1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:15,890 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:18,450 --> 00:00:24,090 Speaker 2: Can anyone or anything be truly altruistic? Can incredible acts 3 00:00:24,090 --> 00:00:27,930 Speaker 2: of kindness cause more harm than good? And what's the 4 00:00:27,930 --> 00:00:31,290 Speaker 2: most effective way of doing good? I'm sure that the 5 00:00:31,290 --> 00:00:35,450 Speaker 2: best selling author Michael Lewis will have some interesting thoughts 6 00:00:35,530 --> 00:00:40,810 Speaker 2: because the world's most notorious effective altruist, Sam Banguin Freed, 7 00:00:41,290 --> 00:00:45,050 Speaker 2: is the subject of Michael's book Going Infinite. I'm going 8 00:00:45,090 --> 00:00:47,530 Speaker 2: to be talking to Michael about that relationship and his 9 00:00:47,650 --> 00:00:51,170 Speaker 2: latest book, Who Is Government. But I want your help 10 00:00:51,370 --> 00:00:55,930 Speaker 2: to explore the theme of altruism with Michael Lewis, So 11 00:00:56,090 --> 00:00:59,770 Speaker 2: please send all of your kindness related questions for Michael 12 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:10,850 Speaker 2: Lewis to Tales at Pushkin dot FM. Juan Manuel Fangio 13 00:01:11,170 --> 00:01:15,210 Speaker 2: is the greatest racing car driver of all time, and 14 00:01:15,330 --> 00:01:19,370 Speaker 2: his sleek silver Mercedes Benz is a rocket ship compared 15 00:01:19,410 --> 00:01:23,810 Speaker 2: to the other machines. Starting the nineteen fifty five twenty 16 00:01:23,850 --> 00:01:30,410 Speaker 2: four hour race, only Fangio is going nowhere fast. His 17 00:01:30,650 --> 00:01:34,250 Speaker 2: car's gearstick has somehow got trapped up his trouser leg, 18 00:01:34,730 --> 00:01:38,370 Speaker 2: and as the other racers roar away, Fangio is left 19 00:01:38,490 --> 00:01:45,890 Speaker 2: struggling to untangle himself. The Lamong twenty four hour always 20 00:01:45,930 --> 00:01:51,490 Speaker 2: begins in unorthodox fashion. Drivers line up on foot on 21 00:01:51,570 --> 00:01:56,090 Speaker 2: one side of the track. Then the starting signal the 22 00:01:56,250 --> 00:01:59,850 Speaker 2: dropping of the French tricolor flag. They dash to their 23 00:01:59,890 --> 00:02:03,410 Speaker 2: cars waiting on the other side. It makes a great 24 00:02:03,450 --> 00:02:07,090 Speaker 2: spectacle for the fans looking down from the grandstand, but 25 00:02:07,210 --> 00:02:11,810 Speaker 2: it's hardly the simplest, safest way to start a sixty 26 00:02:12,090 --> 00:02:13,050 Speaker 2: car race. 27 00:02:13,730 --> 00:02:15,410 Speaker 1: It is chaos. 28 00:02:16,210 --> 00:02:21,530 Speaker 2: Engines won't start, doors won't close, and, as in Fangio's case, 29 00:02:21,930 --> 00:02:27,170 Speaker 2: gearsticks get stuck where they shouldn't. As his rivals take off, 30 00:02:27,330 --> 00:02:31,570 Speaker 2: weaving to dodge one another in the melee, Fangio, the 31 00:02:31,690 --> 00:02:38,090 Speaker 2: reigning world champion, is left in their dust. When finally 32 00:02:38,210 --> 00:02:43,690 Speaker 2: his Mercedes roars into life, the Argentine is in fourteenth place. 33 00:02:45,090 --> 00:02:49,330 Speaker 2: Accustomed to leading from the front, Fangio now faces the 34 00:02:49,490 --> 00:02:55,450 Speaker 2: arduous grind of catching and overtaking car after car after 35 00:02:55,610 --> 00:03:00,370 Speaker 2: car on the punishing Laments circuit. Only then can his 36 00:03:00,530 --> 00:03:04,330 Speaker 2: real task begin, battling it out with the other elite 37 00:03:04,410 --> 00:03:07,890 Speaker 2: drivers in their Ferraris Jaguars to build up a. 38 00:03:07,890 --> 00:03:09,530 Speaker 1: Lead and win race. 39 00:03:14,250 --> 00:03:18,130 Speaker 2: By its very nature, the Laman twenty four hour is 40 00:03:18,170 --> 00:03:22,210 Speaker 2: a marathon rather than a sprint, but the man known 41 00:03:22,250 --> 00:03:26,850 Speaker 2: as El Maestro is now sprinting through the heavy traffic. 42 00:03:27,330 --> 00:03:30,970 Speaker 2: Within two laps, he's in sixth place and fourth by 43 00:03:31,050 --> 00:03:36,370 Speaker 2: lap three. On lap ten, Fangio continues this blistering pace 44 00:03:36,490 --> 00:03:37,170 Speaker 2: and sets. 45 00:03:36,890 --> 00:03:39,410 Speaker 1: A new course record Across. 46 00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:44,090 Speaker 2: The entire circuit with its tight hairpin bends, he averages 47 00:03:44,210 --> 00:03:47,570 Speaker 2: over one hundred and twenty miles an hour, and on 48 00:03:47,610 --> 00:03:51,410 Speaker 2: the long straits he's pushing his Mercedes in excess of 49 00:03:51,530 --> 00:03:57,170 Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty spectators crowd the grandstand, straining on 50 00:03:57,250 --> 00:04:01,250 Speaker 2: tiptoe to see such a tense and unexpected battle. This 51 00:04:01,450 --> 00:04:05,930 Speaker 2: clearly isn't the usual lamant that test of stamina, where 52 00:04:06,010 --> 00:04:09,970 Speaker 2: doggedness and determination serves drivers better than dash. 53 00:04:10,290 --> 00:04:10,610 Speaker 1: Daring. 54 00:04:11,450 --> 00:04:15,610 Speaker 2: Fangio is tearing up the rule book, driving flat out 55 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:18,330 Speaker 2: as if he were competing in a normal three hour 56 00:04:18,450 --> 00:04:22,730 Speaker 2: race rather than an event. Stretching out into the June 57 00:04:22,850 --> 00:04:29,450 Speaker 2: night and on into the next day, Elle Maestro is pushing. 58 00:04:29,050 --> 00:04:30,970 Speaker 1: His rivals hard. 59 00:04:31,130 --> 00:04:34,450 Speaker 2: They too, press the pedal to the metal, jockeying for 60 00:04:34,490 --> 00:04:38,530 Speaker 2: the lead and smashing lap records time and again. Soon 61 00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:43,530 Speaker 2: only one rival remains in contention, the star of the 62 00:04:43,650 --> 00:04:50,530 Speaker 2: Jaguar team, Britain's Mike Hawthorpe. The pair swap the lead repeatedly, 63 00:04:51,050 --> 00:04:55,850 Speaker 2: Fangio pulling away on the straits, only for Hawthorne to overtake. 64 00:04:55,330 --> 00:04:56,050 Speaker 1: At the corners. 