Pierre
Levegh

Pierre Levegh, whose real name was Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin, was born in Paris on 22 December 1905. He chose his racing name to honour his uncle Alfred Velghe, an early racing driver who died in 1904. Alongside motor racing, he played ice hockey and tennis.

In the Formula One World Championship he drove for Talbot-Lago in 1950 and 1951. He started six races, retired from three of them and scored no points. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans he raced four times for Talbot. He finished fourth in 1951. In 1952 he held a four-lap lead when his car's engine failed in the final hour. He had refused to let his co-driver take over. He finished eighth in 1953, and in 1954 he was involved in an accident in the seventh hour.

In 1955 Levegh left Talbot and shared a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR with the American John Fitch at Le Mans. In the third hour of the race, an accident sent Levegh's car into the air and against a wall, and debris flew into the crowd of spectators. Levegh died on 11 June 1955, as did about 81 spectators. Mercedes withdrew from the race and halted all of its motor racing activity for 30 years. The disaster did a great deal to change how danger in motor racing was viewed, and it strengthened demands for safer circuits for both spectators and drivers.

Source: Wikipedia, “Pierre Levegh”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.