Pierre Levegh

Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin (1905-1955) was a French racing driver. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh in memory of his uncle, a pioneering driver who died in 1904.

Racing Career and Le Mans
Levegh, who was born in Paris, France, was also a world-class ice hockey and tennis player. In motorsport he competed in Formula One for the Talbot-Lago team in 1950 and 1951, starting six races, retiring in three, and scoring no points.

At Le Mans he raced for Talbot in four races, finishing fourth in 1951. In 1952, driving single-handedly, his car suffered an engine failure in the last hour of the race with a four lap lead. The failure was due to a bolt in the central crankshaft bearing having come loose many hours earlier in the race, although many fans placed the blame on driver fatigue. Levegh had refused to let his co-driver take over because he felt only he could nurse the car home. In 1953 he came in eighth, and in 1954 he was involved in an accident in the seventh hour of racing.

In 1955, Levegh suffered a fatal accident which resulted in the deaths of 83 spectators and was one of the worst racing disasters in history.