In keeping with our theme from yesterday, today’s video focuses on Mike Hawthorn LeMans 1955, a most tragic and infamous day in racing history. The video below focuses on the life and racing career highlights of racing driver Mike Hawthorn.
Shown in the video are scenes of Mike Hawthorn’s fatal car crash. We see an uprooted tree on the grass verge of the Guildford bypass and skid marks where Hawthorn’s car left the road and hit the tree. Still photographs of the wrecked car with tree jutting out of chassis portray a haunting image of the scene of the death of a man with a haunting past.
Also included in the footage is the National Sporting Club dinner where Charles Forte is presenting a cocktail cabinet to Hawthorn, a seemingly joyful occasion with his fatal crash happening just 60 hours later.
We see footage from Le Mans in 1955. Cars are prepared by mechanics and Hawthorn chats before the start of the race. We are witness to a burning car on the side of the track after the terrible crash as other cars race past.
