Sebring 12 hour race in 1954

Osca MT4 1450; Bill Lloyd and Stirling Moss winning cars

The third 12-hour race at Sebring , and 12 hours Sebring Florida International 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance at Sebring, Sebring , found on March 7, 1954, the Sebring International Raceway place and was the second championship round of the World Sportscar Championship this Year.

The race

After only three years, the first race was held in 1952, the endurance race on the former airport site near Sebring had developed into the most important international sports car race in the USA. Since 1953 the event has also been part of the sports car world championship. With 89 entries, the race achieved a record number of inquiries. Lancia came to Florida from Europe with four works cars . All four were D24 , of which only one vehicle made it into the final standings. The car with start number 59, driven by Dominican men’s driver and playboy Porfirio Rubirosa and the Italian Luigi Valenzano , who was rated as the slowest works car by the motorsport journalists present, came in second. Piero Taruffi and Robert Manzon were disqualified for unauthorized pushing; the car of Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi had a brake failure, and Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti retired after a fracture of the rear axle.

The Scuderia Ferrari were reports from two vehicles, but did not appear to practice and race. At the start, however, was Maserati with a Maserati A6GCS / 53 that was driven by Luigi Musso and Ferdinando Gatta . This vehicle also had a brake defect. The US motorsport press welcomed the fact that Aston Martin racing director John Wyer made one of his three works cars available to the Americans Carroll Shelby and Charles Wallace ; however, none of the three DB3S saw the checkered flag.

Briggs Cunningham reported three different racing cars. A Cunningham C4-R , a Ferrari 375MM and, in the 1.5-liter sports car class, an Osca MT4 driven by Bill Lloyd and Stirling Moss . Cunningham was able to engage Moss at short notice, who had to take a seat in the small Osca due to an existing Jaguar contract, which forbade him to work with an adequately large-capacity vehicle from another manufacturer.

