Legends

I came across a series of historic Le Mans photographs attached to a fence behind the paddock area including this one of the late Graham Hill (on the left) and Jackie Stewart. Graham Hill has the distinction of being the only driver to complete the "triple crown" of winning the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Some definitions of the triple crown substitute the Monaco Grand Prix for the Formula 1 World Championship - Graham Hill won at Monaco 6 times. He died in November 1975 at the age of 45 when a private aeroplane he was piloting crashed in Kent. He had retired from racing by then and had set up his own team which included the highly promising young British driver, Tony Brise. Sadly, Tony died in the same plane crash. Jackie Stewart is in his 80s now and, until Lewis Hamilton came along, was the only British driver to have won 3 Formula 1 World Championships. He also became a key advocate for improving safety in motor racing, appalled by the number of fellow drivets killed whilst competing. Spectator safety had also become vastly improved following a tragic incident at Le Mans in 1955. The extra photo shows the pit straight at around 1pm on Sunday after 21 hours of racing. The pits with their garage doors shut show that the cars they supported have retired from the race usually due to damage caused by hitting another car or bartier, or by mechanical failure. I always find the closed doors quite a poignant sight. Apparently 320,000 spectators attended this year's centenary event - it felt like even more.
Heading home tomorrow.