<< Prev Page 3 of 3 The next round of the championship was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race will be forever associated with the 300 SLR as it was Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh that crashed heavily on the main straight. He could not avoid an Austin Healey that swerved to the left to avoid a car entering the pits. The debris from the SLR flew into the grandstands, killing 80 spectators and Levegh. The magnesium body burned for several hours. When news of the magnitude of the disaster reached the Mercedes team, the cars were immediately withdrawn. At the time, the Moss/Fangio entry led by over a lap.
During the final two rounds of the Championship in the fall of 1955, Mercedes-Benz returned to their running ways. At the Tourist Trophy in Dundrod Stirling Moss and John Fitch won handsomely ahead of two other SLRs. Moss won again at the Targa Florio, this time partnered by Peter Collins. They beat Kling and Fangio by four minutes and the third placed Ferrari was a further six minutes behind. Despite missing the first two races and withdrawing from the 24 Hours Le Mans, Mercedes-Benz was crowned World Champion at the end of the year. Fangio again reigned supreme in Formula 1.
The tragedy at Le Mans did cast a grave shadow over Mercedes-Benz successes and eventually led to the company's complete withdrawal from motorsport at the end of 1955. If they hadn't there is little doubt that the total domination would have continued for quite some time as both the W196 and 300 SLR were well ahead of their time. Desmodromic valves have never taken off in production cars while the direct Fuel Injection pioneered in these ground breaking racing engines is now finally being incorporated in road cars. The company's moratorium on international racing lasted for over three decades.
Both Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss have become icons of Mercedes-Benz racing history as has Moss' winning 300 SLR with start number '722.' The two drivers have often demonstrated these amazing cars around the world. In 2003 the SLR name was revived in the form of the front-engined Grand Touring road car that was built by McLaren. Special editions celebrating Moss' victory included the various '722' labelled models and more recently the limited 'Stirling Moss' version with cut down windscreens. << Prev Page 3 of 3
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The next round of the championship was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race will be forever associated with the 300 SLR as it was Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh that crashed heavily on the main straight. He could not avoid an Austin Healey that swerved to the left to avoid a car entering the pits. The debris from the SLR flew into the grandstands, killing 80 spectators and Levegh. The magnesium body burned for several hours. When news of the magnitude of the disaster reached the Mercedes team, the cars were immediately withdrawn. At the time, the Moss/Fangio entry led by over a lap.