65 00:04:56,810 --> 00:05:00,610 Speaker 2: This dogfight can't go on forever. Both cars are running 66 00:05:00,650 --> 00:05:05,850 Speaker 2: low on fuel and a due stop at the pits. 67 00:05:07,890 --> 00:05:11,330 Speaker 2: The pits at Lamont are separated from the racingers we're 68 00:05:11,410 --> 00:05:15,170 Speaker 2: used to today. They were merely the furthest right hand 69 00:05:15,250 --> 00:05:19,850 Speaker 2: side of the track, opposite the grandstand. As they thunder 70 00:05:19,930 --> 00:05:23,970 Speaker 2: towards the home straight, Hawthorne moves to the right, committing 71 00:05:24,010 --> 00:05:27,530 Speaker 2: to his pit stop, while Fangio seems intent on completing 72 00:05:27,570 --> 00:05:32,370 Speaker 2: a few laps laps without the Englishman breathing down his neck, 73 00:05:32,930 --> 00:05:36,450 Speaker 2: a chance to commune with his beautiful and spirited car 74 00:05:36,730 --> 00:05:42,090 Speaker 2: and extend his lead without distraction. But what followed in 75 00:05:42,170 --> 00:05:47,810 Speaker 2: the next few seconds would change motor racing forever, cause 76 00:05:47,930 --> 00:05:52,330 Speaker 2: many countries to ban the sport and see Mercedes walk 77 00:05:52,370 --> 00:05:57,690 Speaker 2: away from competing all together. The hot favorite to win 78 00:05:58,370 --> 00:06:03,690 Speaker 2: l Maestro would never see the finishing line, for this 79 00:06:04,170 --> 00:06:10,530 Speaker 2: was about to become history's deadliest car race. I'm Tim 80 00:06:10,610 --> 00:06:39,850 Speaker 2: Harford and you're listening to another cautionary tale. No one 81 00:06:40,010 --> 00:06:43,370 Speaker 2: died in the inaugural Lamon twenty four hour in nineteen 82 00:06:43,410 --> 00:06:49,010 Speaker 2: twenty three, which was something of a miracle. One driver 83 00:06:49,370 --> 00:06:52,890 Speaker 2: crossing the finishing line jubilantly stepped out of his car 84 00:06:52,970 --> 00:06:57,650 Speaker 2: to greet a friend who was promptly run down. Another racer, 85 00:06:57,890 --> 00:07:02,090 Speaker 2: whose leaky gas tank could run dry ferried fuel cans 86 00:07:02,130 --> 00:07:06,370 Speaker 2: back to his vehicle on a borrowed bicycle, foolishly pedaling 87 00:07:06,730 --> 00:07:12,290 Speaker 2: into the oncoming traffic. The circuit comprised ten miles of 88 00:07:12,410 --> 00:07:17,130 Speaker 2: public roads on a mixture of highways, cobbled lanes, and 89 00:07:17,290 --> 00:07:21,370 Speaker 2: country tracks which became rutted and muddy when the Norman 90 00:07:21,490 --> 00:07:27,130 Speaker 2: rains invariably fell. A Grand Prix, the endurance was open 91 00:07:27,210 --> 00:07:30,730 Speaker 2: to any car provided it was on sale to the 92 00:07:30,850 --> 00:07:34,770 Speaker 2: general public. Any automobile you might see on the streets 93 00:07:34,810 --> 00:07:38,890 Speaker 2: of New York, London or Paris qualified, and since it 94 00:07:38,930 --> 00:07:43,290 Speaker 2: was a test of durability rather than raw speed, competitors 95 00:07:43,330 --> 00:07:48,730 Speaker 2: pitted dinky two seaters against great, snarling machines with engines 96 00:07:48,850 --> 00:07:54,410 Speaker 2: five times larger. After all, vast horsepower wasn't any use 97 00:07:54,450 --> 00:07:58,330 Speaker 2: if your engine blew up on the punishing moussand straight, 98 00:07:58,930 --> 00:08:02,810 Speaker 2: nor if your brakes, suspension or steering failed at the 99 00:08:02,890 --> 00:08:09,890 Speaker 2: Polyeu hairpin, sending you skidding off into a ditch. Twenty 100 00:08:10,010 --> 00:08:13,890 Speaker 2: four hours of racing was the ultimate test for the 101 00:08:13,930 --> 00:08:17,890 Speaker 2: cars and drivers. It was also something of a test 102 00:08:18,010 --> 00:08:22,010 Speaker 2: for the paying spectators, So the organizers laid on an 103 00:08:22,090 --> 00:08:27,450 Speaker 2: open air cinema, a jazz band, fireworks, and lots and 104 00:08:27,570 --> 00:08:33,170 Speaker 2: lots of alcohol are The Laman formula was thus established. 105 00:08:34,330 --> 00:08:38,650 Speaker 2: Each summer, Sleepy Lamont would welcome a noisy influx of 106 00:08:38,730 --> 00:08:40,130 Speaker 2: sports cars. 107 00:08:39,730 --> 00:08:41,010 Speaker 1: And boisterous fans. 108 00:08:41,770 --> 00:08:45,610 Speaker 2: Every year, the cars would lap a little faster, and 109 00:08:45,730 --> 00:08:48,970 Speaker 2: every year the crowds would party a little harder. 110 00:08:49,490 --> 00:08:51,810 Speaker 1: By nineteen fifty five, la Man was. 111 00:08:51,810 --> 00:08:54,730 Speaker 2: As much a carnival and a beer festival as it 112 00:08:54,810 --> 00:09:00,130 Speaker 2: was a car race. Some three hundred thousand people flocked 113 00:09:00,170 --> 00:09:04,930 Speaker 2: to the site to eat, drink, dance, ride the ferris 114 00:09:04,930 --> 00:09:09,850 Speaker 2: wheel and gork at the fairground side shows. Some visitors 115 00:09:09,850 --> 00:09:13,730 Speaker 2: would go home well pleased with their weekend, having never 116 00:09:13,890 --> 00:09:19,730 Speaker 2: seen the racing, but of course many eyes were glued 117 00:09:19,770 --> 00:09:23,730 Speaker 2: to the track, and more was at stake than mere glory. 118 00:09:24,370 --> 00:09:27,610 Speaker 2: The car manufacturers knew that a win would drive up 119 00:09:27,690 --> 00:09:32,850 Speaker 2: sales in dealerships across the world. In nineteen fifty five, 120 00:09:33,290 --> 00:09:38,370 Speaker 2: Prince Sousai, long ruler of Canung, was trackside as the 121 00:09:38,450 --> 00:09:42,650 Speaker 2: guest of Jaguar. If one of Jaguar's lightning fast D 122 00:09:42,850 --> 00:09:46,570 Speaker 2: type car's triumphed, the Prince had promised to buy ten 123 00:09:46,730 --> 00:09:51,210 Speaker 2: for his garage. Standing in the way of that lucrative 124 00:09:51,330 --> 00:09:55,250 Speaker 2: order was Mercedes and its state of the art three 125 00:09:55,410 --> 00:10:01,570 Speaker 2: hundred SLR. This silver dart of a car boasted revolutionary 126 00:10:01,650 --> 00:10:06,850 Speaker 2: fuel injection, fancied desmodromic valve gear, and super light bodywork 127 00:10:07,010 --> 00:10:12,130 Speaker 2: made of magnesium alloy. This wander material was more often 128 00:10:12,210 --> 00:10:16,410 Speaker 2: used in the construction of aircraft and because of its 129 00:10:16,610 --> 00:10:19,330 Speaker 2: flammability in sindury bombs. 