Note:
The drivers Peter Lindner of Germany and Franco Patria of Italy were killed in a horrible accident during the windy and rainy 1000 Km de Paris, held at Linas-Montlhéry on Sunday, 11 October 1964. The crash also took the lives of three marshals.

Abarth Squadra Corse had entered its two original Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero cars in the Prototype class of the event, instead of the GT class, officially calling them simply as Abarth 1300, because the collaboration with Simca was going to an end. The cars were modified with more large tyres and Franco Patria-Luigi Taramazzo drove the #51 car and Herbert Demetz-Anton Fischhaber the #52. By the end of the 83rd lap of the race, Taramazzo who was leading the class, pitted for refueling and new tires.

He was replaced by Patria who was ready to restart, when three flag marshals stopped his car at the end of the pitlane, marked out by straw bales. The 3.8 Jaguar E-type Lightweight of Peter Lindner-Peter Nöcker, driven by the first, was coming at speed from the fast righthander exit of the banking. The track was soaking wet with overall deep puddles and a number of accidents caused by aquaplaning had already happened, including the huge capsizing of Pierre Gelé’s Lotus Elan. Lindner was battling for the 8th position against the sister car of Dick Protheroe, who closely followed him. He suddenly lost control of the Jaguar that skidded on the right side, plunged over the straw bales and crashed on the left side of the roof of the stationary Abarth 1300. Possibly he tried a braking manoeuvre having seen the other car coming from the pitlane. Patria had no chance, both the drivers were killed instantly, together with three marshals.

After the accident the 1000 Km de Paris was not stopped and none of the other Jaguars or the Abarths were retired. Graham Hill-Jo Bonnier in a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330P eventually won the race.

The deceased marshals were Jean Pairard former sportscar manufacturer and a racer himself, Roger Millot and René Dumoulin.

According to the French magazine Sport-Auto, issue #122 of March 1972, several years later the official conclusion of the trial intended by families of the deceased marshals, stated that broken engine bearings on Lindner's Jaguar caused the accident.


Peter Lindner’s Biography
by Nanni Dietrich

A resident of Wiesbaden, Germany, Peter Lindner was an affluent man and ran a successful business as Jaguar and Aston Martin importer and dealer. He was not afraid of racing his precious cars, and as a skilled driver he obtained a series of remarkable results, particularly in company of his friend Peter Nöcker from Düsseldorf. In 1963 Lindner-Nöcker won the Großer Preis der Tourenwagen at the Nürburgring in a 3.8-litre Jaguar MkII and the ADAC 12 Stunden Rennen at the same track in the Jaguar E-type Lightweight. By the end of the season, Peter Nöcker at the wheel of Lindner’s Jaguar, won the title in the first edition of the European Touring Car Championship.

One of Lindner’s cars was an Aston Martin DB4GT, chassis #0166/L, of which he took delivery on the Christmas eve of 1960. Lindner scored several podium finishes at both the Hockenheim and Nürburgring circuits in 1961 and 1962 before an engine connecting rod broke and the car was set aside, but it remained with the Lindner family until 1988, when it was finally sold. Lindner also owned a Lotus Elite S2, chassis #EB1601, purchased by the Chestnut factory in Hertfordshire on 28 March 1961, but it is unknown whether he ever raced this car. It was reported that Peter Lindner acquired the engine of the Jaguar VDU881 owned by Mike Hawthorn, the car in which the 1958 World Champion was killed in a road accident on 22 January 1959.

Unquestionably, though, the car most famously linked to Peter Lindner was a silver Jaguar, arguably one of the most beautiful racing machines ever built, as in early 1963 he bought the fifth of the twelve special E-Type Lightweights built by the factory in the Winter of 1962-1963. These cars were very different from the road going E-Type model that had been launched in the Genève Motor Show in March of 1961, having an aluminum body shell and engine block, and were distinct from each other as well. Lindner’s car was a sweeping low-drag coupe, chassis number #S850662 and reg. plate number 4868WK. He partnered it with Nöcker in the 1963 1000 Km of the Nürburgring, and the car would surprise the whole field by gloriously leading the opening lap, but soon the Ferraris flew by and it retired after only eight laps with oil pressure problem; success would come soon, though, as it won at the AVUS (Automobil-Verkehrs-und-Übungs-Straße) track in Berlin, Germany.

The main assault of Peter Lindner Racing in 1964 would be the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the car was especially prepared for the occasion. Aiming to increase top speed in the long straights of the Sarthe circuit, the machine received a low-drag roof specially designed by Jaguar lead aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and, with two eyes on the reliability required to succeed in such a long event, the aluminum engine block gave way for a steel replacement. Once again Lindner shared the car with Peter Nöcker, setting the sixth time overall during April preliminary tests (Essais Préliminaires). If the first modification helped the car to turn very fast laps during the race, the second was not able to help it to cross the finish line; in fact, it was due to a very engine seizure caused by a head gasket failure that the Jaguar retired in the sixteenth hour of the event.

