12 Hours of Sebring
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| American Le Mans Series | |
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| Venue | Sebring International Raceway |
| Corporate sponsor | Mobil 1 |
| First race | 1950 |
| First ALMS race | 1999 |
| Duration | 12 hours |
| Most wins (driver) | Tom Kristensen (5) |
| Most wins (team) | Scuderia Ferrari/SpA Ferrari (8) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Porsche (17) |
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida. The event is perennially the opening round of the American Le Mans Series and in the past has been a long-running round of the now defunct World Sportscar Championship and IMSA GT Championship. In 2012, the race hosted the debut of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The race is also known as a leg of the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing, which links the three largest sports car races together in a rough equivalent of Golf or Tennis' Grand Slam with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Rolex 24 at Daytona forming the other legs.
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[edit] History
The track opened in 1950 on an airfield and is a road racing course styled after those used in European Grand Prix motor racing. The race is now considered one of the premier endurance races in the United States and is famous for its "once around the clock" action, starting during the day and finishing at night. For many years Sebring was part of the World Sportscar Championship.
The race has a rich history, as legendary drivers such as Mario Andretti, Briggs Cunningham, Juan Manuel Fangio, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Jacky Ickx, Geoff Brabham, Stirling Moss, John Morton, Steve Millen and Lake Underwood, and manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, MG, Toyota, Jaguar, Cunningham, Audi and Ford have all been victorious.
It is known as an excellent preparation for the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the track's extremely bumpy surface, combined with south-central Florida's perennial hot weather, is a true test of a car's reliability. In recent years, six overall victories have been achieved by the Audi R8, one less than record seven wins of the Porsche 935.
In 2009 Tom Kristensen became the only one who had managed to win the race five times - in 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2009.
[edit] The Event
Fans are allowed to camp inside the green of the race track, starting several days before the actual race. Both general admission and, for a fee, reserved camping exists. RVs and cars are allowed into the track. Fans that show up during the week (and in some cases months before the actual race) can watch the many practice and qualification races, as well as a vintage race. There are several classes of tickets, ranging anywhere from full-access to simply the (usually Saturday) actual race. The tickets are numbered, and there are designated numbered tickets needed to access pit areas, press and spectator boxes, and certain parts of the track.
Within the track is a Midway, containing everything from souvenirs and official merchandise, to hot coffee and cold beer. Attractions are also featured in the midway and differ from year to year; In recent years Spring Break attractions have been set up to draw in college students on break during the week of the race. Radio promotions for the race are not uncommon to hear in Florida weeks before the race, advertising to both race fans and spring breakers. Actor Steve McQueen placed first in his class and placed 2nd Overall, when he raced with a broken foot.
[edit] Race results
In 2005, the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R and Aston Martin DBR9 made their race debut in the hotly contested GT1 class, with Aston Martin winning its class for the first time in 49 years at Sebring ahead of the two Corvettes. Corvette had dominated the class the past three years with its previous generation C5R.
The all-new Audi R10 TDI won the 2006 edition of the race, the car's first ever run in competition. The victory set the stage for an even more momentous win by the R10 in its next race, the Le Mans 24 Hours later in the year. The much-hyped Porsche RS Spyder campaigned by Penske Racing dropped to take 2nd place in its LMP2 class, behind the Intersport Lola car. The GT1 Corvette C6R team got their revenge against the Aston Martin, although the second Corvette came within 1/3 of a second of the podium in the closing laps of the race.
2007 saw Audi again winning in the R10 TDI despite requiring more frequent refueling due to changes in American Le Mans series rules intended to even the field between gasoline and diesel powered engines. In addition to an overall win, Audi also set a track record in 2007 with Marco Werner behind the wheel in qualifying.
[edit] Statistics
| Rank | Constructor | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Porsche |
18 | 1960, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976–1988, 2008 |
| 2 |  Ferrari |
12 | 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961–1964, 1970, 1972, 1995, 1997, 1998 |
| 3 | Audi |
9 | 2000–2007, 2009 |
| 4 |  Nissan |
4 | 1989–1991, 1994 |
| 5 |  Ford |
3 | 1966, 1967, 1969 |
| 6 | Toyota |
2 | 1992, 1993 |
| BMW |
1975, 1999 | ||
 Peugeot |
2010, 2011 | ||
| 9 |  Allard |
1 | 1950 |
| Frazer-Nash |
1952 | ||
| Cunningham |
1953 | ||
| O.S.C.A. |
1954 | ||
| Jaguar |
1955 | ||
| Maserati |
1957 | ||
| Chaparral |
1965 | ||
| Riley & Scott |
1996 |
| Rank | Driver | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Kristensen |
5 | 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2009 |
| 2 | Rinaldo Capello |
4 | 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009 |
| Frank Biela |
2000, 2003, 2004, 2007 | ||
| 4 | Mario Andretti |
3 | 1967, 1970, 1972 |
| Hans-Joachim Stuck |
1975, 1986, 1988 | ||
| Allan McNish |
2004, 2006, 2009 |
[edit] Overall Winners
- ^A The car was in fact, a Porsche 935 K3 that has been modified with a single plug cylinder head and a front nose to resemble a Porsche 934 to comply to IMSA GTO specification.[1]
- ^B These races were stopped for a period of time due to heavy rain and/or accidents. The race clock was not stopped for these periods and counted towards the 12 Hours.
- ^C Race record for most distance covered.
- ^D Technically the race "winner" in 1950 was the Crosley Hot Shot of Fritz Koster / Ralph Deshon, entered by Victor Sharpe Jr. of Tampa. While the Wacker / Burrell Allard did cover more distance, the race was run under the "Index of Performance" handicapping rules and the Crosley, with a much smaller engine than the Cadillac-powered Allard, is listed in the Official Sebring Record Book as the winner.
[edit] References
- ^ Starkey, John. 930 to 935: The Turbo Porsches. Renwick & Starkey Ltd.. ISBN 0-9665094-1-2.
[edit] External links
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