130 00:10:22,330 --> 00:10:24,370 Speaker 1: The Jaguar D type lacked. 131 00:10:24,050 --> 00:10:27,770 Speaker 2: Some of these advantages, but it had raw speed and 132 00:10:27,850 --> 00:10:31,010 Speaker 2: the best breaks in the world, and with a ripe 133 00:10:31,130 --> 00:10:34,890 Speaker 2: man at the wheel, this small advantage could be turned 134 00:10:34,970 --> 00:10:40,410 Speaker 2: into victory. And so in those opening hours of lamon 135 00:10:40,650 --> 00:10:45,250 Speaker 2: nineteen fifty five, it came down to Jaguar versus Mercedes. 136 00:10:48,210 --> 00:10:52,010 Speaker 2: The Second World War was still painfully fresh in the 137 00:10:52,050 --> 00:10:56,010 Speaker 2: memory and in many minds. This race was a rerun 138 00:10:56,090 --> 00:11:02,530 Speaker 2: of those hostilities, the Allies versus the Germans. One spectator 139 00:11:02,850 --> 00:11:06,210 Speaker 2: arriving in his Mercedes at the circuit was greeted by 140 00:11:06,250 --> 00:11:09,930 Speaker 2: a fellow fan, a Frenchman, who took one look at 141 00:11:09,970 --> 00:11:15,810 Speaker 2: the German automobile and promptly spat on the paintwork. The 142 00:11:15,850 --> 00:11:21,170 Speaker 2: Mercedes team, perhaps sensitive to this rawness of emotions, made 143 00:11:21,210 --> 00:11:25,250 Speaker 2: some diplomatic hires. Although their lead car would be driven 144 00:11:25,290 --> 00:11:30,090 Speaker 2: by l Maestro Juan Manuel Fanjo, alternating shifts with a 145 00:11:30,210 --> 00:11:35,490 Speaker 2: rising star Britain's Sterling Moss. Frenchmen would crew the two 146 00:11:35,770 --> 00:11:41,450 Speaker 2: other three hundred SLRs in competition. One was Pierre Levai, 147 00:11:42,050 --> 00:11:45,490 Speaker 2: a forty nine year old with a less than stellar record, 148 00:11:46,090 --> 00:11:52,330 Speaker 2: having scored precisely zero championship points. His inclusion might have 149 00:11:52,410 --> 00:11:57,050 Speaker 2: won some goodwill with the crowd, but serious observers doubted 150 00:11:57,170 --> 00:12:01,290 Speaker 2: he truly had the skill to drive a three hundred SLR, 151 00:12:03,450 --> 00:12:07,450 Speaker 2: and this appraisal seemed fair given how the race was developing. 152 00:12:08,090 --> 00:12:10,810 Speaker 2: Within a couple of hours of the start, Levey was 153 00:12:10,930 --> 00:12:16,050 Speaker 2: already a full lap behind the front runners. Fangio was 154 00:12:16,090 --> 00:12:20,130 Speaker 2: showing exactly what the Mercedes was capable of in the 155 00:12:20,210 --> 00:12:24,490 Speaker 2: hands of a master, and Jaguar's Mike Hawthorne was having 156 00:12:24,530 --> 00:12:28,970 Speaker 2: to wring every millisecond of advantage from his better breaking 157 00:12:29,410 --> 00:12:33,250 Speaker 2: to stay in contention, but the effort. 158 00:12:33,250 --> 00:12:35,410 Speaker 1: Was draining Hawthorne's resolve. 159 00:12:36,330 --> 00:12:39,850 Speaker 2: When Fangio opened up a one hundred yard lead, the 160 00:12:39,850 --> 00:12:45,650 Speaker 2: British racer began to despair. I was momentarily mesmerized by 161 00:12:45,650 --> 00:12:50,650 Speaker 2: the legend of Mercedes's superiority. He said, about to surrender 162 00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:54,610 Speaker 2: to the inevitability of a Fangio win. Then I came 163 00:12:54,650 --> 00:12:58,290 Speaker 2: to my senses and thought, damn it. Why should a 164 00:12:58,370 --> 00:13:02,210 Speaker 2: German car beat a British car? If Fangio was going 165 00:13:02,250 --> 00:13:06,250 Speaker 2: to race like a man possessed, and so too was Hawthorne, 166 00:13:07,290 --> 00:13:14,010 Speaker 2: And woe betide anyone got in his way. Cautionary tales 167 00:13:14,010 --> 00:13:24,210 Speaker 2: will be back in a moment. Only one driver has 168 00:13:24,290 --> 00:13:29,250 Speaker 2: ever completed the twenty four hour race single handed. In 169 00:13:29,410 --> 00:13:35,250 Speaker 2: nineteen fifty, a somewhat eccentric English millionaire Edward Ramsden Hall, 170 00:13:35,770 --> 00:13:39,650 Speaker 2: drove for a full day without leaving his seat for 171 00:13:39,730 --> 00:13:43,450 Speaker 2: so much as a bathroom break. When asked his advice, 172 00:13:43,650 --> 00:13:47,970 Speaker 2: the fifty year old replied, where green overalls, old boy. 173 00:13:49,850 --> 00:13:53,970 Speaker 2: But for serious contenders, sharing the driving duties was the 174 00:13:54,010 --> 00:13:58,330 Speaker 2: only sensible option. The choice of co driver was of 175 00:13:58,490 --> 00:14:03,210 Speaker 2: vital importance, and the pairing of Juan Manuel Fangio with 176 00:14:03,330 --> 00:14:07,890 Speaker 2: Sterling Moss was greeted as a master stroke from Mercedes. 177 00:14:09,090 --> 00:14:13,050 Speaker 2: Maestro was gifted with a precision and consistency that allowed 178 00:14:13,130 --> 00:14:15,930 Speaker 2: him to hit the optimal path on the track, the 179 00:14:15,970 --> 00:14:20,890 Speaker 2: so called racing line lap after lap at twenty five, 180 00:14:21,090 --> 00:14:25,850 Speaker 2: Sterling Moss was mercurial and brilliant and quick to anger. 181 00:14:27,010 --> 00:14:31,770 Speaker 2: Markedly different in temperament, Fangio and Moss nonetheless had huge 182 00:14:31,850 --> 00:14:35,650 Speaker 2: respect for one another and spoke warmly of each other's skills. 183 00:14:36,490 --> 00:14:40,530 Speaker 2: Jaguar's Mike Hawthorne wasn't so sure of his co driver. 184 00:14:41,210 --> 00:14:44,890 Speaker 2: The man had never raced at Laman before and confided 185 00:14:44,890 --> 00:14:47,970 Speaker 2: at the speeds his D type reached on the Mulsaran 186 00:14:48,050 --> 00:14:53,610 Speaker 2: strait unnerved him. Hawthorne feared that once he swapped with 187 00:14:53,690 --> 00:14:57,290 Speaker 2: his co driver, any lead he'd built up would quickly 188 00:14:57,330 --> 00:15:00,890 Speaker 2: be lost. His only hope of winning was to push 189 00:15:01,050 --> 00:15:05,290 Speaker 2: his opponents relentlessly, forcing them into a mistake that would 190 00:15:05,290 --> 00:15:08,570 Speaker 2: either break the car or see its spin off the track. 