Saturday 9th July 1955

British racer Donald Beauman (26) died. The 1955 season had seen the London hotelier claim third place in the Glover Trophy at Goodwood and compete in the Le Mans 24-hour race in a works Jaguar. This shy and retiring figure, who had hoped to one day move into Formula 1 Grand Prix racing, lost his life when he crashed his Connaught in the 1955 Leinster Trophy sports car race in Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. He had set the fastest time of 82.94 mph (133.45 km/h) on his first lap but crashed near the Beehive pub on his second and was killed instantly. Beauman’s death plus other fatal racing accidents that year brought an end to motor car racing at the Curragh.