Macklin, Lance

[TimD]

I heard this morning that Lance Macklin died over the weekend, at the age of 82. I'm dreadfully sorry to hear this, he was a gentle soul, and cruelly served by the hand dealt to him.

His name may not be terribly familiar to some, but in the early fifties, he was one of Britain's bright motor racing talents. Until June 1955, when he became inadvertently involved in the Le Mans disaster, the worst tragedy ever to befall the sport of motor racing.

While now is not the moment to trawl through the various blames that were bandied around as to the cause of the crash, it is clear to most that Lance was the least culpable of all involved. By a sad quirk of fate, his car with its sloping tail was in just the position that made him into a ramp for a crashing Mercedes. And the rest is sorry history.

By another sad quirk of fate, he was witness to another ghastly accident a bare three months later, and it was at that time that he turned his back on motor racing forever.

Every time I heard him speak, I heard a mournful, melancholy man. A man haunted by the sights he had witnessed, and with the insidious knowledge that he was in some part involved. Sometimes he was bitter, cynical, in his dark moments suggesting that the horror was what the crowd had hoped to see.

And now he's gone. And I hope that now, after all this time, Lance Macklin can find peace.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...403105,00.html (This seems to have disappeared now!-JT)

[SL]

I saw that as well Tim. A very sad fate for a person to be faced with. I gather that he raced for fun, not money. He did achieve quite a few results but will always be remembered for that fateful day in 1955 when a seeming racing incident turned into disaster.

Simon

[djb]

thanks Tim for putting up the link to that story, was good to get some more information about his life other than Lemans and him being unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[paulzinho]

Sad to here that, I never realised he turned his back on motorsport soon after Le mans.

Thanks for putting that up Tim.

[johngee]

In the book 'Death Race Le Mans 1955" by Mark Kahn, there's a very detailed biography of Lance. I seem to remember there was 'family money' from his father, who was into weapons manufacturing - some sort of machine gun and motor torpedo boats seems to ring a bell. Incidentally, apart from the title, that book is well worth a read and comes at the '55 Le Mans tragedy from an interesting angle.

[rbs]

The Motor Torpedo Boat company was called Fairmile Marine and was owned by Noel Macklin, Lance's father. Noel Macklin also set up both Railton and Invicta cars.

[Eric.D]

Lance Macklin was a boyhood hero of mine and I recall how thrilled I was to see him win the 1952 International Trophy race, the first meeting that I attended. I spoke to Lance in the Silverstone paddock after the 1955 Trophy meeting where, despite preparing to leave the circuit in his Austin-Healey he still spared the time to chat with us bleary eyed, sunburned youngsters who had cycled up from London the night before. In contrast to us, Lance was immmaculate in his light blue racing overalls, brown suede jacket and tinted glasses. When I suggested that Vanwall would be looking for a driver for Monaco after Ken Wharton's fiery crash Lance laughed and said that Mr Vandervell didnt approve of racing drivers being married. Later that year I saw him drive the Stirling Moss 250F in the British Grand prix at Aintree and the works HWM-Jaguar in the Goodwood 9 hours in which he finished 4th with the ill fated young Billl Smith. I believe Lance's last race was the 1956 Sebring 12 hours in which he shared an Austin-Healey with Archie Scott-Brown. I remember Lance Macklin as being a fine driver and a nice man.

[Marty Harris]

I knew the Macklin family well when they spent a year in my neighbourhood more than 40 years ago. Even to an 11-year-old boy, it was abundantly clear that Lance was a debonair, playful, charming and gracious man. His children seemed to adore him.

As for his children ... his son Paddy, who as a child seemed destined for an entertaining life, certainly seems to have done so ....

This article is from the Daily Telegraph:



British round-the-world sailor Paddy Macklin heard he was 'missing' while listening to Radio



A British sailor feared lost in a fierce Atlantic storm just days into a round-the-world bid called home after hearing on the radio he was missing.


Published: 11:01AM GMT 02 Jan 2010



Paddy Macklin set sail in his 27ft yacht from his home town of Falmouth, Cornwall, on December 17, determined to sail the globe without high-tech gadgets or corporate support.

His family revealed they had given him “an almighty telling off” for failing to stay in touch while British coastguards said he could have avoided the search operation being launched if he had he bought location-finding equipment for £250.

The 52-year-old, who said he wanted to “recapture the spirit of true amateurism in sailing”, ran into stormy seas in the Bay of Biscay. His family alerted coastguards when he failed to contact them on his satellite phone, his only concession to modern equipment, as planned.
French and Spanish coastguards tried but failed to contact him. A Spanish aircraft took off to investigate the last-known position of Mr Macklin’s yacht - the Tessa - but found nothing.
However his sister Miranda Kelly said he had finally made contact on Friday. “He heard himself on Radio 4 or the World Service,” she said. “The reason he hadn’t phoned was because the weather has been so awful.
“He’s now sailing for the first time in five days but he’s been thrown around like a rock in a washing machine.”
Her brother had been completely unaware of the search for him and had been “very apologetic that he had caused so much anguish”.
“He didn’t realise that we were all so worried,” she added. “I have given him an almighty telling off and told him never to do this to us again. Obviously we feared the worst but were hoping for the best. We’re all relieved.”
Much of Mr Macklin’s equipment is soaked and he did not risk unwrapping his satellite phone for fear of getting it wet.