Welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Today, Claire Bose takes us back to one of the darkest days in motor racing history.

The accident, at Le Mans, which led to the sport being banned in some countries for decades.

It's the 11th of June 1955.

John Fitch is an American racing driver.

It's what he lives for.

We used to say, have helmet, well travel. We would drive anything.

Earlier that year, he'd been invited to join the Mercedes team in motor racing's most prestigious event,

the 24-hour race at Le Mans in northern France.

The race is a test of speed and endurance.

The car finishing the most laps in 24 hours wins.

Now, this is the first bend after the start of the race,

which the faster cars will be taking at something in the region of 135.

We approach another hump in the road, which completely blinds the next corner,

which is known as Moulsan.

And the faster cars have to slow from 180 down to something like 30 miles an hour,

which, as you can imagine, puts a tremendous strain on the brakes.

When you realize this has to happen every four and a half minutes for the faster cars for 24 hours,

it's quite a lot of work put into the thing.

Oh, I was very eager and I have to admit, anxious.

I think that's the state of most race drivers before a race, unless they're particularly cool.

There have been a few who take it very casually, but most of us don't.

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