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John Woolfe's fatal accident on the first lap overshadows the 1969 LeMans 24-hour race
Richard Attwood was originally intended to be Woolfe's partner for Le Mans. Attwood had a contract with John Woolfe Racing and contested sports car races in Great Britain for the racing team. However, Attwood was given a contract as a works driver with Porsche. Herbert Linge joined the team as his new team-mate. The experienced Linge was also due to drive the first part of the race, but Woolfe was not to be denied this privilege as his entire family was present.
The Woolfe Porsche 917 was only 21st on the grid, but Woolfe was one of the fastest at the Le Mans start and in the top ten at the end of the Les Hunaudières straight. At the entrance to Maison Blanche - the first laps were driven by the top drivers at Grand Prix speed - he hit the grass with two wheels on the left, lost control of the car and hit the guard rail on the right at high speed. Woolfe was thrown out of the car because he had not fastened his seatbelt, which also explained his perfect start. The Porsche's petrol tank burst and the car burst into flames. Chris Amon - who was sharing a Ferrari 312P with Peter Schetty - was unable to get out of the way of the pack behind Woolfe and crashed into the wreck. While Amon miraculously remained uninjured, Woolfe died at the scene of the accident.
After Woolfe's fatal accident, the race was neither stopped nor cancelled. However, the "Le Mans start" was replaced by the "Indianapolis start" the following year.