In October of the same year Lindner went back to France for the 1000 Km de Paris at Linas-Montlhéry, and once again the car showed much promise. Sadly, tragedy would struck during the wet race when Lindner’s Jaguar crashed against the Abarth-Simca of Franco Patria, claiming the lives of both drivers and three marshals. Peter Lindner was 34 years old.

The French police impounded the remains of Lindner’s and Patria’s cars for years, and later these changed hands several times until Guy Black, owner of the British restoration and replica construction company Lynx, acquired what was left of Lindner’s silver Jaguar. The vehicle was carefully reconstructed around a new monocoque, and today is in exhibition at the Bianco Rosso Museum in Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Note:

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Note:
The son of a ceramic industrialist, Tommy Spychiger was a 30-year-old single man from Lugano, Switzerland. The Spychiger family owned the Galleria restaurant and bar, located in Lugano downtown; it was the meeting point for several Swiss motorsport enthusiasts and racing drivers such as Silvio Moser, Guglielmo Bellasi, Clay Regazzoni and others.

Although he was physically handicapped in his right hand, Tommy Spychiger beacame one of the rising stars on the Switzerland racing scene. He began his career in the late 1950s driving a Osca S1100 in local hillclimbs and circuit races. In 1959 and 1960 he moved to Formula Junior racing, in a Cooper T52-DKW and then an Osca-Fiat, entered by the Italian team Scuderia Sant'Ambroeus of Milan. In 1960 he made his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing a works Fiat-Abarth 850S Bialbero with Jacques Féret, and later he purchased a Porsche RS60 Spyder, formerly owned by South African Ian Fraser Jones. Driving that car, Spychiger won the Coppa dei Due Mari, a 340-kilometer (211-mile) road race held near Catanzaro, in southern Italy.

On 11 September 1960 Tommy Spychiger sustained a huge crash while competing in the Gaisberg hillclimb in Austria, suffering a broken ankle. Being the first driver to reach the place where German driver Walter Häderle had fatally crashed a few minutes earlier, he lost control of his Porsche passing on an unsignaled oil patch and crashed into a rock, being thrown out of the car. He eventually recovered and in 1961 he scored an outright win at La Fauchille hillclimb in France, finishing third in the European Hillclimb Championship, behind Heini Walter and Sepp Greger, also driving Porsches.

From 1962 to 1964 Spychiger was signed up by team Abarth Corse to drive a works Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero in the World Sportscar Championship. In the 1962 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he shared the car with Henri Oreiller and the duo retired after five hours due to ignition problem. Then he finished 13th in the Trophée d'Auvergne at Clermond-Ferrand, and 19th in the 1000 Km de Paris at Linas-Montlhéry, paired with the young Italian Lorenzo Bandini. Driving a Fiat-Abarth 700 Bialbero he also took a second place overall behind his team mate Eberhard Mahle, in the 500 Km of Nürburgring. In 1963 Spychiger shared the Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero with Belgian Teddy Pilette in the 12 Hours of Sebring, then he won the 3 Hours Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza. In European hillclimbs he scored a fifth place in the Coppa della Consuma near Pistoia, Italy, and a seventh place in the Freiburg-Schauinsland in Germany. Driving a small barchetta Abarth 1000 S sportscar, he earned an outright win in the 1963 Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb.

Tommy Spychiger had a one-off drive for Porsche in 1962, sharing a works Porsche 718 RSK with the Italian veteran Umberto Maglioli in the Targa Florio. In 1964, driving again the works Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero, Spychiger finished third in the Coppa GT at Monza, behind his team mates Franco Patria and Hans Herrmann, and also finished 22nd in the 1000 Km of Nürburgring, with fellow countryman Herbert Müller as co-driver.

Tommy Spychiger suffered his fatal accident when the Ferrari 365P2 entered by Écurie Filipinetti that he shared with his friend Müller left the track on at the Parabolica turn and violently crashed and caught fire. It happened on the 34th lap of the 1000 km of Monza, fifth round of the 1965 International Championship for Makes. Spychiger was hit by the plexiglass winshield which caused him horrific head injuries. He died instantly.

Herbert Müller made a good start and was very fast in the #66 4.4-litre Ferrari, running in second place overall, when he entered the pits for refueling and new tyres. Tommy Spychiger replaced him at the wheel of the car and a few seconds later restarted, but in his first lap he fatally crashed. With no apparent braking manoeuvre on the approach to the Parabolica, the car went straight and rolled over the earth embankment next to the track and into the trees, exploding in flames on impact. It is believed the accident was caused by brake failure.

After the tragedy, as a sign of mourning the Écurie Filipinetti withdrew all the other two cars entered in the race, the Ferrari 250GTO of Armand Boller-Dieter Spoerry and the Porsche 904 GTS driven by Jacques Calderari-Robert Calderari.

The Ferrari 365P2 in which Spychiger lost his life at Monza was the biggest sportscar he had even driven. Georges Filipinetti took the burned out remains of the car to Granson in Switzerland, and it eventually was sold to French collector Pierre Bardinon. Later the car was rebuilt by David Piper.

