1970 Sebring 12 Hour Grand Prix of Endurance Slide Show

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Louis Galanos
Published on Jan 18, 2018

The 1970 Sebring race is considered by many the best Sebring ever run. With iconic race cars like the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 plus legendary drivers like Pedro Rodriguez, Dan Gurney, Peter Revson, Steve McQueen, Mario Andretti and others, it was a race to remember.

 

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HSR Crowns Winners at Sebring Classic 12 Hour

Sebring, FL — The third annual HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour concluded last Sunday with competitors claiming wins in four overall run groups to wrap up Historic Sportscar Racing’s 2018 season at Sebring International Raceway.
Toni Seiler’s Lola T70 on its way to a Group A win. Photo: HSR

A retro tribute race to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring — which will be run for the 67th time March 16, 2019 — the Classic 12 Hour format featured each of the four run groups taking to the track four different times during the weekend.


Saturday’s schedule included the first three 42-minute rounds for each group while the fourth and final segment races Sunday determined the overall winners.


Toni Seiler drove a 1969 Lola T70 to the overall Group A win that was fueled in part by first-place finishes in Rounds 1 and 3. The victory finally put Seiler, a regular HSR Classics competitor from Switzerland, on the top step of the Sebring podium after finishing second in Group A in the event in 2016 and 2017.


The Group B victory went to the 1974 Chevron B26 of Gray Gregory and Randy Buck that rebounded from an early-weekend hit from another competitor for their first Sebring 12 Hour race win.


After a narrow loss in 2017’s Group C race, John Reisman and and his 2010 Coyote Corvette Daytona Prototype won this year’s.


The Group D battle was the most competitive of this year’s event, with a different leader on top of the charts in each of the four segments. The winners were Nigel Greensall and Gary Ball in a Radical SR3.


And in other action, Travis Engen solo-drove his 2005 R8 LMP to an overall B.R.M. Chronographes Enduro victory and Prototype class win.


Scooter Gabel (1974 Porsche 911 RSR) and Carlos de Quesada (1973 Porsche 911) swept the top-two finishing positions in the Porsche class in Thursday’s Sasco Sports International/American Challenge race and pulled off a perfect repeat performance Friday in the Classic RS Cup eight-lap sprint.

 

Alex Xydias 56 Sebring

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T-shirts, telephone poles, no roll bars, no guard rails and a snow fence to
keep spectators off the course, 5 Gallon cans for refueling...big funnels can do two cans.....




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MrCaribe1970
Published on Jul 13, 2014







1956 Sebring Grand Prix, produced and narrated by Alex Xydias in 2001. Teams from Venezuela who raced appear as follows: Julio Pola with Ferrari Mondial 0632MDTR no. 34

 

Back to Sebring, where it all began, for 2020 Trans Am opener

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emailBy: Trans Am | 8 hours ago

Next weekend, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will build on a long tradition of racing at Sebring International Speedway, headlining the Feb. 28-Mar. 1 SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic for its 15th appearance there since the series’ first-ever race in 1966.

That year, a brand-new series featuring “pony car” entries from Detroit’s Big Three automakers debuted at the Florida airport course with the running of the Governor’s Cup — the first race for the SCCA-sanctioned Trans American Sedan Championship.

That inaugural event included the then-two-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, driving a Ford Mustang, and Alfa Romeo’s Jochen Rindt, who would win the 1970 Formula 1 World Championship.

Foyt led the opening 13 laps before dropping back following a long pit stop. Later in the four-hour event, tire issues, brake problems and overheating hit many of the competitors on the over-two-liter class, made up of Mustangs, Chevrolet Corvairs, Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Darts.

Bob Tullius went on to win the larger class in a Dart, finishing second overall. Meanwhile, Alfas dominated the under-two-liter category, led by Rindt, who recovered from a roll-over in pre-event practice to win the race overall.

The inaugural Trans Am race was held the day before the 12 Hours, attracting a 40-car field.

