[LM24] Red Flag at Le Mans

[paulzinho]

I've just been watching a video of the 1984 Le Mans 24hrs.

After the huge accident with the Aston Martins in which John Sheldon(?) was badly burned the onboard camera in the Canon Porsche 956 being driven by Richard Lloyd can be heard saying that the race should be stopped and his surprise at the lack of a red flag when he crossed the start finish line.

This led me to wonder if there has ever been a red flag at Le Mans and if so what happenned?

[Aysedasi]

Hmmm. Interesting question Paul. I don't recall hearing or reading of an actual Le Mans race stoppage, as opposed to a pace car situation (in more recent years). There have been some pretty serious accidents at Le Mans over the years, but I'm not sure if the race has ever been stopped?

Anyone know for sure?

[paulzinho]

Well they put the pace car out after a couple of laps, I think they did the same when Jo Gartner was killed in 86. It was just something I was wondering about because I've never read about it happenning but then again theres alot I don't know.

[TimD]

They didn't red-flag the race even after the disaster of 1955. The reasoning then was that the sheer volume of spectators trying to leave would clog the roads for the emergency services.

I wonder if they've stuck to that assumption since, because I certainly can't remember a red flag situation.

[SL]

I am 99% sure that the race has always run the full 24hrs. A lot of this is due to the lenth of the circuit, under a pace car the lap time is a lot slower and therefore longer. Also as Tim has stated the sheer volume of people leaving would cause problems.

After saying that most of the Brits would probably still be there, half of them unaware that the race had indeed finished.

SL

[paulzinho]

The race wouldn't necessarily have to finish though. The clock could still run even though the cars wouldn't. This happenned during one of my Dads karting races where the red flag was thrown but the clock carried on ticking due to it being a timed event.

[Es Nes]

has anyone offered complete races on dvd or? i know id love to see the 91-93 races.

it would be good make dvds/tapes of complete 10/12/24 enudrances races. speically cause sv doesnt want to show the complete 24 hour races.

[SL]

Sorry Paul, I meant the clock ticking and the cars still running. This includes restarts etc. There has been some awful crashes, some at White House that have involves several cars. The '55 event which in normal races would have stopped carried on. If the '55 event happened today it might well have caused a red flag as would the Bentley's and Ferrari's at White House.

Personally I'm rather glad they do not as then you would know something really terrible had happened. A lot of people would be affected all at once. As it is news trickles though slowly and has less of a downer on the crowd. Whilst each death is very sad news. I feel stopping the race except in extreme circumstances should be avoided wherever possible.

The Marshalls and Medics at Le Mans are from the best in the World they do all possible to avoid serious incidents.

I also think that the general pace of the race is slower, drivers are not on the very edge every lap and so can react better.

Let us hope that there never ever will be a cause for a red flag at Le Mans.

SL

[paulzinho]

I'll second that.

It was just something I was thinking of.

BTW what did they actually do in 1955 after the accident?