This was the first edition of the 1000 Km of Monza sportscar race, held on the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) full circuit - road course plus the concrete bankings ("Anello Sopraelevato"). From 1966 onwards the race was also titled "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo" in memory of the late President of the Automobile Club of Italy. The new event was scheduled to be contested every 25 April, an Italian national holiday. The choice of the date was strategic, harmful clashes were avoided, the holiday being only an Italian one, and the occasion provided the teams with an opportunity for tests before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, where the cars would have achieved averages comparable to the ones at Monza. In order to take a larger number of starters, the organizers decided to use the full circuit and, to reduce the risk of things breaking on the modern lightweight cars, some artificial chicanes, made by hay bales were arranged before the entrance to the southern banking, otherwise the big Ferraris and Fords would have been hitting the rough concrete at about 280 km/h (175 mi/h). Even so mechanical breakages were not eliminated and suspensions, steerings, wheels and tyres all suffered in various ways.

Only 18 teams over 34 starters reached the finish line. Jean Guichet-Mike Parkes were the winners in a Ferrari 275P2, from Lodovico Scarfiotti-John Surtees in a Ferrari 330P2, second and Bruce McLaren-Ken Miles in a Ford GT40, third.

In 1965, a few weeks before his death, Tommy Spychiger acted as instructor for a youngster named Clay Regazzoni who tried for the first time to get a Swiss competition license, attending a racing course at the Linas-Montlhéry circuit.

Note:
The drivers Peter Lindner of Germany and Franco Patria of Italy were killed in a horrible accident during the windy and rainy 1000 Km de Paris, held at Linas-Montlhéry on Sunday, 11 October 1964. The crash also took the lives of three marshals.

Abarth Squadra Corse had entered its two original Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero cars in the Prototype class of the event, instead of the GT class, officially calling them simply as Abarth 1300, because the collaboration with Simca was going to an end. The cars were modified with more large tyres and Franco Patria-Luigi Taramazzo drove the #51 car and Herbert Demetz-Anton Fischhaber the #52. By the end of the 83rd lap of the race, Taramazzo who was leading the class, pitted for refueling and new tires.

He was replaced by Patria who was ready to restart, when three flag marshals stopped his car at the end of the pitlane, marked out by straw bales. The 3.8 Jaguar E-type Lightweight of Peter Lindner-Peter Nöcker, driven by the first, was coming at speed from the fast righthander exit of the banking. The track was soaking wet with overall deep puddles and a number of accidents caused by aquaplaning had already happened, including the huge capsizing of Pierre Gelé’s Lotus Elan. Lindner was battling for the eighth position against the sister car of Dick Protheroe, who closely followed him. He suddenly lost control of the Jaguar that skidded on the right side, plunged over the straw bales and crashed on the left side of the roof of the stationary Abarth 1300. Possibly he tried a braking manoeuvre having seen the other car coming from the pitlane. Patria had no chance, both the drivers were killed instantly, together with three marshals.

After the accident the 1000 Km de Paris was not stopped and none of the other Jaguars or the Abarths were retired. Graham Hill-Jo Bonnier in a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330P eventually won the race.

One of the deceased marshals, Jean Pairard had been one of the former partners that owned small French sportscar manufacturer V.P. and a racer himself. In 1953 he campaigned a V.P. 166R-Renault, finishing 26th overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 19th in the 12 Hours of Reims with his associate Just-Emile Vernet as team mate.

The names of the other two marshals were Roger Millot and René Dumoulin.

According to the French magazine Sport-Auto, issue #122 of March 1972, several years later the official conclusion of the trial intended by families of the deceased marshals, stated that broken engine bearings on Lindner's Jaguar caused the accident.

Note:
The drivers Peter Lindner of Germany and Franco Patria of Italy were killed in a horrible accident during the windy and rainy 1000 Km de Paris, held at Linas-Montlhéry on Sunday, 11 October 1964. The crash also took the lives of three marshals.

Abarth Squadra Corse had entered its two original Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero cars in the Prototype class of the event, instead of the GT class, officially calling them simply as Abarth 1300, because the collaboration with Simca was going to an end. The cars were modified with more large tyres and Franco Patria-Luigi Taramazzo drove the #51 car and Herbert Demetz-Anton Fischhaber the #52. By the end of the 83rd lap of the race, Taramazzo who was leading the class, pitted for refueling and new tires.

He was replaced by Patria who was ready to restart, when three flag marshals stopped his car at the end of the pitlane, marked out by straw bales. The 3.8 Jaguar E-type Lightweight of Peter Lindner-Peter Nöcker, driven by the first, was coming at speed from the fast righthander exit of the banking. The track was soaking wet with overall deep puddles and a number of accidents caused by aquaplaning had already happened, including the huge capsizing of Pierre Gelé’s Lotus Elan. Lindner was battling for the eighth position against the sister car of Dick Protheroe, who closely followed him. He suddenly lost control of the Jaguar that skidded on the right side, plunged over the straw bales and crashed on the left side of the roof of the stationary Abarth 1300. Possibly he tried a braking manoeuvre having seen the other car coming from the pitlane. Patria had no chance, both the drivers were killed instantly, together with three marshals.