191 00:15:11,650 --> 00:15:16,010 Speaker 2: Fangio and Moss were certainly formidable opponents that day, but 192 00:15:16,370 --> 00:15:22,410 Speaker 2: secretly neither was relishing the upcoming fight. It's a heartless race, 193 00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:27,410 Speaker 2: said Moss, who demanded extra pay to compete. I wanted 194 00:15:27,450 --> 00:15:30,450 Speaker 2: a lot to go to Lamont because I didn't enjoy it. 195 00:15:31,690 --> 00:15:35,330 Speaker 2: For racers like Moss, there was much to hate about Lamont, 196 00:15:36,090 --> 00:15:40,330 Speaker 2: the mix of fast and slow cars, elite drivers and 197 00:15:40,610 --> 00:15:44,290 Speaker 2: eager amateurs, and the monotony of driving through the night. 198 00:15:45,250 --> 00:15:47,970 Speaker 2: But what annoyed Moss most was that a twenty four 199 00:15:48,050 --> 00:15:51,210 Speaker 2: hour event wasn't a fair test of his Grand Prix 200 00:15:51,290 --> 00:15:58,490 Speaker 2: champion skills. Men like Moss, Fangio, and Hawthorne were explosive talents. 201 00:15:58,970 --> 00:16:02,970 Speaker 2: The fiery passion they brought to three hour races, the 202 00:16:03,010 --> 00:16:07,370 Speaker 2: fire that made them winners, was a deadly liability at Lamont, 203 00:16:08,170 --> 00:16:18,290 Speaker 2: as Moss, why observed fire and Lamont don't mix? Its 204 00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:22,090 Speaker 2: Lap thirty five, two and a half hours into the race, 205 00:16:22,570 --> 00:16:26,250 Speaker 2: and the spectators around the groundstand are straining to see 206 00:16:26,370 --> 00:16:29,530 Speaker 2: who will leave the corner at Maison Blanc first. 207 00:16:29,850 --> 00:16:31,570 Speaker 1: Who's leading Mercedes? 208 00:16:31,890 --> 00:16:37,410 Speaker 2: A Jaguar, the green Jaguar D type of Mike Hawthorne 209 00:16:37,570 --> 00:16:43,570 Speaker 2: is ahead, just but there's traffick ahead. Hawthorne and Fangio 210 00:16:43,810 --> 00:16:48,090 Speaker 2: are bearing down fast on two slower competitors. In the 211 00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:51,770 Speaker 2: middle of the track is Pierre Levy's Mercedes and On 212 00:16:51,850 --> 00:16:55,650 Speaker 2: the far right is the Austin Heely of Lance Macklin. 213 00:16:56,890 --> 00:17:00,930 Speaker 2: Maclin was following custom, pulling his slower car to the 214 00:17:01,010 --> 00:17:04,690 Speaker 2: side to allow the likes of Jaguars Mercedes to overtake 215 00:17:04,730 --> 00:17:09,170 Speaker 2: on his left. Maclin glanced at his spidometer one one 216 00:17:09,210 --> 00:17:13,210 Speaker 2: hundred and thirty five miles per hour. The Jaguar coming 217 00:17:13,290 --> 00:17:15,490 Speaker 2: up in his mirror must have been doing one hundred 218 00:17:15,530 --> 00:17:19,370 Speaker 2: and fifty At least, Old Mike's doing a great job, 219 00:17:19,650 --> 00:17:23,450 Speaker 2: thought Maclin. Pleased that a fellow Britain was leading the race. 220 00:17:24,450 --> 00:17:30,730 Speaker 2: Then admiration turned to puzzlement. Mike Hawthorne was steering right, 221 00:17:31,370 --> 00:17:37,210 Speaker 2: cutting in front of Maclin's car. Why Hawthorne was preparing 222 00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,850 Speaker 2: to pull in at the upcoming pits to refuel and 223 00:17:40,930 --> 00:17:44,090 Speaker 2: allow his co driver to take the wheel who was 224 00:17:44,210 --> 00:17:48,890 Speaker 2: fast running out of road Safer than Saner would have 225 00:17:48,930 --> 00:17:52,530 Speaker 2: been to slow down and settle in behind Maclin's car 226 00:17:52,810 --> 00:17:55,330 Speaker 2: for the short run to the pits. It would have 227 00:17:55,330 --> 00:17:59,610 Speaker 2: cost him a few extra seconds, but what's that in 228 00:17:59,650 --> 00:18:04,930 Speaker 2: a race of twenty four hours. Hawthorne instead took the 229 00:18:05,010 --> 00:18:12,690 Speaker 2: fiery option and fire and Lamart to mix, barreling towards 230 00:18:12,690 --> 00:18:16,570 Speaker 2: the pits. The Jaguar driver applied his powerful brakes to 231 00:18:16,610 --> 00:18:22,210 Speaker 2: prevent him overshooting his waiting teammate. Suddenly, rather than seeing 232 00:18:22,290 --> 00:18:26,090 Speaker 2: Hawthorne disappearing off into the distance, Macklin. 233 00:18:25,850 --> 00:18:27,370 Speaker 1: Was about to run into the back of him. 234 00:18:28,090 --> 00:18:31,770 Speaker 2: He slammed on his own less impressive brakes and drifted 235 00:18:31,770 --> 00:18:35,090 Speaker 2: into the middle of the track to avoid Hawthorne, but 236 00:18:35,210 --> 00:18:37,290 Speaker 2: that meant he was right in the path of the 237 00:18:37,330 --> 00:18:42,970 Speaker 2: two speeding Mercedes of Pierre Levain and Fangio. Fanjo had 238 00:18:43,010 --> 00:18:48,410 Speaker 2: seen such catastrophes unfold before and knew how they ended. 239 00:18:49,810 --> 00:18:52,170 Speaker 1: These beautiful machines were death traps. 240 00:18:52,850 --> 00:18:56,450 Speaker 2: In fact, racers such as Fangio opted not to wear 241 00:18:56,530 --> 00:18:59,490 Speaker 2: seat belts, feeling that they had a better chance being 242 00:18:59,770 --> 00:19:02,970 Speaker 2: flung out of their cars across the tarmac and being 243 00:19:03,050 --> 00:19:07,210 Speaker 2: strapped in a burning wreck. There was nothing I could do, 244 00:19:07,970 --> 00:19:11,450 Speaker 2: and I knew it, said al Maestro. I could not 245 00:19:11,610 --> 00:19:15,290 Speaker 2: stop and there was no room to maneuver. From the 246 00:19:15,330 --> 00:19:19,650 Speaker 2: corner of his eye, Fangio saw his Mercedes stablemate Pierre 247 00:19:19,730 --> 00:19:24,050 Speaker 2: Levey throw up a hand. Fangio took this as a 248 00:19:24,090 --> 00:19:27,890 Speaker 2: warning LaVey signal that he would try to avoid Maclin 249 00:19:27,970 --> 00:19:32,570 Speaker 2: by going left, and that Fangio should attack right. Others 250 00:19:32,610 --> 00:19:35,770 Speaker 2: saw in this hand gesture the forty nine year old's 251 00:19:35,810 --> 00:19:42,570 Speaker 2: resignation to the inevitable, a final wave goodbye. LaVey's Mercedes 252 00:19:42,810 --> 00:19:48,050 Speaker 2: closed on Maclin's swerving car, but rather than crashing squarely 253 00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:54,610 Speaker 2: into it, the light and elegant silver machine lifted off 254 00:19:54,850 --> 00:19:59,410 Speaker 2: as if driving up a ramp. Fangio watched in horror 255 00:19:59,650 --> 00:20:05,010 Speaker 2: as LaVey's automobiles soared into the air and then even 256 00:20:05,050 --> 00:20:09,690 Speaker 2: over the wine of his own engine. The Argentine occurred elosion, 257 00:20:11,090 --> 00:20:15,210 Speaker 2: a wall of fire and smoke erupted. Maclin was still 258 00:20:15,250 --> 00:20:18,450 Speaker 2: skidding across the track, so Fangio pulled to the right, 259 00:20:18,850 --> 00:20:22,730 Speaker 2: only to be greeted by Mike Hawthorne's now stationary Jaguar. 