I knew immediately this was your thread Richard. Who else?

Nothing wrong with your analysis but over the years this crash has been analyzed and researched and written about from so many different angles that there really is pretty much only one conclusion that fits. From Hawthorn's too often aggression to Levegh's age to the awkward positioning on the track with the cars in the precise spot for such a slaughter.............I've read it was fate and also inevitable.   John Fitch believed it was Hawthorn and always maintained that in the moment Hawthorn believed that he himself was responsible.

The only answer that makes sense is this was simply a racing accident. Because of the spectator loss of life there was a need to affix blame. The truth is that racing is a dangerous pursuit. While it is far less dangerous today, it still is a blood sport. Replace each driver with someone different and the result may well have been different.......or it could have been the same. Probably the only thing that might have actually changed the equation was the disparate performance of the cars and yet even that in and of itself cannot be blamed. The proximity of the crowd could have factored in of course but not as a trigger cause.

Almost 60 years later it no longer matters. We learned a few lessons there but trying to pin the wreck on anyone is futile. I might go more with Hawthorn although I have always believed him to be one of greats. And if he changed his mind about his own responsibility (which he did), isn't that normal? Don't you have to do that to continue on after such a tragedy? Macklin felt he was in the position of being held less than professional, also a natural reaction. Poor Levegh took a beating in this mess even in death. I read somewhere he was the last one identified as well but his wife knew before anyone even was sure who was involved that he was dead.



Spaw