“That race was held at Sebring in its original form –- long (5.2 miles) and bumpy,” Tullius recalled. “I was instructed by our Chrysler team manager to follow the two Barracudas, because they wanted those cars to win and I was going to be a nice guy. But they didn’t count on A.J. Foyt, who went into the lead in a Mustang.

“I ran around for awhile, and then decided to pick it up,” Tullius continued. “I passed both of the Barracudas, then caught Foyt and passed him for the lead. Eventually, his car bailed and I wound up winning the race.”

More Trans Am!

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Sheehan, LTK team prepped for fresh TA2 start in Sebring opener

Trans Am returned in 1967 as the Four-Hour International, drawing a then-record 61 entries. Jerry Titus won in a Ford Mustang, lapping Mark Donohue’s second-place-finishing Camaro Z-28. Peter Gregg and Sam Posey took honors in the Under two-liter class, sharing a Porsche.

The 17-turn, 3.74-mile airport-based circuit hosted the Trans Am in 1968, running concurrently with the 12 Hours of Sebring. Mark Donohue and Craig Fisher took Trans Am honors with a third-place overall finish, one position ahead of Roger Penske-entered Camaro teammates Joe Welch and Bob Johnson.

With the series moving to shorter races, the next Trans Am race at Sebring was not until 1999, with a standalone weekend serving as the season finale. Paul Gentilozzi capped his championship season by winning in a Ford Mustang.

Trans Am ran as part of the 12 Hours of Sebring events the following two years, Brian Simo winning the 2000 season opener in a Qvale Mangusta, while Boris Said won the following year in a Ford Mustang.

Since 2013, Trans Am has been a major component of the SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic, held two weekends prior to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours. Doug Peterson scored the 2013 and 2014 overall victories in a Corvette, while Cameron Lawrence began a three-year TA2 winning streak in a Camaro. Those two drivers went on to win their respective titles in both seasons.

For 2020, the two drivers will team for Peterson Racing in TA2 powered by AEM, driving a pair of 3Dimensional Services Group-sponsored cars.

“Returning to Sebring is definitely like going back home,” said Lawrence, a native of nearby Orlando. “It gives (me) a real good shot at starting out strong with a new car and a new team. I have a good idea of what the car needs to do to win at Sebring, and if we get the setup right we should be running up front again.

“I’m excited to be teamed up with Doug,” Lawrence added. “I’ve had a lot of respect for him for a long time, and it’s real neat to team up with him and his resources. He had a strong run (to fourth) at Sebring last year, and it would be great to have both of us up on the podium together.”

Sebring’s status as a Trans Am championship-launching race is further bolstered by the record of Amy Ruman, who won the 2015 season opener on her way to becoming Trans Am’s first female champion.

Testing begins on Friday, Feb. 28, for the 60-car entry, with practice and qualifying on Saturday. Sunday includes the TA/XGT/SGT/GT feature at 11:10 a.m. ET, with the TA2 race scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m.

Visit gotransam.com for additional details.

Sebring, TA2, Trans Am, Vintage Motorsport / Historic

 

50 gallon barrels, hay bales, telephone poles, t-shirts, no roll bars........

Fangio and Moss win Sebring 1957

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•Jan 22, 2013

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King Rose Archives
84.2K subscribersMotorpsorts came back with a bang after World War II and the cars got faster and drivers quickly adapted to the increased speeds and improved handling. Two of the standouts in this era, bridged the the pre and post War worlds, Juan Manuel Fangio was the veteran and

a young Stirling Moss was rising to the top. The Maserati team soared to victory at Sebring in 1957 with Moss #20 Maserati coming in second and Fangio and co-driver Jean Behra in the #19 Maserati taking first.

 

Tying some racing history together
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*****************************
Inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame*********************

You Tube

NASCAR Hall of Fame Tour 2013************************

You Tube

NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum Tour... Charlotte, NC



*************************************

Abandoned tracks in Florida area and other places (updated)
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...s-fl-area.html

Bonneville History
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...e-history.html

Daytona History
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...a-history.html

Drag Racing History
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/dr...ml#post9366328

This link has some historic drag racing pics.

