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FOREVER SEBRING.
Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 07:29PM By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Hendricks Army Air Field, the former World War II training base just outside the town of Sebring - hard amidst the orange groves in central Florida - has been hosting road races since 1950, with the first 12 Hours of Sebring happening in 1951. A rough, unforgiving test of endurance on a mix of brutal concrete and asphalt, it's a circuit that crushes suspensions and cars with equal aplomb. Back in its formative years Sebring was wild and woolly, with tales of drivers getting lost in the pitch blackness of a starless Florida night, and cars coming completely off of the ground at top speed from the bumps on the back straightaway, which was on one of the main surviving runways. Then there was the famous "Deluge" race that happened in 1965, when five inches of rain fell on the circuit in the late afternoon in just 30 minutes. (Yes, you read that correctly.) It was so bad that wheels and tires floated down the pit lane; drivers in open cars had to try (futilely) to bail out their cockpits while they drove; and lap times dropped to as slow as ten minutes in some cases. And, of course, the Spring Breakers always added a festive touch to the proceedings, to say the least.
Yes, Sebring is truly historic, and remains the oldest and most prestigious endurance race in North America, no matter how hard the powers that be in Daytona Beach try to flog the importance of the Daytona 24 Hours. The old Sebring has given way to myriad improvements to the facilities and the layout of the track itself, especially in recent years, but make no mistake, the 12 Hours of Sebring is an extremely challenging and difficult race to win, equivalent to running 24 hours anywhere else. Which is why to this day teams come to test there from all around the world in order to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, because if something is going to break on a car, it will break at Sebring.
My first memory of Sebring was in March of 1968. My brother Tony's 1967 L88 Corvette had been converted to the new Corvette bodywork and added to the Sunray DX Chevrolet Corvette team (through an affiliation with Don Yenko) for the Daytona 24 Hours and 12 Hours of Sebring in a two-race deal. The No. 2 Sunray DX Corvette would be driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Yenko; the No. 3 Sunray DX Corvette would be wheeled by Hap Sharp and Dave Morgan; and the No. 4 Sunray DX Corvette would be driven by Tony and his teammate, Jerry Thompson. This was the race that featured the factory Porsche 907 team, as well as a contingent of Trans-Am teams, which had their own race within a race.
The four-car factory Porsche team consisted of the No. 48 Porsche 907 driven by Gerhard Mitter/Rolf Stommelen; the No. 49 Porsche 907 driven by Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann (the overall winners); the No. 50 Porsche 907 driven by Ludovico Scarfiotti/Joe Buzzetta and the No. 51 Porsche 907 driven by Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch. There were other competitors of note, including Jacky Ikcx/Brian Redman in the No. 28 John Wyer Enginneering Gulf Ford GT40; Dr. Dick Thompson/Ed Lowther/Ray Heppenstall in the No. 76 Howmet TX McKee Turbine; and the No. 9 American International Racing Lola T70 Mk.3 GT driven by Scotter Patrick/Dave Jordan.
My enduring memory from that race? I was giving pit signals to my brother early on after the start, and when I'd go up to lean over the wall to do that, the four factory Porsches would blast by in nose-to-tale formation at 140 mph+, their roofs barely taller than the pit wall and just inches away from me. The incredible sound followed by the blast of whooshing air as they blew by me remains indelibly imprinted in my brain. (The gut-punching rush of noise and air as my brother blew by in that big-block L88 Corvette wasn't bad either.)
At any rate, it was clear to everyone on the Sunray DX Corvette team that Pedro really didn't want to be there. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that he wasn't going for the overall win, and so it appeared that he decided that he had made the wrong move or something like that. So, ignoring all of the pre-race strategies discussed by the team, Pedro took the start and proceeded to run his Corvette at qualifying speeds - and more - shifting it well above the redline until it predictably and conveniently blew up. He didn't hang around long after and that was that. The No. 3 car fared much better, with experienced endurance drivers Sharp and Morgan delivering a sixth-place finish, 1st in GT+5.0. Our No. 4 Corvette had a series of issues, finally succumbing to a broken driveshaft and retiring. Oh, and one more thing about that race? Roger Penske made a stunning Trans-Am debut, with the No. 15 Penske-Goodsall Racing Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro driven by Mark Donohue/Craig Fisher finishing third overall and first in TA5.0; and the No. 16 Penske-Goodsall Racing Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro driven by Fisher, Bob Johnson and Joe Welsh finishing fourth overall.
I am including a series of pictures (below) from Sebring over the years. They're worth a look.
And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.
A poster for the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring.
The 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS arrived at Sebring with its "bubble top" in place, but it was never run in that configuration for obvious reasons.
Tony DeLorenzo in the No. 1 Owens/Corning Fiberglas Corvette during the 12 Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1970. Tony and co-driver Dick Lang finished tenth overall and first in GT+5.0.
(Tom Bigelow photo)
Phil Hill looks on while his No. 15 Shelby American Cobra is being worked on at Sebring, March, 1963. Phil and Dan Gurney finished well down the field that year.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Dan Gurney in the No. 11 Shelby American Cobra roadster, March 1964. Dan and co-driver Bob Johnson finished tenth overall after an accident.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby confer at Sebring, March 1964.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Dave MacDonald has just climbed in the No. 10 Shelby American Cobra Daytona Coupe during its final pit stop. Dave and co-driver Bob Holbert finished fourth overall and first in GT5.0.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Ken Miles in the No. 1 Shelby American Ford GT X-1 roadster. Ken and co-driver Lloyd Ruby won the 1966 race by twelve laps. Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant were destined for second place in their No. 2 Shelby American Ford Mk II when it quit coming out of the final turn with just minutes left in the race. When Gurney pushed it across the finish line, the car was disqualified.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Jim Hall in his beautiful Chaparral 2A Chevrolet during the 12 Hours of Sebring, March 27, 1965. Jim and Hap Sharp won the "Deluge" race in convincing fashion.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Lew Spencer gets in the No. 12 Shelby American Cobra during its final pit stop, March 1964. Lew and co-driver Bob Bondurant finished fifth overall and second in GT5.0.
The No. 6 Chaparral 2F Chevrolet driven by Jim Hall/Mike Spence in place for the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring, April 1, 1967.
(Sports Car Digest)
The Chaparral Cars team being wheeled to their starting positions, Sebring, March 26, 1966. The No. 11 Chaparral 2D Chevrolet was driven by Jim Hall/Hap Sharp, and the No. 12 Chaparral 2D Chevrolet was driven by Phil Hill/Jo Bonnier.
(Sports Car Digest)
The No. 1 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport driven by Delmo Johnson/Dave Morgan sloshes its way through "The Deluge" in the 1965 12 Hours of Sebring.