Ivor Bueb
Ivor Léon John Bueb ( born 6 June 1923 in Dulwich, † August 1, 1959 in Clermont- Ferrand, France) was a British racing driver, who won in 1955 and 1957, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ivor Bueb began his career in motorsport as almost all British pilots in the 500 cc Formula 3 scene. Successes of the London -born only achieve in Formula 3 but when he went to the starting line with Cooper vehicles. Bueb so drove good races that he ascended into the factory team from Cooper 1955.
Bueb launched further in Formula 3, but he had his most inserts in the small 1100 cc sports car. Since Cooper had no car capable of winning the endurance race of Le Mans, Bueb accepted an offer by Jaguar, the Jaguar D -Type to go to the Sarthe. Although Bueb was not involved in the accident, his name is closely associated with the most serious accident in motor racing history. The trigger was the teammate of Bueb, Mike Hawthorn, Lance Macklin 's slower Austin -Healey overtook left, suddenly pulled to the right and braked heavily to still to complete a pit stop. The " cut " Macklin had to dodge to the left, where the French Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh approached at high speed and could not respond. The Mercedes flew into the audience, 83 of them came here to death. Mercedes racing manager Alfred Neubauer withdrew the Mercedes team, the Jaguar but drove on. After 24 hours, Hawthorn and Bueb took the checkered flag as the winner.
Bueb drove as good as anything on four wheels had in the 1950s. In 1956, he won the 12 - hour race at Reims, together with Duncan Hamilton. In 1957 he repeated his victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, again with a Jaguar D -Type. His partner this time was Ron Flockhart.
In Formula 1 Bueb came in 1957 as a factory driver for Connaught. He made his debut at the race in Monaco. By 1959, he was five times to qualify for a World Grand Prix, points he made none.
In 1959 he drove in the sports car world championship for Lister. In Formula 1, he got a contract with BRP and started with their Cooper T51- Borgward in Formula 2 But like so many in the 1950s Bueb lost his life on the racetrack. He was killed on July 26, 1959 hard at Auvergne Trophy in Clermont-Ferrand and died in a local hospital five days later.