Safety...

Take a look at these two clips, both laps of Le Mans in Ford GT40s, the first is 1968 with narration by Sterling Moss, the second one year later in Peter Sadler's GT40 (who wold later retire at the 10th hour with electrical problems). In the narration for the 1969 lap, Vic Elford mentions how the circuit "has really been made much safer by the organizers" with the additions of barriers and that on the Mulsanne straight the year before one would "wonder what tree you would hit" if a tire blew... Well, I looked and I looked and I finally saw the "safety improvements" over the '68 clip: one single hay bale propped up against each tree on the left of Mulsanne. People actually thought that this solution ought to work just fine of a tube frame car with no roll cage traveling at 240 mph?!? And you got to love those sand traps shaped like launch pads too.

If you are in a nostalgic pre-Steve McQueen mood, I've included some youTube clips from the documentary "La Ronde Infernale" produced in 1969 by Castrol. Check out those quaint movable flippers on the Porsche 917's!
In part 2 you will see Jacky Ickx start dead last, he did this to protest the insanity of the "Le Mans start" where most drivers did not put on their harnesses before driving off. Sure enough on the first lap, privateer John Woolfe was killed in a 917, he was not strapped in. Ickx went on to win the race for Ford.



Le Mans 1968 from Axis on Vimeo.


Le Mans 1969 from Axis on Vimeo.