260 00:20:23,610 --> 00:20:27,970 Speaker 2: How I passed him is a mystery, recalled El Maestro. 261 00:20:28,690 --> 00:20:31,610 Speaker 2: In fact, it had come so close to smashing into 262 00:20:31,690 --> 00:20:35,970 Speaker 2: Hawthorn that his silver Mercedes now carried a streak of 263 00:20:36,090 --> 00:20:41,210 Speaker 2: British racing green paint. As he scraped by my stomach 264 00:20:41,250 --> 00:20:44,330 Speaker 2: weaving A shouted with relief. As I picked up speed 265 00:20:44,410 --> 00:20:48,730 Speaker 2: on the unobstructed circuit, said Fango. As far as he knew, 266 00:20:49,210 --> 00:20:53,930 Speaker 2: Maclin was alive and so was Hawthorne. Poor Pierre was 267 00:20:54,370 --> 00:20:55,330 Speaker 2: likely dead. 268 00:20:56,330 --> 00:20:57,050 Speaker 1: That was racing. 269 00:20:58,810 --> 00:21:03,890 Speaker 2: Fangio was both alive and his car undamaged. The race 270 00:21:04,090 --> 00:21:13,970 Speaker 2: was still his for the winning right. In the minutes 271 00:21:14,090 --> 00:21:18,250 Speaker 2: before the crash, Francoise Gardell had arranged to meet his 272 00:21:18,330 --> 00:21:22,770 Speaker 2: girlfriend in the flat paddock beside the grandstand. He had 273 00:21:22,810 --> 00:21:25,610 Speaker 2: spotted her in the crowd, but stopping to talk to 274 00:21:25,650 --> 00:21:29,850 Speaker 2: a friend, had again lost sight of her. The enclosure 275 00:21:29,930 --> 00:21:33,410 Speaker 2: offered great views down to the Maison Blanc, turn over 276 00:21:33,450 --> 00:21:37,930 Speaker 2: to the pits, and across the all important start finish line. 277 00:21:38,090 --> 00:21:39,490 Speaker 1: It was packed. 278 00:21:40,490 --> 00:21:44,490 Speaker 2: Some spectators brought step ladders for an unobstructed view and 279 00:21:44,610 --> 00:21:48,770 Speaker 2: great camera angles. Shutters snapped all around Francois as he 280 00:21:48,890 --> 00:21:53,010 Speaker 2: hunted for his partner. Leading cars must be coming into sight. 281 00:21:54,050 --> 00:21:57,850 Speaker 2: To make himself more visible, Francois had cleverly donned a 282 00:21:57,930 --> 00:22:02,930 Speaker 2: bright red sweater and cap. His trousers were white. The 283 00:22:03,050 --> 00:22:08,610 Speaker 2: roar of the mighty engines drew nearer, and then unexpected sounds, 284 00:22:09,290 --> 00:22:15,410 Speaker 2: first a bang and then a deep, resounding explosion, A 285 00:22:15,730 --> 00:22:20,690 Speaker 2: scream coming in unison from scores, perhaps hundreds of mouths 286 00:22:21,210 --> 00:22:29,130 Speaker 2: rose from the enclosure, and then silence, save for Tinny 287 00:22:29,250 --> 00:22:35,130 Speaker 2: accordion music coming from the public address system. Francois snow 288 00:22:35,170 --> 00:22:42,450 Speaker 2: white pants or blood red. A woman standing beside him 289 00:22:43,090 --> 00:22:48,490 Speaker 2: had been obliterated. Shouts, screams, and groans filled the air, 290 00:22:48,810 --> 00:22:53,610 Speaker 2: coming from the burned, the wounded, and the traumatized. But 291 00:22:53,730 --> 00:22:57,690 Speaker 2: there were stretches of the enclosure where there were no cries, 292 00:22:58,530 --> 00:23:07,650 Speaker 2: no agonized writhing, just stillness and silence. Pierre Leave's Mercedes 293 00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:11,530 Speaker 2: had been launched into the air by the collision. It 294 00:23:11,610 --> 00:23:16,130 Speaker 2: then vaulted the earth barrier protecting the crowd and struck 295 00:23:16,170 --> 00:23:22,410 Speaker 2: a concrete stairway, disintegrating and spewing shards of metal and 296 00:23:22,490 --> 00:23:27,250 Speaker 2: burning fuel into the mass of spectators. The hood of 297 00:23:27,290 --> 00:23:32,410 Speaker 2: the car scythe through the crowd like a guillotine, severing 298 00:23:32,530 --> 00:23:36,930 Speaker 2: heads as it went. A flying hubcap lifted one woman 299 00:23:36,970 --> 00:23:40,810 Speaker 2: off her feet and flung her onto the track. This 300 00:23:41,410 --> 00:23:46,650 Speaker 2: murderous fusillade of debris, much of it combustible magnesium alloy, 301 00:23:47,290 --> 00:23:52,370 Speaker 2: then burned furiously, defying all efforts to put it out. 302 00:23:53,650 --> 00:24:00,010 Speaker 2: Miraculously untouched crossoag Ardell looked around and was flooded with 303 00:24:00,130 --> 00:24:11,610 Speaker 2: memories from the war. Corpses lay everywhere while it was 304 00:24:11,930 --> 00:24:16,810 Speaker 2: carnage in the enclosure. Order was quickly being restored on 305 00:24:16,890 --> 00:24:21,090 Speaker 2: the track as race marshals waved yellow warning flags to 306 00:24:21,170 --> 00:24:26,290 Speaker 2: slow the approaching cars. Two Mercedes mechanics hurried bravely over 307 00:24:26,370 --> 00:24:32,410 Speaker 2: to remove Lance Macklin's damaged vehicle to allow racing to continue. 308 00:24:32,450 --> 00:24:36,050 Speaker 2: His car had spun crazily after the impact with Pierre 309 00:24:36,170 --> 00:24:40,730 Speaker 2: LaVey's Mercedes and had mowed down a gendarmes, a photographer 310 00:24:40,930 --> 00:24:44,890 Speaker 2: and two race officials standing in the pit lane. They 311 00:24:44,930 --> 00:24:51,690 Speaker 2: were gravely injured. Maclin was untouched, but furious. He marched 312 00:24:51,690 --> 00:24:55,330 Speaker 2: over to Mike Hawthorn. That was your fault, he bellowed 313 00:24:55,330 --> 00:24:59,010 Speaker 2: at the Jaguar driver, but the conversation was cut short. 