page_title: 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans
section_title: The White House crash
hierarchical_section_title: 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans / Race / The White House crash
caption_attribution_description: English: Next-day remains of a pileup crash in the "whitehouse curve" that occured at dusk in the evening of Saturday 18 June 1927 Le Mans involving the three favorite Bentleys and some other. The scene is: A Th. Schneider car stands crashed, in the middle of the road, hard to see in the dark because of the white house. Entry #1 (right) is Clement &amp; Callingham's Bentley, was the first to hit the Th. Schneider. Callingham was thrown out of the car. On the left is #2, d'Erlanger &amp; Duller, which was the next on the scene, Duller had jumped out just before the impact. The third Bentley (Benjafield &amp; Davis in #3) saw the debris and Davis managed a "limited impact", and eventually continued the race. Hence, #3 is not in this picture. The "white house" (maison blanche) would maybe the the one in the back. Only minor injuries. So goes the Wikipedia story: [1] Since this is daylight, it may be the next day.
context_page_description: The 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 5th Grand Prix of Endurance, was a motor race which took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1927.
  The race was one of the most remarkable and dramatic pre-war Le Mans races. It is commonly remembered due to the infamous White House crash, a major accident that involved eight cars including all three of the widely tipped Bentley team's entries, and caused the retirement of two of them. The race was eventually won by the third which, although badly damaged, was able to be repaired by drivers Dudley Benjafield and Sammy Davis. It was Bentley's second victory in the endurance classic.
  In a race missing many major manufacturers, the three Bentleys had been comfortably leading from the start, putting a lap on the rest on the field. The accident occurred about 9.40pm, as night was falling and a drizzle had started. A 2-litre Th. Schneider had spun at the White House curves blocking the road when the lead Bentley, unsighted, hit it at speed. Davis was able to extricate his damaged car and get back to the pits, resuming the race after a half-hour repair.
context_section_description: Pierre Tabourin's Th. Schneider had been delayed early in the race. Pushing to make up time, he was put off-line by an overtaking car and spun at the tricky Maison Blanche (“White House”) curves approaching the pit straight. The car hit the barriers and ended up broadside in the middle of the road, out of sight of the following drivers in the growing darkness. The S-sequence of curves was narrow and fast with the view of the exit obscured by the distinctive white farmhouse that gave the section its name.
  The first to arrive was the leader, Callingham, at high speed. Trying to avoid the car he slid off to the right into the roadside ditch at over 70 mph (110 kp/h), hitting with such force that the driver was thrown out into the middle of the road. George Duller arrived next, and seeing the danger, jumped over his steering wheel out of the car just before the impact. It slammed into Callingham's car, which rolled and left his on top of it. Subsequently, the other Schneider, one of the small Ariès and a SARA also suffered damage in the pile-up. Duller had staggered off dazed to warn other drivers, before realising he was on the other side of the roadside hedge and couldn't be seen.
  When Sammy Davis arrived on the scene he was alerted that all was not as it should be. Even tens of metres back up the road its surface was strewn with gravel and debris. and so entered the corner slower than would normally have been the case. Although already decelerating, he came around the corner to find the road completely blocked and insufficient time to brake to a halt. Rather than hitting the stationary cars head-on Davis put the big Bentley into a slide and hit them sideways, striking first with the right-hand front wing. Behind him, Thelussen's Fasto was also able to slow and only struck a glancing blow. Amazingly despite all the carnage, the only major injury was to the Schneider driver Tabourin, who suffered a broken arm and ribs.
  After finding his teammates and the other drivers had all survived, Davis was able to untangle his Bentley from the wreckage, squeeze through and limp onto the pits. There the team assessed the damage. The chassis and front suspension were bent, the fenders badly mangled and the right headlamp broken. Although he was the only one permitted to work on repairing his car (and only using tools carried on the car), with the advice of his mechanics and a lot of tape and string he was able to get the car mobile again. Half an hour later he drove out to complete six cautious laps before handing over to co-driver Benjafield on schedule. The steering pulled to the right and the braking was not synchronised between the wheels. The SARA was also able to continue after repairs, but ran into mechanical troubles over the night and was disqualified at half-time just three laps short of its 12-hour target distance. The second Th. Schneider ran only six further laps when it was withdrawn by the team following Tabourin's injuries.
caption: Whitehouse crash scene the next day. Entry #1 at right is Clement and Callingham's Bentley. Left may be #2, d'Erlanger and Duller's
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