After the accident the 1000 Km de Paris was not stopped and none of the other Jaguars or the Abarths were retired. Graham Hill-Jo Bonnier in a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330P eventually won the race.

One of the deceased marshals, Jean Pairard had been one of the former partners that owned small French sportscar manufacturer V.P. and a racer himself. In 1953 he campaigned a V.P. 166R-Renault, finishing 26th overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 19th in the 12 Hours of Reims with his associate Just-Emile Vernet as team mate.

The names of the other two marshals were Roger Millot and René Dumoulin.

According to the French magazine Sport-Auto, issue #122 of March 1972, several years later the official conclusion of the trial intended by families of the deceased marshals, stated that broken engine bearings on Lindner's Jaguar caused the accident.

Note:
The drivers Peter Lindner of Germany and Franco Patria of Italy were killed in a horrible accident during the windy and rainy 1000 Km de Paris, held at Linas-Montlhéry on Sunday, 11 October 1964. The crash also took the lives of three marshals.

Abarth Squadra Corse had entered its two original Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero cars in the Prototype class of the event, instead of the GT class, officially calling them simply as Abarth 1300, because the collaboration with Simca was going to an end. The cars were modified with more large tyres and Franco Patria-Luigi Taramazzo drove the #51 car and Herbert Demetz-Anton Fischhaber the #52. By the end of the 83rd lap of the race, Taramazzo who was leading the class, pitted for refueling and new tires.

He was replaced by Patria who was ready to restart, when three flag marshals stopped his car at the end of the pitlane, marked out by straw bales. The 3.8 Jaguar E-type Lightweight of Peter Lindner-Peter Nöcker, driven by the first, was coming at speed from the fast righthander exit of the banking. The track was soaking wet with overall deep puddles and a number of accidents caused by aquaplaning had already happened, including the huge capsizing of Pierre Gelé’s Lotus Elan. Lindner was battling for the eighth position against the sister car of Dick Protheroe, who closely followed him. He suddenly lost control of the Jaguar that skidded on the right side, plunged over the straw bales and crashed on the left side of the roof of the stationary Abarth 1300. Possibly he tried a braking manoeuvre having seen the other car coming from the pitlane. Patria had no chance, both the drivers were killed instantly, together with three marshals.

After the accident the 1000 Km de Paris was not stopped and none of the other Jaguars or the Abarths were retired. Graham Hill-Jo Bonnier in a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330P eventually won the race.

One of the deceased marshals, Jean Pairard had been one of the former partners that owned small French sportscar manufacturer V.P. and a racer himself. In 1953 he campaigned a V.P. 166R-Renault, finishing 26th overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 19th in the 12 Hours of Reims with his associate Just-Emile Vernet as team mate.

The names of the other two marshals were Roger Millot and René Dumoulin.

According to the French magazine Sport-Auto, issue #122 of March 1972, several years later the official conclusion of the trial intended by families of the deceased marshals, stated that broken engine bearings on Lindner's Jaguar caused the accident.

Note:

Note:
At 23 years of age, Bruno Deserti was regarded as one of the most promising Italian race car drivers of his generation, along with the likes of Lorenzo Bandini, Franco Patria, Giancarlo Baghetti and "Geki" Russo.

Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1942, Bruno Deserti started his racing career at the age of 19, taking part in regional rallies. At the beginning of the 1960s, he switched to circuit racing and began competing in GT and touring-car races as well as in hillclimbs, in Italy and abroad. Still an active rallyman, in 1963 he took a class win, 11th place overall, in the Rallye dei Fiori at Sanremo, sharing a Fiat-Abarth 850TC with Marco Magri, who in the following decades became a renowned motorsport journalist.

That same year, Deserti finished third in a national sportscar race at Cesenatico, driving a Fiat-Abarth 1000 and in 1964 he made his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Paired with Roberto Bussinello he finished 13th overall in an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1 entered by the Scuderia Sant'Ambroeus of Milan. Later in the season, he shared that same car with Sergio Pedretti, who raced under pseudonym "Kim", in the Tour de France Automobile. Deserti also drove a Porsche 904 GTS with Andrea Vianini, in the gruelling Targa Florio and a factory Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato in the 24 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps, with René Trautmann - retired due to accidents in both occasions.

In addition to his sportscar racing commitments, Bruno Deserti contested selected Formula 3 races, taking an outright win in the Coppa FIA, the final round of the Italian Formula 3 Championship held at Monza in December 1964, driving a Wainer-Ford. In 1965 he joined team Autodelta-Alfa Romeo, making his debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Partnered with Teodoro Zeccoli in a works Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1, he finished third in class, 27th place overall. Another third in class, 15th place overall, followed in the subsequent 1000 Km of Monza, this time with Rinaldo Parmeggiani as team mate.

