Sebring 12 hour race in 1953

Cunningham C4-R; Phil Walters and John Fitch winning cars

The second Sebring 12-hour race , also Grand Prix, 12 Hours of Sebring, Sebring , took place on March 8, 1953 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the first race in the history of the World Sports Car Championship .

The race

In the spring of 1953, with the introduction of the world championship for sports cars , the FIA made a far-reaching decision, firstly to put the large number of races under one racing system and secondly to create a counterweight to the world championship for Formula 1 vehicles . While the world championship of the Monoposti always honored the victorious driver, this newly created championship should expressly distinguish the brand.

The first race of the season was the Sebring 12-hour race. Few European racing teams came to Florida. Aston Martin brought two DB3s and the young aspiring driver Peter Collins to the circuit. For the two Americans Phil Hill and Masten Gregory , this race was the first major international appearance. The victory went to their compatriots Phil Walters and John Fitch , who set a new distance record on a Cunningham C4-R .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	E 8.0	57	Briggs Cunningham	Phil Walters John Fitch	Cunningham C4-R	173
2	S 3.0	30th	Aston Martin Ltd.	George Abecassis Reginald Parnell	Aston Martin DB3	172
3	S 5.0	74	Kind of Feuerbacher	Sherwood Johnston Bob Wilder	Jaguar C-Type	162
4th	S 5.0	311	David Hirsch	Bob versus Harry Gray	Jaguar C-Type	155
5	S 1.5	59	Briggs Cunningham	Briggs Cunningham Bill Lloyd	OSCA MT4 1350	153
6th	S 2.0	49	EP Lunken	Ed Lunken Charles Hassan	Ferrari 166MM	153
7th	S 5.0	38	Jack Pry Ltd.	Charles Wallace Chuck Sarle	Jaguar XK 120	151
8th	S 3.0	45	Peter S. Young	Peter Yung Robert Yung	Ferrari 225S	148
9	S 1.1	91	James Simpson	James Simpson George Colby	OSCA MT4 1100	146
10	S 5.0	28	J. Kaplan	Jake Kaplan Russ Boss	Jaguar XK 120M	144
11	S 750	10	Hobart Cook	René Bonnet Wade Morehouse	DB HBR	143
12	S 5.0	18th	Walt Hansgen	Walt Hansgen Donald McKnought	Jaguar XK 120	142
13	S 1.5	4th	German Bonnet	David Ash Frank Ahrens	MG special	135
14th	S 2.0	50	Wojciech Kloaczkowski	Philip Smyth Bob Said	Frazer Nash Mille Miglia	134
15th	S 1.5	53	James Shields	James Shields Bob McKinsey	MG TD	132
16	S 1.5	42	William Wellenberg Jr.	William Wellenberg Jr. William Wonder	MG TD	132
17th	S 5.0	29	Fred Dagaver	Fred Dagaver Al Garz	Jaguar XK 120	132
18th	S 1.5	42	Paul Hessler	Harry Beck Paul Devaney	Siata 300BC	132
19th	S 1.5	44	Fred F. Allen	Fred Allen Robert Longworth	MG special	127
20th	S 750	56	Thomas Scatchard	Thomas Scatchard Harry Wessells	Siata 300BC	132
21st	S 1.1	27	Robert T. Keller	Paul Farago Lou Torco	Siata 300BC hard top	123
22nd	S 750	111	George F. Schrafft	George Schrafft Jim Hamlett	Palm Beach special	119
23	S 3.0	55	Mike Rothschild	Mike Rothschild Jack Nile	Morgan Plus 4	119
24	S 1.5	42	Jack Burkhard	Arnold Stubbs Jack McAfee	Allard J2	116
25th	S 1.5	6th	Rees T. Makins	Rees Makins Frank Bott	OSCA MT4 1100	115
26th	S 5.0	15th	Jack Shepperd	George Huntoon Phil Stiles	Jaguar C-Type	114
27	S 2.0	64	Walter von Schoenfeld	Walter von Schoenfeld René Soulas	Maserati A6GCS	110
28	S 1.5	14th	Alan Patterson	Alan Patterson Hubert Brundage	MG special	99
29	S 5.0	16	George E. Tilp	Randolph Pearsall Morris Carroll	Jaguar XK 120	94
30th	S 5.0	51	Walter S. Gray	Walter Gray Dale Duncan	Allard J2	94
31	S 1.1	37	Jack Pry Ltd.	Stephen Spitler Roger Wing	Morris Minor	93
32	S 1.1	11	Paul Ceresole	Paul Ceresole Logan Hill	Cisitalia Spider	88
33	S 3.0	2	Brooks Stevens	Hal Ullrich Dick Irish	Excalibur J.	86
34	S 5.0	23	Charles M. Schott	Charles Schott John van Driel	Excalibur J.	63
Disqualified
35	S 3.0	24	Hobart Cook	Hobart Cook André Moynet	DB HBR	130
36	S 2.0	48	Fritz Koster	Fritz Koster Jorge Daponte	Maserati A6GCS	15th
Failed
37	P.3 0	5	Jim Kimberly	Jim Kimberly Marshall Lewis	Ferrari 225S	95
38	S 1.5	60	Dickson Yates	William Kinchloe Dickson Yates	MG TD
39	S 1.5	80	Richard Toland	Richard Toland Howard Hanna	Porsche 356
40	S 2.0	62	Ray Leibensperger	Ray Leibensperger Howard Class	MG special	78
41	S 750	39	Speedcraft Enterprises	William Eager Otto Linton	Siata Amica special	63
42	S 3.0	8th	William Spear	Bill Spear Phil Hill	Ferrari 225S	56
43	S 5.0	19th	Austin L. Conley	Norman Christianson Austin Conley	Jaguar XK 120	56
44	S 3.0	31	Aston Martin Ltd.	Peter Collins Geoffrey Duke	Aston Martin DB3	52
45	S 8.0	98	Erwin Goldschmidt	Erwin Goldschmidt Paul O'Shea	Healey Silverstone	45
46	S 1.5	33	René Bonnet	Bernard Cahier Miles Collier	DB HBR	37
47	S 2.0	58	Briggs Cunningham	Charles Moran John Gordon Bennett	Frazer Nash Targa Florio	28
48	S 750	26th	Ralph Deshon	Ealph Deshon Don Quackenbush	Crosley special	25th
49	S 5.0	66	Paul Ramos	Paul Ramos Tony Cumming	Allard J2X	20th
50	S 8.0	46	Masts Gregory	Masts Gregory Tom Newcomer	Allard J2X	16
51	S 8.0	97	Mark B. Deitsch	Bob Said Beau Clarke	Allard J2X	9
52	S 3.0	3	Brooks Stevens	Ralph Knudson Jim Field	Excalibur J.	4th
53	S 1.0	1	Stuart Donaldson	Tony Bonadie's George Rice	Frazer Nash Le Mans MK2	2
54	S 2.0	9	Stuart Donaldson	Johnnie Rogers Russ Sure	Frazer Nash Le Mans	2
Not started
55	S 750	70	George Sanderson	George Sanderson NJ Coscoros	Crosley Hot Shot	1
56	S 1.5	21st	Larry Kulok	Larry Kulok Harry Gray	Porsche 356 1500 Super	2
57	S 1.1	41	Randolph Pearsall	Randolph Pearsall William Eager	Cisitalia Spider	3
58	S 5.0	65	Bill Lloyd	Bill Lloyd Tom Cole	Ferrari 340 America	4th
59	S 5.0	75	Cameron Argetsinger	Cameron Argetsinger Miles Collier	Jaguar XK120	5

