1937 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 14th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 19 and 20 June 1937.

This race was marred by a massive 6-car accident at Maison Blanche which claimed the lives of 2 drivers. On the eighth lap of the race, the inexperienced French amateur driver René Kippeurt lost control of his Bugatti T44 and it rolled several times, coming to rest in the middle of the road. German Fritz Roth, who closely followed, lost control of his BMW 328 #30, went off of the road and somersaulted. Kippeurt's body was thrown clear from his car, and was lying about 100 metres from the wreck. In an attempt to avoid Roth's car, Briton Pat Fairfield crashed into Kippeurt's Bugatti. Fairfield's car was subsequently rammed by the Delahaye 135CS of Jean Trémoulet which in turn was hit by the Talbot T150C driven by an Argentine count who raced under the pseudonym "Raph", and by the Riley TT Sprite of Raoul Forestier. An Adler driven by an unspecified German driver, was also involved in the accident. Kippeurt was killed instantly, Fairfield died in a hospital 2 days later and Trémoulet was injured, as was Raph.