In May 1965, Bruno Deserti was invited by Eugenio Dragoni, team manager of the Scuderia Ferrari and former director of the Scuderia Sant'Ambroeus, to take part in a long-run test, aimed to prepare the red cars for the upcoming 24 Heures du Mans. The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza hosted a 24-hour Ferrari testing session on Tuesday, 25 May 1965 and Deserti joined a group of drivers who came to Monza to have stints at the wheel of a Ferrari 275P2 and a 330P3 equipped with a 4000 cm³ 12-cylinder engine. In addition to his friends Baghetti and Bandini, present were the other factory drivers John Surtees, Lodovico Scarfiotti and Nino Vaccarella, plus three youngsters, Andrea de Adamich, Giampiero Biscaldi and Deserti himself. The fastest of the three would be chosen by Dragoni and signed up as a works driver for Le Mans.

Less than three weeks earlier, Deserti made his debut as a Scuderia Ferrari works driver, sharing with Biscaldi a works 3.3-litre Ferrari 275 GTB/Competizione in the Targa Florio. The pair did not finish the race and this became Bruno Deserti's final start.

First to make his stint was Biscaldi, then de Adamich. Deserti followed them at the wheel of the Ferrari 330P3, beginning his drive at 18h55, when over a thousand kilometers of testing have already been completed. He did not feel well with the seat of the car, but Dragoni gave him a small pillow and told him to go on. While Deserti doing his eighth lap, Bandini who was sitting in the pits watching his mate go past, saw the Ferrari leaving the track just before the Curva Grande at the end of the main straightaway, followed by a cloud of smoke coming up from the nearby woods. He suddenly started running from the pits along with chief mechanic Giulio Borsari, taking an extinguisher in his hands. They arrived to the place of accident but could do nothing to save Bruno Deserti's life.

The accident happened some three hundred meters before the corner, in a point where the drivers used to slow down and bring the car down one gear preparing for the right hand turn. It is believed that Deserti touched the grass on the roadside with the right wheels, and lost control of the Ferrari, which left the track at high speed to the left, towards the woods. The car hit a tree and caught fire. Even though the flames were quickly extinguished, poor Deserti was already dead, killed by the huge impact.

Enzo Ferrari who unespectedly was present at the test, standing in the pits along with his faithful assistant Franco Gozzi and the journalist Marcello Sabbatini, left immediately the track deeply shocked. Once again a young Italian driver had been killed driving one of his cars, on the road to glory - too early, too soon. Sadly, Deserti would not be the last of them.

Note:

Leo Cella
1937 - 1968

Leo Cella in the 1968 Rallye de Monte-Carlo. With his co-driver Alcide Paganelli, he finished eighth.
Picture courtesy of Archivio Emanuele Sanfront. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved.

Leo Cella's racing exploits were celebrated by Lancia in advertisement pieces.
This one, published on a 1963 issue of the magazine Auto Italiana commemorates Cella's victory
at the wheel of a Lancia Flavia Coupé in the 1600 cm³ class for touring cars at the 1963 Timmelsjoch hillclimb in Austria.
Copyright and trademark owned by Lancia Automobili S.p.A.

Note:
The first post-war running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held on 25/26 June 1949, was marred by a number of accidents, one of whom had fatal results. The victim was one of the contestants, Britain's Pierre Maréchal.

Luigi Chinetti at the wheel of the #22 Ferrari 166MM took the lead of the race almost four hours after the start, when Eugene Chaboud, winner of the 1938 edition of the 24-hour race, had problems with his Delahaye 175S. During the night, Chinetti opened an advantage of four laps over the 3.0-liter Delage of Henri Louveau-Juan Jover, driving practically single-handed. His team mate Lord Selsdon drove just a few laps during the race.

Disguised as a private entry, being officially entered by Mrs. R. P. Hichens, the #28 Aston Martin DB2 - 1,971 cm³, four-in-line engine - driven by Pierre Maréchal, with "Taso" Mathieson, as co-driver, was one of the three Aston Martin works cars in the race. Maréchal was making his debut in the 24-hour classic.

About 13h00 o'clock on Sunday, 26 June 1949, Maréchal was running in a remarkable seventh place overall, fourth in the Index of Performance, with little more than one and a half hours to go for the chequered flag.

Despite his car had a brake line fractured, causing a brake fluid leak, he received orders from Aston Martin team manager to stay on track in spite of the damage. He kept on pushing, until the brakes failed altogether on the run from Arnage to Maison Blanche. Trying to pass Harold John Aldington's #26 Frazer Nash, Pierre Maréchal lost control of his Aston Martin that hit the embankment and overturned. The car's engine was thrown several meters from the wreck and its roof was flattened by the impact. Maréchal was found still trapped inside by rescuers, including competitor Louis Gérard who stopped his #14 Delage and came to help.

Seriously injured, Pierre Maréchal was taken to the Delagénière clinic in Le Mans where he succumbed to his spinal injuries the following Monday afternoon, 27 June 1949. Maréchal became the first driver to lose his life in a works Aston Martin.

