Sebring 12 hour race in 1952

Entrance to the Sebring International Raceway

Sebring's first 12-hour race , also known as The Sebring International Grand Prix of Endurance, Sebring, Florida , took place on March 15, 1952 at the Sebring International Raceway .

The race

After the Sam Collier Memorial Race, which was held in Sebring on December 31, 1950 , the organizer Alec Ulmann invested two years in organizing another international sports car race on the airfield runway. Ulmann negotiated for a long time with the SCCA - the American sports car club, under whose patronage the 500-mile race in Indianapolis took place - in order to achieve international status. When the contracts were signed, however, the SCCA granted a second 12-hour race: At the Vero Beach airfield , just 60 miles east of Sebring and just a week before Ulmann's race.

The course in Sebring was adapted and now comprised an 8.3-kilometer route with 17 corners. Ulmann had 75 entries and expected 30,000 spectators on race day. But the Vero Beach race almost thwarted his plans. Many participants who started there were unable to contest the race in Sebring for various reasons. Briggs Cunningham failed to get his new sports cars ready in time for the race and just put in an old Siata . As a driver, he contested the race as a partner of William Spear on his Ferrari . Jim Kimberly , the winner of Vero Beach, was also absent, although he was registered. Ultimately, Ulman was able to show 32 vehicles. Including two racing cars from Europe. René Bonnet came to Florida with two German Bonnets to take part in the race. The number of spectators also fell far short of expectations at just under 7,000.

The start of the race had to be postponed by an hour after a violent thunderstorm. When the starting flag finally lowered at 1:05 p.m. local time, Spear immediately took the lead in his Ferrari. The duo Cunningham / Spear dominated the first half of the race until a broken suspension put an end to their ambitions. Sun won Larry Kulok and Harry Gray on a pre-war - Frazer Nash .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	E.	9	Stuart Donaldson	Larry Kulok Harry Gray	Frazer Nash LM Replica	145
2	C.	23	Charles Schott	Charles Schott Morris Carroll	Jaguar XK 120	139
3	F.	1	Robert Fergus	Dick Irish Robert Fergus	Siata 1400 GS	138
4th	E.	57		Robert O'Brien Richard Cicurel	Ferrari 166MM	137
5	C.	89	Jack Pry Ltd.	Chuck Wallace Dick Yates	Jaguar XK 120	137
6th	F.	4th	John van Driel	Dave Ash John van Driel	MG MK II special	133
7th	H	25th	German Bonnet	Steve Lansing Wade Morehouse René Bonnet	German Bonnet	130
8th	F.	2	Dick Thompson	Dick Thompson Bill Kinchloe	MG TD	129
9	D.	7th	Gus Ehrman	Gus Ehrman Bob Wilder	Morgan Plus 4	128
10	F.	52	Randy Pearsall	Walt Hansgen Randy Pearsall	MG TD	128
11	F.	10	HL Brundage	Herbert Brundage I. Brundage	Volkswagen special	128
12	F.	5		Frank O'Hare Frank Allen	MG TD	125
13	H	24	German Bonnet	René Bonnet Hobart Cook	German Bonnet	101
14th	H	40		George Schrafft David Vial	Crosley	94
15th	G	26th	John Guilford Motors	Roger Wing Stephen Spitler	Morris Minor	75
16	H	50	George Sanderson	George Sanderson	Crosley Hot Shot	72
17th	C.	15th	Fred Dagaver	Johnnie Rodgers Fred Dagaver	Jaguar XK 120	64
Failed
18th		47		J. Greenwood Paul Ceresole	Cisitalia Spyder	105
19th		11	Bob Grier	Bob Grier Myke Collins	Allard J2	73
20th		39	Otto Linton	Otto Linton Thomas Scatchard	Siata	67
21st		54		N. Patton Bruce Bailey	MG TD	63
22nd		51		Beau Clarke Charles Hassan	Bandini	55
23		8th	William Spear	Bill Spear Briggs Cunningham	Ferrari 340 America	51
24		12		Paul Ramos Tony Cumming	MG TC	45
25th		45		Gary McDonald B. Kennedy	Jaguar XK 120	37
26th		22nd	Briggs Cunningham	George Huntoon Phil Stiles	Siata 300BC	31
27		38	Dave Hirsch	Dave Hirsch Bob Against	Aston Martin DB2	29
28		28		James Simpson George Colby	Ferrari 160MM	26th
29		29		Jim Keeley J. Norcross	MG TC	20th
30th		18th		Joe Ferguson	Siata 1400GS	14th
31		43		Freddy Clifford	MG TD	4th
32		54		Rex Easton	Mercury	1
Not started
33	S 1.5	16		Joseph Ferguson Ernie Erickson	Siata Daina 1400 berlinetta	1

¹ not started

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
34	G	14th		Franck Bott Rees Makins	Cisitalia Spyder
35	B.	17th		Tom Cole Paul O'Shea	Allard J2X
36	B.	21st	Briggs Cunningham	Phil Walters John Fitch	Cunningham C4-R
37	F.	31		Fritz Koster Al Koster	Porsche 356 1500 Super
38	D.	55	Jim Kimberly	Jim Kimberly Marshall Lewis	Ferrari 225S
39	B.	98	Erwin Goldschmidt	Erwin Goldschmidt Bret Hannaway	Allard J2X

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Class C	Charles Schott	Morris Carroll		Jaguar XK 120	Rank 2
Class D.	Gus Ehrman	Bob Wilder		Morgan Plus 4	Rank 9
Class E.	Larry Kulok	Harry Gray		Frazer Nash LM	Overall victory
Class F	Dick Irish	Robert Fergus		Siata 1400 GS	Rank 3
Class G	Robert Wing	Stephen Spliter		Morris Minor	Rank 16
Class H	Steve Lansing	Wade Morehouse	René Bonnet	German Bonnet	Rank 7

Racing data

• Registered: 39
• Started: 33
• Valued: 17
• Race classes: 6
• Spectators: 7000
• Race day weather: rain in the first hour of the race, then cloudy and warm
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 145
• Total distance of the winning team: 1213.445 km
• Winner's average: 101.067 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Bill Spear - Ferrari 340 America (# 8)
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• Ken Breslauer: Sebring - The Official History of America's Great Sports Car Race David Bull, ISBN 0-9649722-0-4 .