During the 1984 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Nimrod NRA C2B - Aston Martin driven by John Sheldon had a slow puncture in its left rear tyre, which was kept in place by centrifugal force. At 21h23, when the car was in 18th place, this tyre collapsed at top speed at the entrance of the kink, in front of the restaurant "la Fermé de Mulsanne", pitching the car into the barriers on the left side of the track, very close to the marshalling post #70. The huge impact split the car in two main parts, destroying it completely. One marshal, Jacky Loiseau, 41-year-old was killed in the accident, whilst another one, André-Guy Lefebvre, 40-year-old was seriously hurt and remained on the asphalt. The main part of the wreckage bounced back, hitting the right guard-rail and stopping, in flames, in the middle of the track. Jonathan Palmer, driving a Porsche 956 for GTI Engineering, miraculously avoided it; however, the sister Nimrod NRA C2B - Aston Martin - chassis #005, then driven by American Drake Olson and in 12th place - was not able to repeat such a maneuver and hit it. This latter car spun and hit the safety rails as well. John Sheldon, who was very badly injured and burned in the crash, was airlifted by helicopter to the Trousseau Hospital of Tours, while Drake Olson being also wounded, albeit only lightly. Services to rescue the victims and to clean the track forced the organizers to pack the competitors behind the pace car from 21h25 to 22h26 - a total of sixty-one minutes. The race was then resumed.
Briton John Sheldon, a dentist by trade, was then treated at the burns ward of the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Surrey, United Kingdom. The hospital had gained worldwide fame during the World War II for its pioneering work in the burns field as a result of the dreadful injuries suffered by Spitfire and Hurricane pilots in the Battle of Britain. Sheldon subsequently made a complete recovery and went back to racing.
R.I.P
