at an average of over . He was assisted by co-driver Denis Jenkinson, a British motor-racing journalist, who informed him with previously taken notes, ancestors to the pacenotes used in modern rallying. Teammate Juan Manuel Fangio was second in a sister car. After missing the first two races at Buenos Aires in Argentina and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the United States, where Ferrari scored a victory and a second place respectively, the 300 SLRs later scored a decisive 1-2-3 finish in the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod, Ireland, and a 1-2 at the Targa Florio in Sicily, earning Mercedes victory in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship, two points ahead of Ferrari. Further non-championship trophies were also scored at the Eifelrennen in Germany and the Swedish Grand Prix. Of the six races entered, the 300 SLR won five and was withdrawn from one: the car's impressive record was overshadowed at Le Mans, when the once again leading 300 SLRs were withdrawn after a horrific accident involving a team car driven by Pierre Levegh. Even with the innovative wind-brake, the car's drum brakes couldn't help prevent Levegh from rear-ending an Austin-Healey coming into his way, launching his car into the air. Upon impact, the ultra-lightweight Elektron bodywork's high magnesium content caused it to ignite and burn in the ensuing fuel fire. Compounding it, an uninformed race fire crew initially tried to extinguish the fire with water, only making it burn hotter. Eighty-three spectators and Levegh lost their lives in what remains the highest-fatality accident in the history of motorsport. Mercedes terminated its motorsport programme at the end of the 1955 season and would stay away from racing for the next three decades. Uhlenhaut Coupé Daimler-Benz made two road-legal 300 SLR coupés, known today as Uhlenhaut Coupé. One of these two cars once served as the personal car of its designer, Daimler-Benz motorsport chief Rudolf Uhlenhaut, hence the name. Prior to the Le Mans accident he had ordered two of the nine W196 chassis built to be set aside for modification into an SLR/SL hybrid. The resulting coupé featured a significantly more sculpted body than the 300 SL fitted over a slightly widened version of the SLR's chassis, with signature 'gull-wing' doors still needed to clear its spaceframe's high sill beams. These were intended to race in the Carrera Panamericana which was cancelled because of safety concerns following the Le Mans disaster.