It was their job to be ready. The pilot and 82 spectators were killed. Especially if you’re in a Mercedes CLR. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was derived from the W196 Formula One car for use in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season. Mercedes-Benz was also dominant in sports car racing during the 1950s. On June 11, 1955, a racing car in Le Mans, France, goes out of control and crashes into stands filled with spectators, killing 82 people. In the middle of all this was a 2670 mm wheelbase. A mix of GT1 and LMP prototype class, which allowed entrants to be full-on racing prototypes dressed in production car garb. Irrespective of opinion, Mercedes were ready. Mercedes-Benz immediately withdrew the remaining CLR #6 and dropped out of sportscar racing for the immediate future. Watch Peter Dumbreck miraculously escape uninjured from a violent crash during the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans race when his No. A German Mercedes car somersaulted through the rails after a triple crash in the Le Mans 24-hour race, on June 11, 1955, exploding and killing its … Toyota won at Le Mans this year, and thankfully, nobody went airborne. Le Mans cars are typically of the long wheelbase variety in that it makes for the most stable aero platform. Compare that to the 2850 mm of the Toyota GT-One, the Audi R8C's 2700, or the BMW LMR's 2790. At Le Mans that year, a disaster occurred in which a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR collided with another The Le Mans race weekend of that year was a turbulent one for Mercedes, who were racing their CLR supercars for the iconic staple of the motorsport calendar. Some of those who had watched the disaster unfold in front of them from the Le Mans pitlane including co-driver to Levegh, John Fitch, were readying for the continued domination of Mercedes in Grand Prix racing. 3 of 32 4 of 32 Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed during the 24 hours du Mans race on June 11, 1955. Dumbreck’s teammate, Aussie Mark Webber, already had two bizarre incidents where his car flipped earlier in the race weekend, leaving tensions high in the Mercedes camp. But that hasn’t always been the case at Le Mans, especially in the late 1990s. But the CLR's wheelbase was the shortest of the entire LMP category. Thankfully for Mercedes’ Le Mans dream, the Automobile Club de l’Quest (ACO), which organises the 24 Hours of Le Mans, created a new category known as the LMGTP. 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