Jaws911

Don't know if this would be of interest to you guys, but I thought i'd post it - its an in-car video of Mike Hawthorne taking a lap @ Le Mans in a D-jag & narrating as he goes - not 10/10ths by any means, but then, the road is not closed! ( pedestrians, motorcycles, trucks in the opposite direction, etc.)

I just thought it was a cool bit of history

http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/retro%2...orn-226119.php

hacker-pschorr

Brilliant!!! - "175 to 180 miles per hour"

OMG - in a 1956 D-Type. These guys had *****.

smlporsche

What a piece of racing history!

Thanks for posting!

n2qw

From that video I looked at the Mike Hawthorn fan site for some more fascinating reading. In particular a great analysis by Paul Frere of the worst ever motor racing accident in the 1955 Le Mans - an accident tthat it would appear a number of people wanted to blame on Hawthorn. Frere's article, based on the photgraphic evidence, shows very clealry (IMO) what happened.

Also, loved the Hawthorn quote:
"When I started racing, I wore an ordinary tie, but then I found it flapped in my face so I changed to a bow tie. Now it's a sort of trademerk and that's why the French call me 'Le Paillion'"
(Papillion=butterfly)

What sort of sartorial trademarks do Rennlist Racers sport?

Bull

When I raced in Seattle (Kent actually), I wore a Mae West......

Jaws911

a little additional Hawthone info, FWIW -

(this video site was originally sent to me by a friend, who also sent it to an English friend of ours - here's his reply - I can hear his accent, BTW):

... This little Le Mans movie with Hawthorn is absolutely
fabulous. Too bad Hawthorn was not able to drive faster for the movie
due to local traffic but still the whole thing was just great. Loved
the engine sounds and the double clutching and the beautiful steering
wheel. I once went on my motorbike (on leave from the Army) and saw him
race and win in the rain in 1952 at Goodwood in a F2 Cooper Bristol
against Fangio in a Ferrari. A fantastic afternoon despite the rain. He
was a manic driver. I'll never forget it.

I had a personal experience once of him on the Guildford bypass which
is near where he lived in Farnham. This was around '55. I was in my
Dad's car that I had borrowed to visit friends in Farnham and was on my
way back to London doing about sixty. I looked in the mirror and saw
this Jaguar sedan coming up behind me at a very alarming speed. Must
have been doing over a hundred. The Jaguar shot past and I could see
Mike Hawthorn inside as he went by, blond hair and all. It was a 2.4
Jaguar and he must have had it completely floored. That 2.4 had a top
speed of just over a hundred and that's where he was.

Not long after he got a 3.8 Jaguar with factory performance mods and
special seats etc. and THAT car was a whole lot faster than the 2.4. He
loved speed and drove like a lunatic - very skilled but less self
control than Stirling Moss who did not take unnecessary risks on public
highways. He was killed driving at warp speed in that same Guildford
bypass area near where he passed me that day. But when that happened he
was driving the hot 3.8 that he called "the Merceater". Just overdid
it once too often.

He had the mentality of a fighter pilot but missed the war by ten
years. Very popular with the ladies, I believe.

Thanks for the weblink.

Nordschleife

I was born in Farnham, Mike used to hang around in the same group as my parents, his Dad used to look after our motor cars. I can still remember the day he died, he was one of the very few people whom I allowed to ruffle my hair.

By one of those strange coincidences of life, I still find myself driving on the Guildford bypass, way too fast, like Mike, and my Dad and my Grandfather.

Some things don't change, and we still go to Le Mans and drive the circuit and the roads around and lift a glass to 'Absent Friends'.

And remembering that brought a lump to my throat.

R+C

Veloce Raptor

NICE! I love his comment: "There are bicyclists everywhere....typical French!"