You’ll see many a fierce battle through rose-tinted Ray-Bans, but 1999 was the real deal. Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan and BMW had recent Le Mans experience – and the scale of newcomer Audi’s investment was clear. It was an epic.

The focus switched swiftly from fight to flight, following a qualifying incident in which Mark Webber’s Mercedes CLR flipped – without outside assistance – on the approach to Indianapolis. The car was rebuilt, but the same thing happened again – this time on the Mulsanne – during Saturday morning’s warm-up. So… race or withdraw? In consideration, the team even took the measure of calling Adrian Newey, who was on F1 duty with McLaren in Canada. When asked directly months after the race whether he advised Mercedes to pull out, Newey refused to comment. Whatever, the management chose to press on, adding modifications including front winglets previously developed for a wet-weather set-up.

Mercedes and Toyota disputed the lead during the opening stages, with the quickest BMW maintaining contact and benefiting from better economy. About four hours in, though, Peter Dumbreck’s Mercedes became airborne close to Indianapolis, cleared the adjacent trees and landed in a clearing beyond.