Sebring 12 hour race in 1955

Jaguar D-Type

Ferrari 750 Monza

The fourth Sebring 12-hour race , also The Florida International Twelve Hour Grand Prix of Endurance, Sports Car Races, Sebring , took place on March 13, 1955 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the second round of the sports car world championship of that year .

Before the race

Before the 1955 Sebring edition, some changes were made to the track. The road boundary barriers have been improved and a pedestrian crossing has been built in the target area. With Amoco , a new main sponsor was found. Briggs Cunningham reported next to last year's winning car , the Osca MT4 1450 for Bill Lloyd and George Huntoon , a completely new Jaguar D-Type for Mike Hawthorn and Phil Walters and a C6-R for John Gordon Bennett and himself The works - Maserati 300S from Luigi Valenzano and Cesare Perdisa and the Porsche 550 Spyder from Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Herbert Linge .

Ferrari was not represented at the factory; the operations of the 750 Monza were carried out by Allen Guiberson and Luigi Chinetti .

The race

Chaos at the start

The obligatory Le Mans start was chaotic. While the qualified vehicles were lined up on the start and finish straight at the start, six vehicles coming out of the pit lane entered the race illegally. This circumstance caused unrest in the field, so that several cars drove off the grid before the starting flag fell. The six vehicles, the drivers of which had obviously agreed, were taken out of the field after just one lap with the black flag.

Confusion at the finish line

The Cunningham Jaguar and the Ferrari of Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby fought for the overall victory over 12 hours of driving time . Except for four laps, the Jaguar was in the lead throughout the race, with the gap between the two racing cars never being more than one lap. To the confusion of the spectators and the race director, the speaker spoke of a tour of the Ferrari shortly before the end of the race; promptly he was waved off first. In the following confusion, however, the error could be identified using the lap tables and the real sequence was restored. Allen Guiberson protested the result, which was officially rejected a week after the end of the race.