314 00:24:59,290 --> 00:25:03,530 Speaker 2: Though Hawthorne seemed distraught, his team boss instructed him to 315 00:25:03,570 --> 00:25:06,890 Speaker 2: get back into his D type and drive one more 316 00:25:07,010 --> 00:25:10,250 Speaker 2: lap before stopping again to sw with his co driver. 317 00:25:11,770 --> 00:25:15,730 Speaker 2: So Hawthorne roared off once more to chase down Fangio. 318 00:25:18,010 --> 00:25:22,610 Speaker 2: Donald Healy, the designer of Lance Macklin's car, went to 319 00:25:22,730 --> 00:25:23,690 Speaker 2: comfort the driver. 320 00:25:24,490 --> 00:25:25,650 Speaker 1: You must be a bit shaken. 321 00:25:26,330 --> 00:25:28,810 Speaker 2: Let's go and have a drink to celebrate your survival. 322 00:25:30,610 --> 00:25:33,850 Speaker 2: It was over that bottle of champagne that a friend 323 00:25:33,970 --> 00:25:38,770 Speaker 2: approached Macklin. It's like a butcher's shop out there, he said. 324 00:25:39,650 --> 00:25:45,050 Speaker 2: There are bodies everywhere. There must be one hundred people killed. Maclin, 325 00:25:45,330 --> 00:25:47,690 Speaker 2: like most of those on the pit side of the track, 326 00:25:48,130 --> 00:25:51,210 Speaker 2: didn't have a clear view of the crash site. His 327 00:25:51,210 --> 00:25:55,090 Speaker 2: friend was clearly exaggerating. Never, for God's sake, he said, 328 00:25:55,410 --> 00:25:59,610 Speaker 2: that was so ridiculous. So amid the cacophony of the 329 00:25:59,650 --> 00:26:07,170 Speaker 2: continuing race, Maclin turned back to his Champagne cautionary tales. 330 00:26:07,450 --> 00:26:08,330 Speaker 1: Will be right back. 331 00:26:15,290 --> 00:26:19,130 Speaker 2: What are you doing, said Francoise Gardell to a Ferrari 332 00:26:19,210 --> 00:26:21,930 Speaker 2: driver in the pits, going on with your race? 333 00:26:22,970 --> 00:26:23,610 Speaker 1: Are you mad? 334 00:26:24,850 --> 00:26:28,010 Speaker 2: The driver just smirked at the Frenchman and told him 335 00:26:28,050 --> 00:26:32,050 Speaker 2: with a wink not to make such a fuss. Fasoir, 336 00:26:32,690 --> 00:26:36,770 Speaker 2: still covered in blood, departed to resume the search for 337 00:26:36,850 --> 00:26:41,890 Speaker 2: his missing girlfriend, who he would eventually find unconscious but alive, 338 00:26:42,530 --> 00:26:46,770 Speaker 2: amidst a scene of chaos at a local hospital. But still, 339 00:26:47,010 --> 00:26:51,290 Speaker 2: the drivers, mechanics and VIPs in the pit area had 340 00:26:51,370 --> 00:26:54,650 Speaker 2: little inkling of the horror that was unfolding just one 341 00:26:54,730 --> 00:26:58,690 Speaker 2: hundred or so feet away. So the socializing and glad 342 00:26:58,730 --> 00:27:03,770 Speaker 2: handing continued more champagne glasses were drained and the race 343 00:27:03,850 --> 00:27:09,730 Speaker 2: went on. The Thousands of fans flocking the fairground restaurants 344 00:27:09,810 --> 00:27:14,450 Speaker 2: and beer tents were equally oblivious, and the ferris wheel 345 00:27:14,650 --> 00:27:21,050 Speaker 2: kept turning. But in homes across Europe and beyond, the 346 00:27:21,130 --> 00:27:25,690 Speaker 2: scale of the tragedy was all too apparent. It was 347 00:27:25,730 --> 00:27:29,370 Speaker 2: the first time Lamar had been televised, and hundreds of 348 00:27:29,530 --> 00:27:33,930 Speaker 2: thousands of flickering television screens were filled with the smoke, 349 00:27:34,650 --> 00:27:40,010 Speaker 2: the flames and the dead. Amongst that horrified legion of 350 00:27:40,090 --> 00:27:44,210 Speaker 2: viewers were the bosses of Mercedes Benz back in Germany. 351 00:27:45,290 --> 00:27:48,050 Speaker 2: Laman was supposed to be a shop window for their company, 352 00:27:48,530 --> 00:27:53,810 Speaker 2: a glamorous pr opportunity to sell more cars. That commercial 353 00:27:53,890 --> 00:27:57,610 Speaker 2: hope was now dead. The blazing wreck and the mass 354 00:27:57,610 --> 00:28:01,970 Speaker 2: slaughter on TV screens now be splashed across newspaper front 355 00:28:02,010 --> 00:28:07,010 Speaker 2: pages Tomorrow, So as Fangio and Moss extended their lead 356 00:28:07,090 --> 00:28:17,050 Speaker 2: over Jaguar telephones, cross Stuttgart began to ring. Of all 357 00:28:17,130 --> 00:28:22,810 Speaker 2: the syndromes Stockholm syndrome, say or imposter syndrome, the most 358 00:28:22,890 --> 00:28:29,570 Speaker 2: vividly titled is undoubtedly boiling frog syndrome. The theory is 359 00:28:29,610 --> 00:28:31,930 Speaker 2: that if you drop a frog into a pan of 360 00:28:32,010 --> 00:28:37,050 Speaker 2: boiling water, the animal will immediately leap to safety. If 361 00:28:37,050 --> 00:28:40,370 Speaker 2: you place it in cold water which you slowly heat, 362 00:28:40,970 --> 00:28:45,090 Speaker 2: the frog won't notice the gradual change until it's too late. 363 00:28:46,370 --> 00:28:48,890 Speaker 2: You will be glad to hear that frogs are actually 364 00:28:48,930 --> 00:28:51,570 Speaker 2: smarter than this. They'll hop out of the water when 365 00:28:51,570 --> 00:28:56,330 Speaker 2: it starts to feel uncomfortable. Humans aren't always so clever, 366 00:28:56,770 --> 00:29:01,010 Speaker 2: and boiling frog syndrome is a useful metaphor to explain 367 00:29:01,210 --> 00:29:07,650 Speaker 2: much otherwise odd human behavior. It helps explain, for instance, 368 00:29:07,890 --> 00:29:10,970 Speaker 2: what happened at La Monte on June the eleventh, nineteen 369 00:29:11,050 --> 00:29:15,730 Speaker 2: fifty five. That year's race was the twenty third Grand 370 00:29:15,810 --> 00:29:19,770 Speaker 2: Prix de Endurance held at the circuit, and yes, there 371 00:29:19,810 --> 00:29:24,090 Speaker 2: had been improvements to the track, but were the race officials, 372 00:29:24,130 --> 00:29:30,090 Speaker 2: in many respects just slowly boiling frogs. In nineteen twenty three, 373 00:29:30,650 --> 00:29:35,170 Speaker 2: the fastest car on the uneven track averaged sixty miles 374 00:29:35,210 --> 00:29:40,010 Speaker 2: an hour. At that speed, Lament's traditional foot race start, 375 00:29:40,450 --> 00:29:43,370 Speaker 2: its lack of a separate pit area, as well as 376 00:29:43,410 --> 00:29:48,010 Speaker 2: its broad mixture of vehicles and driving abilities, were risky 377 00:29:48,090 --> 00:29:49,610 Speaker 2: but not insane. 