Word: hawthorne
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...swift, shovel-nosed, 34-liter Ferrari had all the power and acceleration a skillful driver needs, but its conventional drum-and-shoe brakes were not designed for that demanding course. The best of Fangio's competitors had cars that seemed better fitted. Former British Champion Mike Hawthorn was at the wheel of a big (20 cc. more displacement than the Ferrari), D-type Jaguar fitted out with husky disc brakes, a type relatively unaffected by heat. Current British Champ Stirling Moss was driving a light (2.9-liter), cat-quick Aston Martin, also with disc brakes. Both British teams were...
...cars for the Le Mans-type start. First away was Connecticut's John Fitch, in the most powerful car in the race, a 5.1-liter Chevrolet Corvette (four other Corvettes started out but two failed to last). But the blue-and-white American entry was quickly passed by Hawthorn in his grey D-Jag. Behind him was Moss in his Aston Martin. Fangio, the balding ex-bus driver who was the pampered protege of Argentina's deposed Dictator Juan Peron, ran an easy third...
...first big break came in midafternoon. Driven too hard in an effort to push the leader, Moss's Aston Martin quit, its gearbox a wreck. The race settled down to a duel between Hawthorn and Fangio. But after seven hours, Hawthorn's Jag began to lag. Desperately its mechs labored in the pits, but they took too long. Fangio got the lead for keeps, and during the final five hours gave a demonstration of an old master at work...
Meanwhile, the Grand Prix ground on. Around 1 a.m. on orders from Stuttgart, Mercedes pulled out of the race. After a while, rain pelted down. The race and the crowd's vigil continued. But when Mike Hawthorn's Jaguar ripped past the finish line to win the 1955 Le Mans next afternoon, few people even bothered to cheer...
...small consolation to learn that Hawthorn had clocked a record 2,564.28 miles at an average 106.84 m.p.h...