The race took place under adverse external conditions. Sometimes there was heavy rain, which made driving conditions difficult. This fact favored the smaller vehicles, as the powerful but also heavy cars had trouble mastering the power of the engines. This fact was also reflected in the final ranking. Three 1.5-liter Osca were among the top five in the overall standings. Victory went to Lloyd and Moss, five laps ahead of the aforementioned Lancia D24.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S 1.5	56	Briggs Cunningham	Bill Lloyd Stirling Moss	OSCA MT4 1450	168
2	S 5.0	59	Scuderia Lancia	Porfirio Rubirosa Luigi Valenzano	Lancia D24	163
3	S 3.0	29	Donald Healey Motor Co.	Lance Macklin George Huntoon	Austin-Healey 100	102
4th	S 1.5	91	James Simpson	James Simpson George Colby	OSCA MT4 1450	163
5	S 1.5	61	Speedcraft Enterprises	Otto Linton Harry Beck	OSCA MT4 1350	161
6th	S 2.0	97	WK Carpenter	WK Carpenter John van Driel	Kieft sports	158
7th	S 2.0	41	Richard Cicurel	Richard Cicurel Jim Pauley	Siata 208S	155
8th	S 1.1	65	Rees Makins	Rees Makins Frank Bott	OSCA MT4 1100	152
9	S 5.0	15th	Jake Kaplan	Jake Kaplan Russ Boss	Jaguar XK 120	151
10	S 1.5	49	Fernando Segaura	Fernando Segura Daimo Bojanich	Porsche 550	144
11	S 1.5	54	Fred Allen	Fred Allen Gus Ehrman	Kieft sports	144
12	S 1.5	62	Richard Toland	Richard Toland Charles Devaney	Denzel 1300 Super	142
13	S 5.0	9	AF Young	AF Young Jack Morton	Jaguar XK 120	142
14th	S 5.0	18th	Fred Dagaver	Fred Dagaver Henry Fanelli	Jaguar XK 120	141
15th	S 1.5	50	Hubert Brundage	Hubert Brundage William Simpson	Porsche 356 America Roadster	141
16	S 8.0	2	Walter Gray	Walter Gray Chuck Hall	Allard J2	141
17th	S 3.0	32	Brooks Stevens	Jim Field Robert Gary	Excalibur J.	141
18th	S 1.5	46	Evans Hunt	Howard Hanna Evans Hunt	Porsche 550	136
19th	S 750	74	CJ Davis	Ken Heavlin CJ Davis	DB HBR	129
20th	S 1.1	67	John Bentley	John Bentley Guy Atkins	Siata E	127
21st	S 1.1	66	Austin Conley	Austin Conley Norman Christianson	Siata E	126
22nd	S 5.0	64	Carlton Wilson	Carlton Wilson Bob Kennedy	Jaguar XK 120	124
23	S 5.0	12	Charles Schott	Charles Schott Dave Michaels	Jaguar XK 120	111
24	S 2.0	35	Alan Patterson	Alan Patterson Jim Hendricks	Triumph TR2	103
25th	S 1.5	57	George Moffett	George Moffett Bob Said	OSCA MT4 1450	102
Disqualified
26th	S 5.0	38	Scuderia Lancia	Piero Taruffi Robert Manzon	Lancia D24	161
27	S 5.0	10	Frank Miller	John Gordon Bennett Trevor McKenna	Jaguar C-Type	113
Failed
28	S 5.0	19th	Fred Dagaver	Al Garz Len Lesko	Jaguar XK 120	134
29	S 8.0	1	Briggs Cunningham	Briggs Cunningham Sherwood Johnston	Cunningham C4-R	104
30th	S 5.0	5	Briggs Cunningham	Phil Walters John Fitch	Ferrari 375MM	104
31	S 1.5	99	Erwin Goldschmidt	Victor Duke Steve Lansing	Kieft sports	88
32	S 5.0	37	Scuderia Lancia	Alberto Ascari Luigi Villoresi	Lancia D24	87
33	S 5.0	17th	John Ellwood	John Schmitt Jack German	Jaguar XK 120	82
34	S 3.0	42	Aston Martin Ltd.	Charles Wallace Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DB3S	77
35	S 2.0	25th	Don McKnought	Don McKnought William Eager	Maserati A6GCS	67
36	S 1.5	100	Gleb Derujinsky	Gleb Derujinsky Don Underwood	Kieft sports	65
37	S 5.0	14th	Conrad Janis	Conrad Janis James Daley	Jaguar XK 120	65
38	S 5.0	7th	William Spear	Bill Spear Phil Hill	Ferrari 375MM	60
39	S 1.5	48	James Graham	James Graham J. Stimpson	Porsche 550	57
40	S 5.0	36	Scuderia Lancia	Juan Manuel Fangio Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia D24	51
41	S 2.0	44	George McClellan	Larry Kulok Harry Gray	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica	50
42	S 1.5	58	William Brewster	William Brewster Henry Rudkin	OSCA MT4 1450	47
43	S 2.0	40	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Luigi Musso Ferdinando Gatta	Maserati A6GCS / 53	47
44	S 3.0	30th	James Brundage	James Brundage John Orr	Austin-Healey 100	36
45	S 5.0	11	Walt Hansgen	Walt Hansgen Paul Timmins	Jaguar C-Type	28
46	S 1.5	59	Howard Hanna	William Franklin Ned Curtis	MG Magnette	27
47	S 3.0	45	Harry Schell	Harry Schell Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari 250MM Vignale	26th
48	S 3.0	24	Aston Martin Ltd.	Peter Collins Pat Griffith	Aston Martin DB3S	26th
49	S 5.0	8th	AF Young	Peter Sparacino Raymond Osborne	Jaguar XK 120	25th
50	S 3.0	23	Aston Martin Ltd.	Reg Parnell Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin DB3S	24
51	S 750	70	Miles Collier	Bret Hannaway Miles Collier	Bandini	21st
52	S 3.0	26th	William Wellenberg	William Wellenberg William Wonder	Austin-Healey 100	20th
53	S 3.0	33	Mike Rothschild	Mike Rothschild George Hunt	Healey Silverstone	17th
54	S 750	689	Isabelle Haskell	Roger Wing Karl Brocken	Siata 308BC	17th
55	S 750	72	George Schrafft	Phil Stiles George Schrafft	Palm Beach Special	16
56	S 3.0	31	Brook Stevens	Hal Ullrich Ham Reidy	Excalibur J.	10
57	S 8.0	98	Erwin Goldschmidt	Erwin Goldschmidt Johnny Rocco	Allard J2R	9
58	S 3.0	27	Joseph Guibardo	Joseph Guibardo Phil Smyth	Austin-Healey 100	3
59	S 3.0	28	Brook Stevens	Dick Irish Ralph Knudson	Excalibur J.	1
Not started
60	S 3.0	20th	George Tilp	Randolph Pearsall George Tilp Walt Hansgen	Aston Martin DB2	1
61	S 1.5	20th	John Ellwood	John Schmidt John German	Porsche 550	2
62	S 1.5	63	Dickson Yates	Dickson Yates Duncan Black	MG TC	3
63	S 5.0	T	Scuderia Lancia	Porfirio Rubirosa Luigi Valenzano Piero Taruffi Robert Manzon Alberto Ascari Luigi Villoresi Juan Manuel Fangio Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia D24	4th
64	S 350	75	Bill Wood	Bill Wood John Moncur	Rex Mercury Marine	5