378 00:29:50,970 --> 00:29:53,410 Speaker 1: But then the water started to simmer. 379 00:29:54,050 --> 00:29:58,010 Speaker 2: By nineteen thirty nine, the average speed had crept up 380 00:29:58,050 --> 00:29:58,730 Speaker 2: to ninety. 381 00:29:59,250 --> 00:30:01,730 Speaker 1: When Lamon returned after the war. 382 00:30:01,930 --> 00:30:06,130 Speaker 2: Complete with Eddy Hall and his soiled overalls, the average 383 00:30:06,530 --> 00:30:11,930 Speaker 2: was one hundred miles an hour. Automotive engineering was advancing fast, 384 00:30:12,530 --> 00:30:17,090 Speaker 2: vying for supremacy. The Prestige marks were bending the rules 385 00:30:17,370 --> 00:30:23,730 Speaker 2: by entering not production cars but prototypes, using jetage materials 386 00:30:23,770 --> 00:30:29,090 Speaker 2: and manufacturing. The three hundred SLR and Jaguars D type 387 00:30:29,530 --> 00:30:32,210 Speaker 2: were never going to come pooring off the production lines. 388 00:30:32,970 --> 00:30:35,970 Speaker 2: They easily touched speeds of one hundred and eighty miles 389 00:30:36,010 --> 00:30:39,370 Speaker 2: per hour should they ever have shared a track with 390 00:30:39,530 --> 00:30:46,250 Speaker 2: cars going barely half that speed. The organizers of Lamon 391 00:30:46,410 --> 00:30:50,850 Speaker 2: had been sitting in slowly heating water for years, yet 392 00:30:50,930 --> 00:30:58,490 Speaker 2: hadn't noticed that boiling point was very nearly upon them. 393 00:30:58,610 --> 00:31:02,930 Speaker 2: Francoise Ardell had found it impossible to convey the magnitude 394 00:31:02,930 --> 00:31:06,730 Speaker 2: of the disaster to that Ferrari driver, but word of 395 00:31:06,810 --> 00:31:10,170 Speaker 2: the carnage on the other side of the track slowly 396 00:31:10,250 --> 00:31:14,370 Speaker 2: seeped into the pit area. The head of Mercedes Press 397 00:31:14,410 --> 00:31:19,290 Speaker 2: operation went in search of Pierre Lavy's body, crossing to 398 00:31:19,370 --> 00:31:23,570 Speaker 2: the blood soaked enclosure to begin hunting among the scores 399 00:31:23,570 --> 00:31:28,170 Speaker 2: of bodies. He'd watched LaVey don tennis shoes to help 400 00:31:28,250 --> 00:31:31,250 Speaker 2: him keep up with younger drivers for the starting sprint, 401 00:31:32,010 --> 00:31:36,210 Speaker 2: So the press officer now checked the feet of each corpse. 402 00:31:36,650 --> 00:31:37,530 Speaker 1: But to no avail. 403 00:31:38,970 --> 00:31:44,050 Speaker 2: Finally, someone presented him with the remnants of LaVey's crash helmet. 404 00:31:45,250 --> 00:31:53,690 Speaker 2: Its contents turned the German's stomach. Heading back to the pits, 405 00:31:53,890 --> 00:31:56,730 Speaker 2: he got on the phone to his bosses at Mercedes 406 00:31:56,770 --> 00:32:03,730 Speaker 2: and Stuttgart. Ours ticked by, but as darkness fell, Fanjo 407 00:32:03,890 --> 00:32:08,890 Speaker 2: and the rest raced on. Lamar officials argued that haltingly 408 00:32:08,930 --> 00:32:13,490 Speaker 2: of would send spectators heading to the exits, impeding the 409 00:32:13,530 --> 00:32:18,930 Speaker 2: evacuation of casualties, but as time passed this reasoning looked 410 00:32:19,130 --> 00:32:25,130 Speaker 2: increasingly shaky. The drivers could have walked away regardless of 411 00:32:25,170 --> 00:32:30,930 Speaker 2: what the organizers said, but they didn't. Sterling Moss hated Lamont, 412 00:32:31,530 --> 00:32:34,650 Speaker 2: but he didn't see the point of stopping. It wouldn't 413 00:32:34,650 --> 00:32:39,450 Speaker 2: bring back the dead, he argued. If this response strikes 414 00:32:39,530 --> 00:32:43,290 Speaker 2: you as callous, put yourself for a moment in the 415 00:32:43,370 --> 00:32:47,890 Speaker 2: driving seat. Motor racing in the nineteen fifties was a bloody, 416 00:32:48,130 --> 00:32:52,810 Speaker 2: gladiatorial business. Many of those competing at Lamont had seen 417 00:32:52,890 --> 00:32:57,890 Speaker 2: friends and rivals torn apart in crashes, or incinerated in 418 00:32:57,930 --> 00:33:03,530 Speaker 2: their seats, or had had accidents themselves. Indeed, several men 419 00:33:03,690 --> 00:33:08,890 Speaker 2: racing that day would soon lose their lives. If one 420 00:33:09,210 --> 00:33:15,490 Speaker 2: driver or spectator died, that was absolutely no surprise. What 421 00:33:15,570 --> 00:33:19,930 Speaker 2: if two people died or three? Was that a surprise? 422 00:33:21,290 --> 00:33:25,930 Speaker 2: Lance Macklin suspected that many spectators rather relished seeing a 423 00:33:25,970 --> 00:33:31,010 Speaker 2: fatal crash. I hated the crowd, he admitted. When he 424 00:33:31,010 --> 00:33:35,170 Speaker 2: heard fans now expressing horror at the carnage and the paddock, 425 00:33:35,810 --> 00:33:40,610 Speaker 2: his sympathy was limited. That's what you came for, isn't it? 426 00:33:40,730 --> 00:33:45,370 Speaker 2: Acclimated to death? Sudden and violent drivers and their racing 427 00:33:45,450 --> 00:33:50,130 Speaker 2: teams were like boiling frogs too. Was the accident by 428 00:33:50,130 --> 00:33:54,650 Speaker 2: the grandstand really so awful that it warranted calling off 429 00:33:54,690 --> 00:34:00,370 Speaker 2: the race? The executives at Mercedes Benz finally made that call. 430 00:34:01,490 --> 00:34:04,610 Speaker 2: One or two deaths might be a typical day at 431 00:34:04,650 --> 00:34:12,730 Speaker 2: the races, But eighty three spectators died After a Mercedes 432 00:34:12,890 --> 00:34:17,210 Speaker 2: car had killed so many fans, how exactly would Fangio 433 00:34:17,290 --> 00:34:22,370 Speaker 2: and Moss celebrate a victory. Mercedes instructed all of its 434 00:34:22,450 --> 00:34:27,330 Speaker 2: drivers to retire from the race. So the mechanics gathered 435 00:34:27,410 --> 00:34:31,210 Speaker 2: up as much of Pierre Levey's wreck as possible, loaded 436 00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:33,890 Speaker 2: the other three hundred SLRs. 437 00:34:33,370 --> 00:34:36,530 Speaker 1: Onto trucks, and quietly left the circuit. 