Phil Walters became the first driver to win the 12-hour race for the second time, and it was Briggs Cunningham's third consecutive overall win.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S 5.0	19th	BS Cunningham	Mike Hawthorn Phil Walters	Jaguar D-Type	182
2	S 3.0	25th	Allen Guiberson	Phil Hill Carroll Shelby	Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder	182
3	S 3.0	35	William Spear	Bill Spear Sherwood Johnston	Maserati 300S	180
4th	S 3.0	36	Maserati Co. & BS Cunningham	Luigi Valenzano Cesare Perdisa	Maserati 300S	178
5	S 3.0	28	Luigi Chinetti	Piero Taruffi Harry Schell	Ferrari 750 Monza	177
6th	S 3.0	44	Donald Healey Motor Co.	Stirling Moss Lance Macklin	Austin-Healey 100S	176
7th	S 1.5	64	BS Cunningham	Bill Lloyd George Huntoon	Osca MT4 1450	168
8th	S 1.5	68	Porsche Co. & BS Cunningham	Huschke von Hanstein Herbert Linge	Porsche 550 Spyder	166
9	S 1.5	63	Carlos Braniff Cornejo	Carlos Braniff Javier Velasquez	Osca MT4 1500	166
10	S 5.0	10	Jack Pry	Charles Wallace Dick Thompson	Jaguar XK140 MC	163
11	S 1.5	61	Bob Davis	Bob Davis Candy Poole	Porsche 550 Spyder	163
12	S 5.0	14th	Jake Kaplan	Russ Boss Jake Kaplan	Jaguar C-Type	162
13	S 8.0	5	Ray Crawford	Ray Crawford	Kurti's power	161
14th	S 1.5	70	Ed Crawford	Ed Crawford John Urbas	Porsche 550 Spyder	161
15th	S 3.0	45	William Brewster	William Brewster Bill Rutan	Austin-Healey 100S	160
16	S 3.0	40	Bill Cook	Bill Cook Steve Lansing	Austin-Healey 100S	156
17th	S 5.0	12	Loyal to Katskee	Roger Wing Loyal Katskee	Jaguar C-Type	156
18th	S 2.0	60	HH Arnolt	John Panks Ernie Erickson	Arnolt Bolide	154
19th	S 8.0	4th	Bill Murphy	Bill Murphy Sam Hanks	Kurti's power	153
20th	S 5.0	17th	MRJ Wyllie	MRJ Wyllie Leech Cracraft	Jaguar XK140	152
21st	S 3.0	31	Rees T. Makins & Herman Rutson	Harry Woodnorth Rees Makins	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	152
22nd	S 3.0	38	Joe Giubard	Joe Giubard Fred Wolf	Austin-Healey 100M	152
23	S 1.1	81	Hoffmann Porsche Corp.	Paul O'Shea Fritz Koster	Porsche 550	152
24	S 3.0	39	William Wellenberg	William Wonder William Wellenberg	Austin-Healey 100M	151
25th	S 2.0	59	HH Arnolt	HH Arnolt Bob Goldich	Arnolt Bolide	151
26th	S 5.0	18th	Dr. Dolph Vilardi	George Rice Bob Grossman	Jaguar XK140 MC	149
27	S 2.0	25th	Mike Rothschild	Mike Rothschild Harold Kunz	Morgan Plus 4	149
28	S 3.0	48	Brooks Stevens	Jim Field Bob Ballenger	Excalibur J.	148
29	S 2.0	58	HH Arnolt	René Dreyfus Bob Grier	Arnolt Bolide	148
30th	S 2.0	52	John Weitz	John Weitz Gordon MacKenzie	Morgan Plus 4	145
31	S 1.1	84	John Penn	John Penn William Wierdon	Siata 300BC	145
32	S 3.0	43	James Fergusson	James Fergusson Rowland Keith	Austin-Healey 100S	143
33	S 2.0	57	John Norwood	John Norwood Don Vitale	Arnolt Bolide	141
34	S 1.5	69	Guy Atkins	Guy Atkins Traver McKenna	Porsche 356 1500 Super LM	141
35	S 3.0	32	Chester Flynn	Chester Flynn Ed Munoz	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	139
36	S 1.5	75	Hubert Brundage	Hubert Brundage Howard Fowler Al DuPree	Porsche 356 1300 Coupe	139
37	S 5.0	9	Fred Scherer	Fred Scherer Don Davis	Ford Thunderbird	138
38	S 1.5	76	David Ash	David Ash Duncan Black	MG TF	137
39	S 1.5	77	Jack Ryan	Jack Ryan Buel Chins	MG TF	135
40	S 5.0	8th	Fred Van Beuren	Fred Van Beuren Eugene Towle	Van Beuren Special	131
41	S 3.0	41	Jack Cooper	Jack Cooper Roy Jackson-Moore	Austin-Healey 100S	131
42	S 1.5	67	Howard Hanna	Evans Hunt Howard Hanna	Porsche 550 Spyder	130
