1:18 Porsche 917 LH #10 24h LeMans 1969 Woolfe Linge WERK83 diecast

Fatal accident of John Woolfe in the first lap overshadows the 1969 24 Hours of LeMans.

Richard Attwood was originally planned to be Woolfe's partner for Le Mans. Attwood had a contract with John Woolfe Racing and competed in sports car races in Great Britain for the racing team. However, Attwood was given a contract as a works driver with Porsche. Herbert Linge joined the team as a new teammate. The experienced Linge was also supposed to drive the first part of the race, but Woolfe insisted on this privilege as his entire family was present.

The Woolfe Porsche 917 was only in 21st place on the grid, but Woolfe was one of the fastest at the Le Mans start and was in the top ten at the end of the Les Hunaudières straight. At the entrance to Maison Blanche - the first laps were driven by the top drivers at Grand Prix speed - he hit the grass on the left with two wheels, lost control of the car and hit the guardrail on the right at high speed. Woolfe was thrown out of the car because he had not fastened his seatbelt, which also explained his perfect start. The Porsche's tank burst and the car burst into flames. From the group driving behind Woolfe, Chris Amon - who shared a Ferrari 312P with Peter Schetty - was unable to avoid the crash and crashed into the wreckage. While Amon miraculously remained unharmed, Woolfe died at the scene of the accident.

After Woolfe's fatal accident, the race was neither stopped nor abandoned. However, the "Le Mans start" was replaced by the "Indianapolis start" the following year.