438 00:34:38,130 --> 00:34:41,770 Speaker 2: The Mercedes team boss stopped to talk to his opposite 439 00:34:41,850 --> 00:34:45,570 Speaker 2: number at Jaguar, would he withdraw from the race? To 440 00:34:46,890 --> 00:34:51,330 Speaker 2: the reply was Kurt the d types, now with an 441 00:34:51,410 --> 00:34:59,010 Speaker 2: unassailable lead, would thunder on. Unlike Jaguar, Mercedes executives had 442 00:34:59,050 --> 00:35:02,810 Speaker 2: realized that in the television age they couldn't shrug off 443 00:35:02,890 --> 00:35:06,810 Speaker 2: so much death and suffering. The company quit the race 444 00:35:06,850 --> 00:35:10,010 Speaker 2: that day, and at the end of the season, withdrew 445 00:35:10,090 --> 00:35:17,210 Speaker 2: from racing for forty long years. With the Mercedes packed 446 00:35:17,250 --> 00:35:22,010 Speaker 2: and gone, Hawthorne's co driver pulled into a rain damped 447 00:35:22,050 --> 00:35:25,450 Speaker 2: pit lane twenty three hours and forty five. 448 00:35:25,330 --> 00:35:26,570 Speaker 1: Minutes into the race. 449 00:35:27,490 --> 00:35:32,370 Speaker 2: Mike Hawthorne would take the wheel, the checkered flag and victory. 450 00:35:33,810 --> 00:35:38,250 Speaker 2: The pair set a new record, competing three hundred and 451 00:35:38,410 --> 00:35:45,890 Speaker 2: six laps in total. It was, of course, a tainted victory. 452 00:35:46,730 --> 00:35:49,930 Speaker 2: While some blamed the crash on the slow reactions of 453 00:35:50,050 --> 00:35:54,570 Speaker 2: Lance Macklin and others said Pierre Levat was too old 454 00:35:54,650 --> 00:35:57,810 Speaker 2: to be there at all the way of blame has 455 00:35:57,850 --> 00:36:02,610 Speaker 2: fallen on Mike Hawthorne, his desire to win, to overtake 456 00:36:02,650 --> 00:36:07,250 Speaker 2: the slower car to save a few seconds. That desire 457 00:36:07,770 --> 00:36:13,490 Speaker 2: came at far too high a cost, given the death toll. 458 00:36:14,090 --> 00:36:19,290 Speaker 2: Action came quickly. France suspended all races, and several nations 459 00:36:19,370 --> 00:36:23,610 Speaker 2: banned the sport all together, with Switzerland only lifting its 460 00:36:23,650 --> 00:36:28,250 Speaker 2: restriction in twenty eighteen. Some of the most notorious racing 461 00:36:28,330 --> 00:36:32,930 Speaker 2: circuits were made safer or closed down entirely, and Lman 462 00:36:33,210 --> 00:36:36,850 Speaker 2: was forced to make some long overdue changes to the track, 463 00:36:37,370 --> 00:36:43,490 Speaker 2: the pits, and the barriers protecting the crowd. An inquiry 464 00:36:43,530 --> 00:36:48,170 Speaker 2: into the crash, however, was frustrated by the driver's unwillingness 465 00:36:48,170 --> 00:36:52,210 Speaker 2: to point fingers at one another. Both Fangio and Maclin 466 00:36:52,330 --> 00:36:58,170 Speaker 2: gave neutral witness statements, hoping perhaps to calm public anger 467 00:36:58,650 --> 00:37:04,570 Speaker 2: and save the sport they loved, but Mike Hawthorne remained 468 00:37:04,610 --> 00:37:09,090 Speaker 2: a focus for fury. Recall how the bosses at Mercedes 469 00:37:09,410 --> 00:37:13,530 Speaker 2: had fretted over what a pr disaster when by Fangio 470 00:37:13,570 --> 00:37:17,690 Speaker 2: would have been well. The thought clearly hadn't occurred to 471 00:37:17,770 --> 00:37:22,970 Speaker 2: Mike Hawthorne and Jagging when Hawthorne's d type crossed the 472 00:37:23,010 --> 00:37:28,130 Speaker 2: finish line not yards from the bloodstained enclosure. The driver 473 00:37:28,650 --> 00:37:34,210 Speaker 2: was beaming. He gleefully popped a champagne cork and embraced 474 00:37:34,210 --> 00:37:39,210 Speaker 2: his co driver. A photograph of this scene made the newspapers. 475 00:37:40,650 --> 00:37:47,010 Speaker 2: Vassant monsieur Hawthorne read the bitter headline, cheers to you, 476 00:37:48,050 --> 00:38:04,370 Speaker 2: mister Hawthorne. The primary sources for this episode were twenty 477 00:38:04,450 --> 00:38:08,210 Speaker 2: four Hours, one hundred Years of Lamont by Richard Williams 478 00:38:09,090 --> 00:38:13,970 Speaker 2: Alfangio's My Twenty Years of Racing and Mark Kahn's classic 479 00:38:14,010 --> 00:38:19,010 Speaker 2: text Death Race Lamon nineteen fifty five, which included an 480 00:38:19,050 --> 00:38:24,290 Speaker 2: exclusive and candid interview with Lance Macklin and the eyewitness 481 00:38:24,290 --> 00:38:28,450 Speaker 2: testimony of Francoise Adell. For a full list of our sources, 482 00:38:28,770 --> 00:38:36,410 Speaker 2: see the show notes at Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales 483 00:38:36,450 --> 00:38:39,970 Speaker 2: as written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines, 484 00:38:40,170 --> 00:38:44,610 Speaker 2: and Ryan Dilly. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. 485 00:38:44,850 --> 00:38:45,930 Speaker 1: The sound design and. 486 00:38:45,930 --> 00:38:49,850 Speaker 2: Original music are the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound 487 00:38:49,850 --> 00:38:54,130 Speaker 2: design is by Carlos san Juan at Brain Audio. Bend 488 00:38:54,250 --> 00:38:58,650 Speaker 2: Daphaffrey edited the scripts the show features the voice talents 489 00:38:58,650 --> 00:39:04,090 Speaker 2: of Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, Oliver Hembrough, Sarah Jupp, massaam Monroe, 490 00:39:04,290 --> 00:39:08,330 Speaker 2: Jamal Westman and rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have 491 00:39:08,330 --> 00:39:10,770 Speaker 2: been possible with that out the work of Jacob Weisberg, 492 00:39:10,890 --> 00:39:15,730 Speaker 2: Gretta Cohene, Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, 493 00:39:16,050 --> 00:39:20,650 Speaker 2: Kira Posey and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production 494 00:39:20,770 --> 00:39:25,170 Speaker 2: of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardour Studios in London 495 00:39:25,490 --> 00:39:29,010 Speaker 2: by Tom Berry. If you like the show, please remember 496 00:39:29,050 --> 00:39:31,890 Speaker 2: to share, rate and review. It really makes a difference 497 00:39:31,930 --> 00:39:33,450 Speaker 2: to us and if you want to hear the show, 498 00:39:33,690 --> 00:39:37,170 Speaker 2: add free sign up to Pushkin Plus on the show page, 499 00:39:37,290 --> 00:39:41,450 Speaker 2: on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus