Le Mans 1953: The Drunken Victory

Photo credit: 1953 Jaguar C-Type – photographed by Brian Snelson, originally posted to Flickr and licensed under CC BY 2.0

The story of two British drivers who won while still hungover…

Racing folklore is full of wild tales, but few are as delightfully British as the story of Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt, who won the Le Mans 1953, after what can only be described as one long night in the bar.

It began after an administrative mistake by the team, Jaguar had mistakenly run two C-Types wearing the same number 18, something the Le Mans officials did not take lightly, the result was swift, Hamilton and Rolt were disqualified.

The decision crushed Jaguar’s spirits, Hamilton said that it felt like someone had switched the lights off.

However, both drivers, after the bad news, they found the nearest cafe, ordered a few bottles, and decided to forget about racing altogether.

While the two sank deeper into their drinks, the team founder, Sir William Lyon, was fighting behind the scenes, he wanted to continue to race that weekend.

He argued with officials deep into the night, offered apologies (and reportedly a hefty fine), and somehow managed to get the car reinstated.

But the problem after all this, nobody told the drivers until the next morning.

The hangover of a lifetime – Le Mans 1953

When Jaguar’s team manager, ‘Lofty’ England went to find his drivers on race day, he discovered them still drunk, half asleep at a restaurant table.

Panic broke out in the pits, Lofty dragged them to the team’s base, forced cold showers upon them and filled them with strong coffee in an attempt to bring them back to reality.

Hamilton was not impressed, he said that the coffee made his arms shake.

Lofty refused to let their drivers near alcohol; he also said later that he would never let them race under the influence.

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Into the fire — and onto the track

Despite all the chaos before the race, the two British drivers climbed into their Jaguar C-Type just hours later, the race began, the engines roared and what followed was one of the most intense Le Mans battles of the early 1950s..

They were up against Ferrari’s finest at the time, Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi, two of the best drivers on the planet.

Ferrari was very strong, but Jaguar had a secret weapon, Dunlop disc brakes, they allowed Hamilton and Rolt to brake later than anyone else, corner harder and claw back time with every lap.

At one point, Hamilton hit a bird at nearly 130 mph, the impact shattered his goggles and bloodied his face, but he refused to stop, it was only a nosebleed, Hamilton said later.

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Outdrinking fate – Le Mans 1953

Hour after hour, the two men pushed through exhaustion, and possibly through the last remnants of last night’s drink, when Ascari’s Ferrari eventually blew its engine, Jaguar’s path to victory opened wide.

After 24 relentless hours, Hamilton and Rolt crossed the line first, not only had they won the Le Mans 1953, but they also made history, the first team to average more than 100mph over the full 24 hours of Le Mans.

Let’s not forget, the Jaguar C-Type #XKC 051 was a masterpiece of its time, lightweight, aero, and equipped with cutting-edge brakes that would change racing forever.

When the race was finally over, the celebrations were predictably messy, Hamilton and Rolt headed straight back to the same bar where they had mourned their disqualification just two night before, only this time, they were champions.

For decades, the pair gave slightly different versions of what really happened; the legend refuses to fade. Hamilton liked to play up the comedy of it all, Rolt preferred to let the myth grow quietly, whether they were truly drunk on the grid or just nursing brutal hangovers, the legend refuses to fade.

They were, after all, two very British gentlemen, soldiers, racers, risk-takes, who won the world’s toughest endurance race with a bit of talent, a bit of luck.