Born in Paris, France, Jean-Pierre Maréchal, mostly known as Pierre Maréchal, had British nationality. His father, a wealthy French entrepreneur and film producer by the same name, had been a Titanic survivor.

A garage proprietor of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England, Pierre Maréchal was 33 years old. He was survived by his wife, Brigid who was at the track watching the race, and their four-year-old son, Christian. He is buried at Bailly, near Versailles, France, his family's country of origin.

While his wife Brigid stood by her dying husband at the hospital, during the night the Aston Martin team packed up all the material and started their journey back to England. After Pierre Maréchal's death, Brigid found herself alone, stranded in a foreign country. It was Pierre's close friend Lance Macklin, the young and wealthy British driver, who heard the tragic news on the radio and immediately flew to Le Mans on his private airplane. Macklin, who Brigid did not know, provided the widow all possible support in those most difficult moments and repatriated her back to England.

Years later, Brigid would marry Leslie Johnson, one of Pierre Maréchal's team mates at the Aston Martin team in the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Note:
Britain's amateur driver Charles Blyth, 32, competed with considerable skill in touring car and sportscar races in UK and in Europe, since the mid-1960s. In 1966 he finished 10th in the 500 Mile of Brands Hatch, sharing a Morgan Plus 4 with James Tucker. In 1973 he filed an entry for the 57th edition of the Targa Florio, with his Lancia Fulvia HF 1600. His mechanic and friend Robert Cuthbertson from Northampton, UK, was scheduled to be his co-driver.

The pair arrived to Sicily driving all the way from home the race car. On Wednesday, 09 May 1973, during the technical inspection prior to the start of free practice session along the Madonie Piccolo Circuit, Blyth's car which sported the race number 152 on its doors, was not authorized to run because of not regular tank. Going out of the circuit, Charles Blyth passed along the Buonfornello straight which was still opened to regular traffic. Suddenly he lost control of his Lancia that fell down a ditch after crashing into a Fiat 1100 pulling a trailer. Its owner was Antonio Guagliardo, a competitor already entered in the Targa Florio who was travelling towards the pits at Cerda for checking, taking his racing car, a Porsche 911S, on the trailer.

Five people were seriously injured in the crash. Both Charles Blyth and his team mate Robert Cuthbertson who was from his side in the Lancia, were taken in very critical condition to Termini Imerese hospital. The three occupants of the Fiat 1100 that was crushed between the Lancia and the trailer, Antonio Guagliardo, 32, from Palermo, his 7-year-old son Domenico and mechanic Vincenzo Sollazzo, 26, who was at the wheel of the car, sustained minor injuries. One of the rescuers that managed to extract the injured men from the wreckage was Arturo Merzario, who parked his Ferrari as soon as he arrived to the place of accident.

In the following hours, being his state of health still worrying, Charles Blyth was transferred to the Ospedale Neurochirurgico in Palermo, where he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, 10 May 1973. Robert Cuthbertson eventually survived the accident.

Charles Blyth's fellow citizen Vic Elford took the costs of transport, when his remains were repatriated to England.

The 1973 edition of the Targa Florio was marred by another fatality that occurred on race day Sunday, 13 May 1973, when driver "Duccio" crashed his Alpine-Renault A110 into a group of spectators, killing one of them, Giuseppe Bono. In separate accidents that happened during the event on the Piccolo Madonie circuit, seven other people, the drivers Francesco Jemma and Giuseppe Spatafora, and five spectators sustained injuries.

Note:
O'Dell collapsed at the end of the dragstrip just as he climbed out of his car after after a qualifying pass during the World Nationals at Norwalk Raceway Park on 21 August 2003. He was immediately transported to Fisher-Titus Hospital in Norwalk, OH, United States, where he passed away on 23 August 2003.

Jack was the patriarch of the O'Dell racing family from South Sioux City, NE, United States. His son Kevin was competing in the same event as well. In tribute to their fallen friend and competitor, the Pro Modified contingent took part in the event with black stripes applied over their car numbers.

He married Barbara Lyons in 1962. He was survived by his wife and their three sons.

Note:
Taylor Ridge, Illinois, drag racer Dennis Begyn, Sr. was 48 years old on Friday, 24 May 2002, when a severed external oil line of his Pro Street Chevrolet Nova's engine spilled oil on its rear tires, causing the car to spin out of control. The dragster hit violently a guardrail and was sent in a series of rollovers that ended with a fiery crash.

Begyn was traveling 150.3 mi/h (242 km/h), immediately after crossing the finish line during the Friday Night Fun drag racing meeting on the quarter-mile dragstrip of Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Rock Island County, Illinois. According to eyewitnesses report, the car's parachute malfunctioned. Although parachutes were not required for Begyn's class of racing, he had one on his Chevrolet Nova, which simply tore away when released.