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/dr...pics-ever.html


Local historic drag racing track Twin City Oldsmar

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...florida-4.html


Indianapolis History

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...ml#post9373490

24 Hours of Lemans history

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...s-history.html


Lime Rock Park history

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/au...rock-park.html


Pikes Peak racing history
Is Pikes Peak a road Race?


https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...ml#post9362624


History of Race Cars

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...ml#post9370578

Road Racing History
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/g...g-history.html

Sebring history

The way to part 2 "A brief History of Sebring Raceway" is here:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/g...-40-posts.html
-------------------------------------------------
This was the original brief history of Sebring part 1
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/general-car-chat/816701-sebring-raceway-brief-history-part-1-has-now-exceeded-40-posts-115-posts.html
---------------------------------------------------

A bit of stock car racing history

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...ml#post9362625


Tying some Tampa Racing history together with links: Tampa International Raceway (Fair Grounds)

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/ge...l-raceway.html

 

RETRO: Bobby Rahal’s ‘spectacular’ Sebring of 1986

Image by Marshall Pruett
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | March 20, 2021 7:14 AM

Here are four words a team never wants to hear from a driver: “It got very quiet.”

Unfortunately for Bobby Rahal and the BMW North America IMSA GTP program, those words were indeed spoken during the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1986.

Masterfully told by the man whose life would change a few months later after winning the Indianapolis 500, enjoy a long and winding story from Rahal on all that led to the phrase being uttered 35 years ago:

“For a number of years, I tried to get a ride with a BMW,” the Ohioan said. “My old mechanic from Atlantic days, Wiley McCoy, had gone to work for McLaren on the BMW turbo four-cylinder engine. He had been working for Doug Shierson in Michigan, so he went on to McLaren [Engines in the same state] and started up with them, probably ’77, somewhere around there, when [David] Hobbs was driving the BMW and McLaren had a relationship.

“So I’d kept bugging him and anybody I could talk to at BMW to try to get a ride in the car and never [happened]. But in ’85, I guess it would have been, an original partner with Bruce McLaren when they started McLaren Engines and McLaren USA called me up and said, ‘We wonder if you’d be interested in driving the [GTP car] doing the long races like Daytona and Sebring?’ And of course I jumped at it and said, ‘Absolutely!’”

Related

RETRO: 1991 Sebring 12 Hours

RETRO: Mario Andretti on his first F1 win with Ferrari, 50 years ago

RETRO: When IndyCar opened its season in Argentina

Years earlier, and with a total absence of success, BMW dipped its toes in the fiercely contested realm of factory prototype competition in IMSA. Its return, set for 1986 with a customized March chassis from England and the aforementioned BMW four-cylinder turbo motor (which had been taken and slightly detuned from its original Formula 1 specifications), the program held immense potential.

In an era where horsepower was routinely dialed beyond 1000 for qualifying, and just below quadruple digits for the race, Rahal, along with teammates David Hobbs, John Watson, John Andretti, and Davy Jones in the three-car team were armed with the kind of acceleration that few could match.
“It was so fast…it was crazy,” Rahal recalls of the March-BMW. Image by Marshall Pruett

“I was very excited — finally my chance to drive for McLaren and my chance to drive for BMW,” Rahal said. “This is ’86. I’m testing down in Monterey in IndyCar. And I fly all night, get back to Daytona just in time to make the press conference and learn they’re not entering the race after all. On the way down from Detroit, they had stopped at Road Atlanta to do a run-in and what have you, and the car I was going to drive caught fire. It was a pretty substantial fire by all accounts. So they turned around and headed back to Detroit.

“There I am sitting in Daytona Beach with nothing to do so. In the ensuing month and a half or whatever between Daytona and Sebring, they had a fellow who was producing the bodywork for the car, and they figured out, I guess, what had happened with the fire.

