Editing Mike Hawthorn (section)

====24 Hours of Le Mans====
{{main article|1955 24 Hours of Le Mans|1955 Le Mans disaster}}
[[Image:Le Mans Unfall.svg|thumb|150px|left|The 1955 Le Mans accident]]
In January 1955, Hawthorn joined the Jaguar racing team, replacing [[Stirling Moss]], who had left for Mercedes.<ref>[http://www.mike-hawthorn.org.uk/aletterfrommike.php A letter from Mike Hawthorn] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927184110/http://www.mike-hawthorn.org.uk/aletterfrommike.php |date=27 September 2013 }}. Mike-hawthorn.org.uk. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.</ref> Hawthorn won the [[1955 24 Hours of Le Mans|1955 les 24 Heures du Mans]] following what has been described as an inspired drive in which he set a lap record of 4 minutes and 6.6 seconds during a three-hour duel with Fangio in the early stages. However, the race was marred by the worst disaster in motor racing history, a [[1955 Le Mans disaster|crash which killed 83 spectators]] and Mercedes driver [[Pierre Levegh]]. After overtaking [[Lance Macklin]]'s Healey, Hawthorn suddenly braked in front of him on noticing an order to enter the pits to refuel, causing Macklin to swerve into the path of Levegh's Mercedes. After colliding with the Healey, the Mercedes skipped the earthen embankment separating the spectator area from the track, bounced through spectator enclosures, then hit a concrete stairwell parapet head-on. The impact shattered the front end of the car, which then somersaulted high, pitching debris into the spectator area, before landing atop the earthen embankment. The debris, including bonnet, engine, and front axle, which separated from the frame, flew through the crowd.

Eight hours later, while leading the race 1.5 laps ahead of the Jaguar team, the Mercedes team withdrew from the race, ostensibly as a mark of respect for those who had perished in the accident; the Jaguar team was invited to join them but declined.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/f1/teamsBySeason.aspx?driverTeamArticleID=160&driverID=65 |title=Mike Hawthorn & the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans: The Cause and the Effect |publisher=ConceptCarz.com |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref> The French press carried photographs of Hawthorn and [[Ivor Bueb]] celebrating their win with the customary champagne but treated them with scorn.<ref name="BBC Four" />

The official inquiry into the accident ruled that Hawthorn was not responsible for the crash, and that it was merely a racing incident. The death of so many spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for track design. Aside from two layout changes to make the circuit shorter, the track was largely unaltered since the inception of the race in [[1923 24 Hours of Le Mans|1923]], when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of {{convert|100|km/h|-1|abbr=on}}. By 1955, top speeds for the leading cars were over {{convert|270|km/h|-1|abbr=on}}. That said, the circuit had been resurfaced and widened post-[[World War II|war]]. The pits and grandstands had been reconstructed, but there were no barriers between the pit lane and the racing line, and only a {{convert|4|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=on}} earthen bank between the track and the spectators. The Grandstand and pit areas were demolished and rebuilt soon after.<ref name="BBC Four"/> The death toll led to a ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and other nations, until the tracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. In Switzerland motorsports were banned with exceptions until the ban was lifted in June 2022.