The Rolt/Hamilton partnership continued in 1954, where they finished second to a works Scuderia Ferrari, in a Jaguar D-Type. This was despite an incident during a hail storm, Rolt realised that he could not see properly, so he pitted for a visor, but as a Ferrari was in its pit, the team waved him out again. When Rolt pitted again the next lap, his goggles were "full of water". He hopped out of the car to fix on a visor and Hamilton jumped into the car and was away. Having made up a four-lap deficit, the Rolt/Hamilton D-Type finished less than four kilometres behind the victorious Ferrari. They also finished second for Jaguar in the 12 heures internationals – Voiture Sport Reims, but retired from the 1955 Les 24 Heures du Mans while running in second place. Rolt and his wife, Lois witnessed the disaster that year, which claimed more than 80 lives after Pierre Levegh's Mercedes left the track and ploughed into spectators. Thereafter, he concentrated on his engineering. By the end of 1956, although still a member of the Jaguar works team, Rolt retired from active racing to devote his full efforts to the Ferguson development programme.