¹ engine damage in training ² gearbox damage in training ³ engine damage in training ⁴ engine damage in training ⁵ engine damage in training

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
60	S 5.0	5	Jim Kimberly	Jim Kimberly Marshall Lewis	Ferrari 340 America
61	S 2.0	7th	Robert Grier	Robert Grier René Dreyfus	Frazer Nash Mille Miglia
62	S 1.5	8th	Bill Spear	Bill Spear Ritter von Kreidner	OSCA MT4
63	S 2.0	10	Hubert Brundage	Hubert Brundage Ira Brundage	VW Aero Roadster
64	S 5.0	12	Dick Thompson	Dick Thompson William Kinchloe	Hash-Healey Series 25
65	S 750	20th	Charles Hassan	Charles Hassan Beau Clarke	Bandini
66	S 5.0	22nd	Cameron Argetsinger	Cameron Argetsinger	Jaguar C-Type
67	S 3.0	34	Amédée Gordini	Robert Manzon Jean Lucas	Gordini T15S
68	S 1.5	40	Robert Bird	Kasimir Krag-Kraczkiewicz Robert Bird	MG TD
69	S 5.0	43	David Haber	David Haber	Jaguar XK120M
70	S 1.5	46	Frank O'Hare	Frank O'Hare	MG TC
71	S 1.5	47	Antonio Pompeo	Antonio Pompeo Franco Bornigia	Siata
72	S 1.5	50	Wojciech Kolaczkowski	Phil Smyth Wojciech Kolaczkowski	Porsche 356
73	S 1.5	52	Jack Morton	Jack Morton Al Trager	HRG
74	S 1.5	54	George Moffett	George Moffett Steve Lansing	OSCA MT4
75	S 8.0	58	Briggs Cunningham	John Fitch Phil Walters	Cunningham C4-R
76	S 8.0	62	George Harris	George Harris Lester Smalley	Allard J2
77	S 1.5	65	Bill Lloyd	Bill Lloyd George Weaver	Lester
78	S 1.5	77	William Vaughan	William Vaughan Gus Ehrman	Singer SM1500
79	S 1.5	78	William Vaughan	William Vaughan	Singer SM1500
80	S 1.5	89	Martin Block	Martin Block Peter Block	MG TD
81	S 8.0	98	Erwin Goldschmidt	Erwin Goldschmidt Paul O'Shea	Allard J2

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Sports cars from 5001–8000 cm³	Phil Walters	John Fitch	Cunningham C4-R	Overall victory
Sports cars from 3001–5000 cm³	Sherwood Johnston	Bob Wilder	Jaguar C-Type	Rank 3
Sports car from 2001-3000 cm³	Reginald Parnell	George Abecassis	Aston Martin DB3	Rank 2
Sports cars from 1501–2000 cm³	Ed Lunken	Charles Haasan	Ferrari 166MM	Rank 6
Sports cars from 1101–1500 cm³	Briggs Cunningham	Bill Lloyd	Osca MT4 1350	Rank 5
Sports cars from 751–1100 cm³	James Simpson	George Colby	Osca MT4 1100	Rank 9
Sports car under 750 cm³	René Bonnet	Wade Morehouse	DB HBR	Rank 11

Racing data

• Registered: 81
• Started: 54
• Rated: 34
• Race classes: 7
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: cold and cloudy, but dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 173
• Total distance of the winning team: 1447.766 km
• Winner's average: 120.540 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: John Fitch - Cunningham C4-R (# 57)
• Racing series: 1st round of the 1953 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• Ken Breslauer: Sebring. The official History of America's Great Sports Car Race. David Bull, Cambridge MA 1995, ISBN 0-9649722-0-4 .

Previous race: None

Sports car world championship

Successor race Mille Miglia 1953