¹ Damage to the power transmission ² not started ³ no oil pressure ⁴ training trolley ⁵ technical inspection failed

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
65	S 5.0		Jack Sheppard	George Huntoon Miles Collier	Jaguar XK 120C
66	S 5.0		David Hirsch	David Hirsch	Jaguar XK 120C
67	S 5.0		Arthur Feuerbacher	Charles Wallace Roger Wing	Jaguar XK 120C
68	S 5.0		Allen Guiberson	Allen Guiberson	Ferrari 340MM
69	S 5.0		Jim Kimberly	Jim Kimberly Ed Lunken	Ferrari 340 America
70	S 5.0		Arthur Feuerbacher	Dick Thompson William Kinchloe	Jaguar XK 120C
71	S 2.0		Robert Grier	Robert Grier René Dreyfus	Frazer Nash Mille Miglia
72	S 5.0		Scuderia Ferrari	José Froilán González Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari 375MM
73	S 2.0		Harry Schell	Alfonso de Portago Harry Schell	Maserati A6GCS
74	S 5.0		Scuderia Ferrari	Giuseppe Farina Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 375 Plus
75	S 8.0		Bob Said	Bob Said	Kurtis 500S
76	S 3.0		Bruce Bailey	Bruce Bailey	Austin-Healey 100
77	S 1.1		Annie Bousquet	Annie Bousquet Gilberte Thirion	Gordini T17S
78	S 1.5			Richard Hagy Huggett	Volkswagen 1200
79	S 2.0		Jim Robinson	Jim Robinson	Arnolt Bolide
80	S 750		German & Bonnet	François Crouzet Wade Morehouse	DB HBR
81	S 5.0	3	David Hirsch		Ferrari 375 Plus
82	S 5.0	6th	Peter Yung	Peter Yung Robert Yung	Ferrari 375 Plus
83	S 5.0	8th	AF Young Jr.	Austin Yung Jack Morton	Chevrolet Corvette
84	S 3.0	21st	Robert Publicker	Robert Publicker Henry Wessells	Ferrari 250MM
85	S 2.0	45	Paul Ceresole	Paul Ceresole	Kieft sports
86	S 1.5	47	Howard Hanna	Evans Hunt James Carson	Porsche 550
87	S 1.5	60	James Keeley	James Keeley Don Underwood	MG TD
88	S 1.5	64	Charleton Wilson	Charleton Wilson Henry Lindenmeier	MG TC
89	S 1.5	68	CJ Davis	Bernard Kerner Max Goldman	DB HBR

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
S 8.0	Walt Gray	Chuck Hall	Allard J2	Rank 16
S 5.0	Porfirio Rubirosa	Luigi Valenzano	Lancia D24	Rank 2
S 3.0	Lance Macklin	George Huntoon	Austin Healey 100	Rank 3
S 2.0	Bill Carpenter	John van Driel	Kieft sports	Rank 6
S 1.5	Bill Lloyd	Stirling Moss	Osca MT4 1450	Overall victory
S 1.1	Rees Makins	Frank Bott	Osca MT4 1100	Rank 8
S 750	Ken Heavlin	CJ Davis	DB HBR	Rank 19

Racing data

• Registered: 89
• Started: 59
• Valued: 25
• Race classes: 7
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: cold and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 168
• Total distance of the winning team: 1405.923 km
• Winner's average: 117.160 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Alberto Ascari - Lancia D24 (# 37) - 3: 32,000 = 142.108 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd round of the 1954 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 1000 km race of Buenos Aires 1954

Sports car world championship

Successor race Mille Miglia 1954