By Chip Robinson

Sebring - I love this place. Some drivers may think I am crazy, and I may be, but I love Sebring. The format is great. 12 Hours is long enough to be a true endurance test but not so long you feel as if you are being ground up and spit out. The tradition is second to none as this is the 60th anniversary.

The first time I came here to run the 12 hour course was in 1985 with Group 44 Jaguars. I drove with Bob Tullius while Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman drove the other car. The track was much different then as the pit straight was longer and we used the parking ramp and taxi way in front of the airport terminal as part of the track. This is one reason Sebring has a reputation of being tough on cars. That old concrete would just beat the cars apart. When you were on the runway parts of the track, it was wide open and not very clearly defined. Piles of tires would identify the apex of the corners and white lines painted on the concrete would mark the sides. I remember coming up on Dieter Quester who was in one of Busby's BFG 962's and we both arrived at one of those piles of tires at the same time. I did not fair well.

The track then changed as it has many times over its history. No more parking ramp and taxiways in front of the terminal although the back straight was still an old runway. Turn 1 funneled down to a traditional track width from the extra wide concrete sections and remains the same today. A very fast and challenging corner as it is blind due to the concrete barrier lining the inside. I remember one night coming into turn one and feeling a bump from behind. I did not know it at the time but it was Raul Boesel trying to pass me on the inside. This time I came out unharmed and I think I went on to win that year (1989). The Nissan was flawless and as I recall we ran an incredibly fast pace the whole 12 hours.

For a while I held the record for number of pole positions at Sebring. One qualifying was memorable as it was in wet conditions. It also was in the Nissan and for most of the session I was an amazing two seconds quicker than everyone! In the last few minutes of qualifying Geoff Brabham, my teammate at the time, but on slicks and was able to get close but I managed to keep the pole position.

Two races stick in my memory. The first was in 1987 while driving the Lowenbrau 962 for Holbert Racing. Going into the last corner I had just passed Rahal who was running 2nd in the Bayside 962 to put them a lap down and as I accelerated out onto the pit straight the turbo let go. I had to limp around the whole lap as I had just missed the pit entrance. Kevin Doran and the crew did a great job replacing the turbo but we lost about 5 laps as I recall. I still managed a second place finish but I will always remember Al's understated comment afterward, " I guess we should have put a new one on before the race."

The other race was in the Nissan. I was again in the lead and it was raining. I remember it was dark. The ignition box got wet and we lost time in the pits. It was a very disappointing race. Derek Daly, Geoff Brabham and I think Arie Luyendyk went on to win in the other Nissan. It is funny how the ones that slip away I remember better than the one I won!

I am proud to be part of Sebring history and I hope there are at least another 60 years.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. WISH I COULD BE THERE!

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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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Allan McNish

I have many memories of Sebring, good and bad, but that is only in terms of the racing. That usually tends to go by race results. From my point of view Sebring 2009 is probably one of my best races in my career, it was fighting all the way to the end against Peugeot. The last two hours I had to pull everything out of the bag to make sure that the Audi R15 TDI won its first ever race. I could also look back to 2006 and the pole position with the first diesel, the R10 TDI, and to give the car its first victory, with Tom, Dindo and I, it was really incredible.

But the biggest impression Sebring has made on me is the crowd, the 180,000 or so fans that turn up. The way they create such a carnival, they make this an annual event. The way they get into the spirit of this unique race is just……fantastic. there is no other way to put it.

I do love that at the autograph session you see the weird and the wonderful; someone dressed as The Stig’s very fat brother, then there are the lawyers dressed up as cows, everyone coming along with their families and friends, all being part of this great event.

As a single story, probably the biggest thing that has brought me into this scene was going to Turn Ten, for a photo shoot with John Brooks, one year (2004). To see that there is a club at Turn Ten, where they have made their own grandstands, they have made their own bar, their own restaurant, in effect they have cornered a section of the track as their own territory. They return there every year, like a pilgrimage. They have their own entrance ticket effectively, which is a key ring and I am pleased to say I have been able to build up a collection of Turn Ten key rings over the years. To see the commitment that these guys have put into enjoying the 12 Hours of Sebring certainly matches the commitment that Audi Sport and every other team makes to win the race, that makes Sebring special.

Allan McNish, November 2011

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