly with its right indicator showing, it suffered a mechanical failure, the car suddenly started zigzagging and struck the telegraph pole on the left, killing Bianchi instantly. [2] [25] [26]
John Woolfe	23 June, 1969	Porsche 917	John Woolfe Racing	Maison Blanche	Race
Woolfe had purchased one of the new and high-powered Porsche 917s, and Porsche's own Herbert Linge was to support the Briton. Woolfe was killed in the first lap of the race at the fast Maison Blanche corners, when he was thrown out of the car because he had not fastened his seat belts due to the traditional Le Mans start procedure. The procedure was abolished the next year. [27]
Jo Bonnier	11 June, 1972	Lola T280 - Ford Cosworth	Ecurie Bonnier Switzerland	RD140 (between Mulsanne and Indianapolis)	Race
On Sunday morning, Bonnier approached the Indianapolis bend before Arnage and tried to avoid the slowly driven Ferrari 365GTB4 #35 of Florian Vetsch. The cars touched, Bonnier's was launched over the barriers and ended up in the trees. The Lola was completely destroyed, debris from the car were all around the forest, Bonnier had been killed upon impact. [28]
André Haller	12 June, 1976	Datsun 260Z	Sion Autos 2001	Mulsanne kink	Race
During the first lap of Haller's stint (and his second participation) at 9 pm, his Datsun skidded entering the Mulsanne kink. The car slid and spun several times before entering the grass verges of the track, struck a guard rail and caught fire. Haller was rescued, but died later in a hospital from chest injuries. [2] [29]
Jean-Louis Lafosse	13 June, 1981	Rondeau M379C - Cosworth	Jean Rondeau	Mulsanne Straight	Race
Near the end of his driving stint and half an hour after the green flag came out, the Rondeau of Lafosse, who was lying in seventh place at 5:03 pm, was approaching the Lola T600 of Guy Edwards, Emilio de Villota and Juan Fernández. Suddenly, just before the restaurants area of the main straight, as Lafosse changed into fifth gear, the car veered to the right, striking into a guard rail before a marshalling post, killing Lafosse instantly and injuring two track marshals on the post. The car bounced back toward the other side of the track and then rested in the middle-left side of the track with Lafosse seen fully exposed out of the car. Prior to the crash, the car was involved in a previous incident with partial damage to the front bodywork, as photographic evidence shows. There had been claims that when Lafosse attempted to make up for lost time, either suspension or tyre failure caused the car to veer off suddenly into the barrier. [2] [30] [31]
Jo Gartner	1 June, 1986	Porsche 962C	Kremer Racing	Mulsanne Straight	Race
At 2:10 am on Sunday, Gartner's Porsche suffered from a mechanical failure, causing it to swerve to the left and strike the barrier headfirst at 160 mph (260 km/h). The car scaled the barrier and sheared through a post, before being flung back onto the road and turning over as it hit the right hand guard rail. The car caught fire as it rested on the barriers. Gartner died instantly from neck injuries. [2] [32] [33]
Sébastien Enjolras	3 May, 1997	WR LM97 - Peugeot	Welter Racing	Arnage	Pre-qualifying
At 12:40 pm, part of the rear bodywork of Enjolras's WM came loose at Arnage, causing the car to go airborne over the safety barriers. The car overturned and exploded in flames following impact, killing Enjolras instantly. The accident caused Welter Racing to withdraw its entries and the one-piece body shell was banned. [34] [35]
Allan Simonsen	22 June, 2013	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	Aston Martin Racing	Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne Straight	Race
Just ten minutes into the race, Simonsen spun off the kerbs and into the Armco barrier on the exit of Tertre Rouge where it joined RD 338 (Mulsanne Straight). The car bounced back onto the track and came to rest. The force of the impact crushed part of the roof and supporting rollcage. Simonsen was treated on the scene by recovery crews and was transferred to the circuit's medical centre, where he later died of his injuries. A large tree behind the Armco has been considered to be an integral part of the impact, causing an aortal separation in the driver's chest. [36] Tertre Rouge was moved about 200m and new tyre barriers were installed at the exit in 2014.

References

1. 24 FACTS ABOUT LE MANS' 24 HOURS
2. 1990 Le Mans 24 Hours, Christian Moity and Jean-Marc Teissedre, Autotechnica, ISBN   0-9512840-3-7
3. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
4. "1925". Radio Le Mans. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
5. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
6. "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
7. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
8. "1936". Radio Le Mans. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
9. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
10. "Historic Motor Racing - historicracing.com". Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
11. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
12. "1949". Radio Le Mans. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
13. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
14. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
15. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
16. "CRASH AND CARNAGE AT 150 MPH". Time Magazine. 27 June 1955. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
17. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
18. "1956". Radio Le Mans. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
19. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
20. "1958". Radio Le Mans. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
21. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
22. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
23. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
24. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
25. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
26. "Lucien Bianchi Profile - Drivers - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
27. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
28. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
29. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
30. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
31. Top 100 Archived 2007-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
32. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
33. Automobile Year 1986/87
34. "Motorsport Memorial -" . Retrieved 20 January 2016.
35. "Historic Motor Racing - historicracing.com". Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
36. "Race Car Driver Deaths: The Medical Causes of Racing Deaths w Examples". Hyperparathyroidism Blog. Retrieved 20 January 2016.