SEBRING 2012
WILL BE A CLASSIC!
60th ANNIVERSARY 12 HOUR CLASSIC OPENS THE FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sebring International Raceway will host the opening round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. America's premier sports car endurance race runs on Saturday, March 17.
Sebring will also open the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and mark the return of the FIA to the birthplace of its endurance racing heritage - Sebring hosted the first FIA World Championship race for sports cars in 1953.
"Sebring's 60th anniversary year will certainly be something special with the addition of the FIA World Endurance Championship," stated Sebring Raceway President and General Manager Tres Stephenson. "This brings to Sebring the leading cars and drivers that compete in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race in addition to our stellar lineup of ALMS teams."
In 1953, a Cunningham C4R built in West Palm Beach, Florida by Briggs Cunningham and driven by John Fitch and Phil Walters won the Sebring 12 Hours. For the next 20 years, Sebring would be part of the FIA World Championship for sports cars.
"History repeats itself at Sebring 2012," added Stephenson. "The new FIA World Endurance Championship begins at Sebring, America's greatest sports car race, just as it did 58 years ago."
Audi, Peugeot, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda are expected to be among the top prototype contenders, while Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and Aston Martin will lead a large contingent of GT entries. Over 60 cars are expected to start the race, including the radical new DeltaWing entry.
Gates open at Sebring on Wednesday, March 14th. Tickets to the 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida can be ordered online or by calling 800-626-7223.
The 60 Years of Sebring POSTER
"The 60 Years of Sebring" poster by artist Roger Warrick shows all 59 winners of America's greatest sports car race. Only 600 copies of the poster will be sold. It measures 36 x 15 inches. Prices is $30 (includes postage) and can be ordered directly from Sebring International Raceway, or purchased at the event.
INAUGURAL SEBRING HISTORICS
SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 25-28, 2012
Sebring International Raceway announced the addition of the Sebring Historics event to the 2012 calendar. In conjunction with the 60th anniversary celebration of the Sebring 12 hour classic, the track is creating an annual event to honor the historic cars that have competed on the legendary circuit. Participation is open to all vintage and historic cars meeting the usual eligibility criteria for these types of events.
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AUDI TESTS LMP1 SPORTS CAR FOR 2012
Sebring, FL, December 17, 2011 - Audi Sport is intensively preparing for the 2012
sports prototype season. A test team has started the next trial phase of the LMP1
sports car for the 2012 season in the United States this week.
After the previous tests of the further development of this year's Le Mans winning
car took place behind closed doors, Audi is now going into public at a race track for
the first time. Since this Saturday, Audi Sport has been running tests with two
vehicles at the Sebring (Florida) circuit. The second LMP1 sports car serves to
compare the test results. Taking turns at the wheel of the two development vehicles
are the 2011 Le Mans winners, the Swiss Marcel Fäessler, the German André Lotterer
and the Frenchman Benoît Tréluyer. Also involved in the tests are Dindo Capello,
Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, who were last victorious at Le Mans in 2008.
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By Wayne Baker - 1983 Sebring Winner
"My favorite Sebring memory was the last half hour of the 1983 race. I was at the wheel of the #9 Porsche 934 for the last stretch of the race. Due to the rough conditions of the track and the constant pounding lap after lap for 10 hours, it finally took its toll on the car because the right front suspension had collapsed and the car was extremely difficult to drive.
I radioed my crew chief, Greg Elliff, that I needed to come in so that the crew could look the car over to see if there was anything that could be done to the suspension to make the car more drivable. But unknown to me, we were leading overall and Greg did not want to relay this to me because he thought I might get too excited and make a mistake that could cost us the lead.
Bob Akin's #5 Coke Cola 935, which had previous mechanical issues was in hot pursuit with only minutes left to go in the race. Greg kept saying "no, don't come in, keep driving. When you come by pit lane, go slow and I'll see if I can see anything obvious that might be wrong".
So I did that for a few laps until the finish. When I finally crossed under the checkered flag, I believed I had just brought the car home to the GTO victory and Greg told me to go to victory lane. I was ecstatic that I had driven to victory in GTO. That's when Greg informed me that we were the 1983 12 Hours of Sebring overall winners. We were the first GTO team to accomplish this amazing feat. What a victory!
It's a good thing that I listened to Greg and didn't bring the car in because Akin's Porsche was only 94 seconds behind to finish in 2nd place. Last note, when loading the car into the transporter after the race, the suspension fell off the car. It's a good thing the race ended when it did!"
Wayne Baker (co-drivers Jim Mullen, Kees Nierop)
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Sebring 1978 - Brian Redman's Comeback Win
Charles Mendez became the new promoter at Sebring, replacing John Greenwood. Mendez also co-drove a Porsche 935 with Bob Garretson and Brian Redman, who was returning to action after a serious accident in a Can-Am race the previous year.
Porsche was again the big favorite, but it was BMW earning the pole position with David Hobbs driving a 320i. A total of 76 cars were on the starting grid.
The race eventually became a battle between the Porsche 935 driven by Hurley Haywood and Bob Hagestad and the Dick Barbour entry driven by Mendez/Redman/Garrteson. Both cars stayed on the same lap for most of the race, and it was the Barbour car winning by 90 seconds. Brian Redman had recorded a historic win in his comeback, and promoter Charles Mendez won his own race.
Porsche won the GTO and GTU classes, while a Buick Skylark won the American Challenge class.
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SEBRING URBAN LEGENDS: FACT or FICTION?