Only seconds after the accident, two emergency medical technicians were with the injured driver who was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital. Dennis Begyn's death was almost instantaneous, he was vainly transferred by helicopter to the Illini Hospital in Silvis, Illinois.

A Vietnam War U.S. Army veteran, Dennis Begyn enjoyed the sport since the mid-1970s. He was a member of both the IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) and the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), the two premier American drag-racing circuits. The patriarch of a racing family, he left behind his wife Sandra (née Martin), whom he married in 1972 in Muscatine, Iowa, and his two sons, Jesse and Dennis, Jr., who were also talented dragster racers. Other survivors were his parents, Daniel and Dorothy Begyn; his brothers, Dan, Pat, Mike and Chris; his sisters, Kathy, Carol and Clarissa.

After his death, Jesse and Dennis Begyn, Jr. produced a 8-foot-high, stainless-steel grave marker for their father that caused a controversy when they placed it in the Illinois City Cemetery in Illinois City, Rock Island County, Illinois. But the cemetery board agreed to let it remain.

Dennis Begyn's car was completely destroyed as a result of the crash. Different accounts indicated Dennis Begyn was at the wheel of a Dodge Daytona instead of a Chevrolet Nova. Exactly one year after Dennis Begyn's death, his sons honored his memory driving at the Cordova Dragway Park a car constructed of items salvaged from their late father's vehicle.

Dennis Begyn was the third driver to be killed at the Cordova Dragway Park since its inception, in 1956. Three months after his death, another dragster driver, Joe Esolato lost his life at the track in similar circumstances.

Note:
The 1927 Premio Reale di Roma (Rome Royal Prix), held on the street course known as "Circuito Parioli" in Rome, Italy, was marred by a number of accidents which resulted in the deaths of three people, and almost seven others injured.

While travelling along the Viale Tiziano at the end of the opening lap, about 14h15 on Sunday, 12 June 1927, the Delage of Giorgio Ceratto crashed following a steering problem. The car hit an electric pole which was broken and fell onto a group of persons engaged in the security service. A soldier, Amedeo Nardone, and a Carabiniere, Gino Martelli, suffered serious injuries and were immediately taken to San Giacomo hospital, where the latter who sustained cranial injuries was listed in critical condition. Ceratto and his riding mechanic M. Trione were wounded too.

During the race, Emilio Materassi was leading the over 2000 cm³ class, running in fourth place overall, at the wheel of his yellow "Itala Special" fitted with an aeronautic Hispano Suiza engine, modified by himself. He closely followed the three leading Bugattis of Aymo Maggi, Tazio Nuvolari and Mario Lepori. On 32nd of the 42 laps, Materassi's car went out of control on the Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski) downhill towards the Acqua Acetosa corner. The car began to skid and the driver tried to counter steer, ending into a group of spectators. Two of them were killed at the scene, six other persons were injured, including Materassi and his riding mechanic.

The victims were Carlo Patriarca, another Carabiniere working for the security of the event, and a three-year-old boy, Luigi Mereu, who was spectating the race along with his parents, emigrants from the city of Nuoro, Sardinia.

After the accident the race was not stopped, and Nuvolari eventually was the winner, from Mario Lepori and Renato Balestrero, all driving Bugatti T35C cars. This was the third edition of the race, held over the somewhat triangular 4.2-kilometer (2.61-mile) "Circuito Parioli". With the start/finish line located in front of the Flaminio Stadium, the course passed in counter-clockwise direction through Viale Tiziano, part of Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski), Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa and Ponte Milvio, in the northern area of Rome. It was a shortened version of the Valle Giulia 7.5-kilometer (4.66-mile) street circuit which was first used in the 1926 Premio Reale di Roma, in clockwise direction. The first edition of the race in 1925 was held at the Monte Mario circuit.

Following the accidents that occurred during the 1927 Premio Reale di Roma, the drivers Cerattio and Materassi were subpoenaed together with Romeo Gallenga, president of the Reale Automobile Club d'Italia, the body that had organized the race. The process began only in 1931, due to the delay caused by the death of Materassi in the Monza disaster of 1928. From the papers of the trial we learn that Carabiniere Martelli eventually died as a result of the injuries received in the accident with Ceratto, becoming the third victim of the event. His exact date of death is still uncertain. The outcome of the trial is also not known.

Note:
The 1927 Premio Reale di Roma (Rome Royal Prix), held on the street course known as "Circuito Parioli" in Rome, Italy, was marred by a number of accidents which resulted in the deaths of three people, and almost seven others injured.

While travelling along the Viale Tiziano at the end of the opening lap, about 14h15 on Sunday, 12 June 1927, the Delage of Giorgio Ceratto crashed following a steering problem. The car hit an electric pole which was broken and fell onto a group of persons engaged in the security service. A soldier, Amedeo Nardone, and a Carabiniere, Gino Martelli, suffered serious injuries and were immediately taken to San Giacomo hospital, where the latter who sustained cranial injuries was listed in critical condition. Ceratto and his riding mechanic M. Trione were wounded too.

