1999 was shaping up to be a classic Le Mans, thanks to a larger than usual array of manufacturer teams all with a realistic chance of fighting for victory. Among the favourites were Mercedes-Benz who had replaced their championship winning CLK-GTR with the all-new Mercedes CLR.

The flat-bottomed cars proved to be spectacularly unstable; liable to launch themselves skywards and flip over if they lost downforce – as their young, relatively unknown Australian driver was to find out.

“The cars were pretty dangerous in those days, regulation-wise, there were many instances of cars flipping. At Le Mans in 1999 I had two crashes; one on Thursday night and one in the race warm-up on Saturday morning. After than [fellow CLR driver Peter] Dumbreck had one during the race. It was an absolute disaster for Mercedes, which was a shame because it was going to be one of the best Le Mans for a long time.”

With a field that included Toyota, Nissan, BMW and the new Audi entries, Mercedes were pulling out all the stops with their new sportscar. Webber’s accident during qualifying on Thursday gave a graphic example of how marginal it was.

“I remember I was behind [Audi’s] Frank Biela, coming towards Indianapolis. Frank moved out for me because he was on an in-lap and it’s pretty narrow down there. I moved across the back of his slipstream and the front of the car lifted up. I knew that as soon as it got a little air underneath it, there was no way to bring it back. Actually I think I was lucky to stay within the bounds of the circuit and not go into the trees. I was OK, but the car was pretty badly damaged.”

Despite its instability, the Mercedes cars qualified in fourth, seventh and tenth; but the no.4 car, shared by Webber, Jean-Marc Gounon and Marcel Tieman did not take the start, after Webber had another spectacular loss-of-downforce crash on Saturday morning.

“We put some little aerodynamic aids on the front of the bumper. They were designed to be used in wet conditions, but we put them on for the dry, trying to combat the problems we were having. The cars were just very sensitive and didn’t like following other cars. We were very quick though, the car was beautiful to drive… when it was on the ground.

“I didn’t have any doubts about going out again after the accident on Thursday. At that stage I was 100 per cent focussed and ready to go. I had a chance of winning Le Mans, and I would have been the youngest winner. We knew the cars were unstable, but you have enough arrogance to think everything will be OK – but after the second time it happened I said forget it, I’m going home, and I never drove that car again.”

While Webber’s no.4 car did not compete after going aerial for a second time, the other two CLR’s did take the start, only for Scotland’s Peter Dumbreck, driving the no.5 Mercedes, to have an even bigger crash (see clip below) under similar circumstances.

“It was very… I suppose… dramatic. It was the first time something like that had been shown on TV. My second crash was caught in still photos, but Dumbreck going into the trees was live on TV. That was the final nail in the coffin for Mercedes at Le Mans.”

Given the marque’s tragic history at the great race, it came as no surprise that the final Mercedes was withdrawn on the next lap. To date they haven’t returned – and nor has Mark, though he doesn’t close the door completely.

“I like the endurance aspect of it, so after I stop [F1] racing maybe I will go back, but I think after F1 I’ll want a lot of red wine and an easy life. If I did something like Le Mans I think it would only be half-hearted, just for the fun of it – and I don’t think that’s fair on the people who are taking it seriously – but we’ll see.”

The 2009 24 Heures Du Mans begins on Saturday afternoon…