“So I go to Sebring and the cars are there, and I’m scheduled to drive with John Watson and Hobbs. I went out and did some laps in practice, and I mean, it was so fast. It was crazy. I think I set the fastest time or second-fastest time in this practice session before qualifying. And I was in traffic! No way it should have been that fast. I go up behind [Al] Holbert in [Porsche] 962…it was just remarkable how powerful that BMW engine was. I could pass anybody at will.”

BMW North America’s speedy new driver on loan from Jim Trueman’s Truesports IndyCar team made quite an impression in his first event with the No. 18 BMW GTP entry…

“They scheduled me to qualify the car,” he said. “This was not the original track, but Turns 1, 2, and 3 were the original. Turn 1 was a very fast left-hand bend; Turn 2 was a very fast left-hand bend, maybe a little bit more of a corner than Turn 1, but still a bend. And then, of course, Turn 3 was a 90 which led into the infield.

“My first lap at speed, I go into Turn 1 flat, and I just kind of braked a little bit in Turn 2, because I wasn’t quite sure. And it was fine. So I went into Turn 1, I said, ‘OK, good. Next lap, we’ll just go through 1 and 2 flat.’

“So I come around and get through 1 good. I’m in 2, I’m flat out. And then all of a sudden, the car snaps and it just gets real quiet and up the car went. Somebody saw it: They said it was about 30 feet in the air.”

Racing on the runways that once formed the Hendricks Army Airfield base, positioned next to an active airport, Rahal went sailing through the sky without knowing how the adventure would end.

“It had just taken off, and then it endoed to Turn 3 — luckily, in the sand beside the track,” he continued. “So the impacts weren’t that hard, but it just kept kind of bouncing, nose to tail, nose to tail. And as I said, it got very quiet. It’s amazing how little sound a car makes when it’s 30 feet off the ground. You’re watching the world go around in front of you, through the windscreen.

“And then you hit once and wait. Hit again, wait; hit again. I was lucky, (the car) doing all of its main gyrations in the sand and in the grass alongside the track. Had it been on the concrete, it probably would have been a bit more shocking.

“It landed upside down. So there I am and these car workers came up, and their eyes were as big as they could ever be. I was going to let my belts off by myself, because I was upside down. But the guy went and grabbed and I yelled, ‘No, no!’ He grabbed and released them, and boom — down on my head. I managed to crawl out and had no real issues other than a mouth full of sand and dirt all over the place and you name it.”
All that power needed a lot of downforce to put to the ground – which made it especially problematic when that downforce was abruptly removed… Image by Marshall Pruett

Despite the lack of photo and video evidence, it didn’t take long for the team to figure out what happened. Like Daytona, BMW North America would not partake in the race.

“The rear bodywork came off in the middle of 2, and it took the wing with it when it went off, so it lost all its downforce,” Rahal said. “Unfortunately, there’s no pictures of it that I know of, but apparently it was pretty spectacular. After that, BMW withdrew their entries. It was a bit of an ignominious debut for the McLaren BMW program, but later on, at Watkins Glen, John Andretti and Davy did win and had some good races.”

After his takeoff and somersaults at Sebring, Rahal’s IndyCar crew chief and team owners checked in with their driver.
Sebring was unnerving but no lasting damage done, and two months later, Rahal won the Indy 500.

“I don’t think Steve Horne and Jim Trueman were too happy with me, because this is, of course, now two months prior to the 500 that we would go on and win. But yeah. That was my brief flirtation with McLaren and with BMW, at least as a driver,” said the current day co-owner of the BMW Team RLL IMSA team.”

“And then of course, poor Wiley. He’d politicked for me to finally get this ride, and said, ‘Then we go out and kill you.’ It was spectacular, I guess would be a good word for it.”

 

Every 12 Hours Of Sebring winners(1950-2021)

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How every winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring sounds throughout the 70 years the race has been held. If you liked this video make sure to like and subscribe to my channel for more car content. If you want to see more car content follow my instagram pages: • Barky_racing_photography_500 For my best car photos
•Mar 21, 2021

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Barky 500
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Tying some racing history together
See last post in thread:
See it before it goes away.