Davide Nativo
Premium
Can art be made out of a tragic event? Yes, when human emotions become the protagonists.
"Motor racing is dangerous.". How many times have we heard that? It is however, contrary to general belief, something hard to fully understand due to numerous reasons. While, yes, it is obvious that pushing a car over 300 km/h (190 mph) is not something ordinary, at the same time it becomes difficult to weigh in all of the different variables that are at play for someone who is not a professional racing driver, meaning that he/she has never raced a proper sportscar or formula car, or has never even attended a racing event in his/her life. Because being a spectator can be just as dangerous as being out on track sometimes.
We all have heard of all the different cases in which people, race marshals or team crews have been involved in tragic accidents that many times have costed their lives, in the long history of the motorsport in its various disciplines. Being around these relentless creatures, smoking and spitting flames from their nostrils, untamable if not by a handful of men, means knowing the risk involved as much as the drivers hopping in them do.
I believe everyone remembers about the tragic accident, the most horrific for the number of victims involved, which occurred at Le Mans in 1955. Eighty-three spectators lost their lives, children among them, and 120 were injured, with various degrees of severity. It was the result of a series of small mistakes, errors and predicaments, which would have meant nothing by themselves, but instead combined in a disastrous chain. For those who do not know though, Hawthorne, leading the race on the Jaguar, after overtaking Lance Macklin near the pits, proceeded to brake hard to stop at his stall. The small Austin Healey did not have the braking power to stop effectively, so it squirmed, put some wheels on the grass, went spinning, only to find itself on Pierre Levegh trajectory. His Mercedes 300 SLR jumped, using the voiturette as a trampoline, ending on the side of the track, bursting into flames. Unfortunately, some parts of the car, some very heavy too, landed on the public, striking it. This accident changed the shape of the motor racing scene forever.
Quentin Baillieux just recently honored the loss of Levegh and of all the spectators involved in that crash with a beautiful court métrage d'animation, which I believe is the perfect artistic form to frame such a terrible event in an elegant and respectful way, while giving depth to all of the human emotions involved in such a tragedy. Also, it is an important way to pass knowledge, history, on to the newest generations, because the sacrifice of those we lost on the path of technological evolution, which is the fundamental reason of being of motorsport (otherwise it’s just futile spectacle), must be always remembered.
*it is recommended to turn the subtitles on, unless you are a French speaker, for best enjoyment.
"Motor racing is dangerous.". How many times have we heard that? It is however, contrary to general belief, something hard to fully understand due to numerous reasons. While, yes, it is obvious that pushing a car over 300 km/h (190 mph) is not something ordinary, at the same time it becomes difficult to weigh in all of the different variables that are at play for someone who is not a professional racing driver, meaning that he/she has never raced a proper sportscar or formula car, or has never even attended a racing event in his/her life. Because being a spectator can be just as dangerous as being out on track sometimes.
We all have heard of all the different cases in which people, race marshals or team crews have been involved in tragic accidents that many times have costed their lives, in the long history of the motorsport in its various disciplines. Being around these relentless creatures, smoking and spitting flames from their nostrils, untamable if not by a handful of men, means knowing the risk involved as much as the drivers hopping in them do.
I believe everyone remembers about the tragic accident, the most horrific for the number of victims involved, which occurred at Le Mans in 1955. Eighty-three spectators lost their lives, children among them, and 120 were injured, with various degrees of severity. It was the result of a series of small mistakes, errors and predicaments, which would have meant nothing by themselves, but instead combined in a disastrous chain. For those who do not know though, Hawthorne, leading the race on the Jaguar, after overtaking Lance Macklin near the pits, proceeded to brake hard to stop at his stall. The small Austin Healey did not have the braking power to stop effectively, so it squirmed, put some wheels on the grass, went spinning, only to find itself on Pierre Levegh trajectory. His Mercedes 300 SLR jumped, using the voiturette as a trampoline, ending on the side of the track, bursting into flames. Unfortunately, some parts of the car, some very heavy too, landed on the public, striking it. This accident changed the shape of the motor racing scene forever.
Quentin Baillieux just recently honored the loss of Levegh and of all the spectators involved in that crash with a beautiful court métrage d'animation, which I believe is the perfect artistic form to frame such a terrible event in an elegant and respectful way, while giving depth to all of the human emotions involved in such a tragedy. Also, it is an important way to pass knowledge, history, on to the newest generations, because the sacrifice of those we lost on the path of technological evolution, which is the fundamental reason of being of motorsport (otherwise it’s just futile spectacle), must be always remembered.
*it is recommended to turn the subtitles on, unless you are a French speaker, for best enjoyment.
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