laps (nearly 150 km) behind the winners, they were again a model of reliability. Porsche had its best finish yet with the trio of 1.5 litre Porsche 550 Spyders finishing fourth, fifth and sixth with Helmut Polensky and Richard von Frankenberg winning the S-1500 class, the Index of Performance, as well as the Biennial Cup. The Belgian Porsche had moved up the order late in the race to split the two works cars. Additionally the privateer Porsche comprehensively won the S-1100 class finishing nearly 40 laps ahead of the unclassified Cooper. The three-car Bristol team finished seventh, eighth and ninth, in formation for a consecutive year at the top of two-litre class. Managing director Sir George White donated the team's winnings to a charity for the disaster's victims. After their debacle of the previous year's race, the only Italian car to finish this year was the 1.5L OSCA. Two of the DB-Panhards were the only French cars to finish in the normally reliable small-car classes. For the first time none of the Cunningham team cars finished. Despite the disaster and poor weather, there were a number of new records set: Both first and second beat the old distance record – and five new class records were set. In fact, the two leading 1.5L Porsches both went further than the overall distance covered by the 1952-winning Mercedes-Benz. The opening hours had also seen the lap record broken by a significant margin. Post-race and aftermath The catastrophic crash, which came to be known as the 1955 Le Mans disaster, remains the deadliest accident in the history of motorsport. The actual death toll is uncertain, put at from 80 to 84, including Levegh, with many more than that number severely injured. Spurring mentions that the official report cites "Levegh" and 80 spectators were killed and 178 were injured. The next round of the World Sports Car Championship at the Nürburgring was cancelled, as was the Carrera Panamericana. The accident caused widespread shock and immediate bans on auto racing in many countries. A number of racing teams including Mercedes-Benz, MG and Bristol had disbanded and withdrawn from racing by the end of the season. The scale of the accident caused some drivers present, including Phil Walters (who had been offered a drive with Ferrari for the rest of the season), Sherwood Johnston, and John Fitch (after completing the season with Mercedes-Benz), to retire from