During the race, Emilio Materassi was leading the over 2000 cm³ class, running in fourth place overall, at the wheel of his yellow "Itala Special" fitted with an aeronautic Hispano Suiza engine, modified by himself. He closely followed the three leading Bugattis of Aymo Maggi, Tazio Nuvolari and Mario Lepori. On 32nd of the 42 laps, Materassi's car went out of control on the Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski) downhill towards the Acqua Acetosa corner. The car began to skid and the driver tried to counter steer, ending into a group of spectators. Two of them were killed at the scene, six other persons were injured, including Materassi and his riding mechanic.

The victims were Carlo Patriarca, another Carabiniere working for the security of the event, and a three-year-old boy, Luigi Mereu, who was spectating the race along with his parents, emigrants from the city of Nuoro, Sardinia. According to another source, the surname of the deceased child would be Merei, but it is unlikely that this is the correct spelling.

After the accident the race was not stopped, and Nuvolari eventually was the winner, from Mario Lepori and Renato Balestrero, all driving Bugatti T35C cars. This was the third edition of the race, held over the somewhat triangular 4.2-kilometer (2.61-mile) "Circuito Parioli". With the start/finish line located in front of the Flaminio Stadium, the course passed in counter-clockwise direction through Viale Tiziano, part of Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski), Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa and Ponte Milvio, in the northern area of Rome. It was a shortened version of the Valle Giulia 7.5-kilometer (4.66-mile) street circuit which was first used in the 1926 Premio Reale di Roma, in clockwise direction. The first edition of the race in 1925 was held at the Monte Mario circuit.

Following the accidents that occurred during the 1927 Premio Reale di Roma, the drivers Cerattio and Materassi were subpoenaed together with Romeo Gallenga, president of the Reale Automobile Club d'Italia, the body that had organized the race. The process began only in 1931, due to the delay caused by the death of Materassi in the Monza disaster of 1928. From the papers of the trial we learn that Carabiniere Martelli eventually died as a result of the injuries received in the accident with Ceratto, becoming the third victim of the event. His exact date of death is still uncertain. The outcome of the trial is also not known.

Note:
The 1927 Premio Reale di Roma (Rome Royal Prix), held on the street course known as "Circuito Parioli" in Rome, Italy, was marred by a number of accidents which resulted in the deaths of three people, and almost seven others injured.

While travelling along the Viale Tiziano at the end of the opening lap, about 14h15 on Sunday, 12 June 1927, the Delage of Giorgio Ceratto crashed following a steering problem. The car hit an electric pole which was broken and fell onto a group of persons engaged in the security service. A soldier, Amedeo Nardone, and a Carabiniere, Gino Martelli, suffered serious injuries and were immediately taken to San Giacomo hospital, where the latter who sustained cranial injuries was listed in critical condition. Ceratto and his riding mechanic M. Trione were wounded too.

During the race, Emilio Materassi was leading the over 2000 cm³ class, running in fourth place overall, at the wheel of his yellow "Itala Special" fitted with an aeronautic Hispano Suiza engine, modified by himself. He closely followed the three leading Bugattis of Aymo Maggi, Tazio Nuvolari and Mario Lepori. On 32nd of the 42 laps, Materassi's car went out of control on the Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski) downhill towards the Acqua Acetosa corner. The car began to skid and the driver tried to counter steer, ending into a group of spectators. Two of them were killed at the scene, six other persons were injured, including Materassi and his riding mechanic.

The victims were Carlo Patriarca, another Carabiniere working for the security of the event, and a three-year-old boy, Luigi Mereu, who was spectating the race along with his parents, emigrants from the city of Nuoro, Sardinia. According to another source, the surname of the deceased child would be Merei, but it is unlikely that this is the correct spelling.

After the accident the race was not stopped, and Nuvolari eventually was the winner, from Mario Lepori and Renato Balestrero, all driving Bugatti T35C cars. This was the third edition of the race, held over the somewhat triangular 4.2-kilometer (2.61-mile) "Circuito Parioli". With the start/finish line located in front of the Flaminio Stadium, the course passed in counter-clockwise direction through Viale Tiziano, part of Viale Parioli (now Via Maresciallo Piłsudski), Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa and Ponte Milvio, in the northern area of Rome. It was a shortened version of the Valle Giulia 7.5-kilometer (4.66-mile) street circuit which was first used in the 1926 Premio Reale di Roma, in clockwise direction. The first edition of the race in 1925 was held at the Monte Mario circuit.

Following the accidents that occurred during the 1927 Premio Reale di Roma, the drivers Ceratto and Materassi were subpoenaed together with Romeo Gallenga, president of the Reale Automobile Club d'Italia, the body that had organized the race. The process began only in 1931, due to the delay caused by the death of Materassi in the Monza disaster of 1928. From the papers of the trial we learn that Carabiniere Martelli eventually died as a result of the injuries received in the accident with Ceratto, becoming the third victim of the event. His exact date of death is still uncertain. The outcome of the trial is also not known.

Gino Martelli was from Massa Marittima, province of Grosseto.