43	S 2.0	50	Ecurie Yankee	Tony Palmer-Morewood Gleb Derujinsky Masten Gregory	Ferrari 500 Mondial	124
44	S 750	88	Int. Auto Sales Co.	EC Miller Curtis Attaway	Renault 1063	124
45	S 8.0	3	Walter Gray	Walter Gray Paul Ceresole	Allard J2X	104
46	S 5.0	16	Fred Dagavar	Fred Dagavar Al Garz	Jaguar XK120	73
Disqualified
47	S 1.1	79	Frank Miller	Frank Miller George Rabe	Lotus Mark IX	150
48	S 1.1	80	John Bentley	John Bentley Jim McGee	Abarth 207A Boano	138
49	S 2.0		Howard Hanna	James Carson Dan Hastings	Swallow Doretti	1
50	S 1.1		Joe Sheppard	Warren Smith Joe Sheppard	Lotus Mark IX	1
51	S 3.0		Billy Dantone	Billy Dantone Phil Seeberg	Austin-Healey 100	1
52	S 3.0		Phil Stiles	Phil Stiles Red Byron	Austin-Healey 100	1
53	S 3.0		Emil Bulck	Emil Bulck William Bulck	Austin-Healey 100	1
54	S 2.0		Fred Losee	Fred Losee William Kinchloe	Veritas Comet RS	1
Failed
55	S 2.0	54	Tom Friedmann	Tom Friedmann Karl Brocken	Maserati A6GCS	129
56	S 750	87	Directed by Renault Co.	Louis Pons Robert Manzon Jean Hébert	Renault 1063	121
57	S 1.5	72	Norman Christianson	Norman Christianson Don McKnought	Porsche 550 Spyder	119
58	S 1.1	82	Austin Conley	Austin Conley LeRoy Thorpe	Siata 300BC	112
59	S 2.0	51	John Ellwood	David Mott Don Skogmo	Triumph TR2	111
60	S 1.1	78	Bobbie Burns & Norman Scott	Norman Scott Robert Samuelson	Lotus Mark IX	109
61	S 3.0	24	Wm. H. Doheny	Ernie McAfee Howard Wheeler	Ferrari 750 Monza	99
62	S 2.0	100	Jim Pauley	Jim Pauley David Michaels	Siata 208CS	96
63	S 3.0	29	Manfredo Lippmann	Sterling Edwards Chuck Daigh	Ferrari 750 Monza	88
64	S 1.5	73	Speedcraft Enterprises	Otto Linton Hal Stetson	Osca MT4 1450	83
65	S 1.1	83	Isabelle Haskell	Dick Irish Isabelle Haskell	Bandini	67
66	S 1.5	71	Richard Toland	Richard Toland Stan Hoffstein	Denzel 1300 Super	61
67	S 3.0	41	Bill Milliken	Bill Milliken Lester Smalley	Austin-Healey 100	60
68	S 1.5	74	George Tilp	Walt Hansgen William Eager	Osca MT4 1350	58
69	S 3.0	37	BS Cunningham	Briggs Cunningham John Gordon Bennett	Cunningham C6-R	54
70	S 3.0	26th	Marquis de Portago	Alfonso de Portago Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 750 Monza	53
71	S 3.0	47	Brooks Stevens	Hal Ullrich Robert Gary	Excalibur J.	50
72	S 3.0	46	Fred Allen	Gus Ehrman Fred Allen	Austin-Healey 100S	47
73	S 3.0	49	Sir Sydney Oakes	Sydney Oakes Greta Oakes	Austin-Healey 100M	44
74	S 750	89	Sandy MacArthur	Sandy MacArthur Paul Gougelman	Bandini outboard	34
75	S 1.5	66	Phil Stewart	Phil Stewart Ted Boynton	Osca MT4 1500	33
76	S 1.5	65	Harry Chapman	Harry Chapman William Bell	Osca MT4 1500	18th
77	S 5.0	7th	Jim Kimberly	Jim Kimberly Ed Lunken	Ferrari 375 Plus	18th
78	S 3.0	33	Pancho Croquer	Julio Pola Pancho Croquer	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	17th
79	S 2.0	53	Porfirio Rubirosa	Porfirio Rubirosa Cal Niday	Ferrari 500 Mondial	14th
80	S 8.0	2	Andy Rosenberger	Andy Rosenberger Charles Cowdin	Nash-Healey Le Mans	14th
81	S 1.1	85	Raymond Osborne	Bret Hannaway Raymond Osborne	Kieft sports	10
82	S 5.0	11	Tony Parravano	Jack McAfee Bob Drake	Ferrari 375MM	5
83	S 8.0	1	Jack Ensley	Jack Ensley Jim Rathmann	Kurtis Force 500	3
84	S 3.0	27	Ecurie Yankee	Bob Said Masten Gregory	Ferrari 750 Monza	3
85	S 750	86	Directed by Renault Co.	Jean Rédélé Louis Pons	Renault 1063	2
86	S 5.0	10	John Shakespeare	John Shakespeare Manfredo Lippmann	Ferrari 375MM	1
Not started
87	S 5.0	6th	John Mull	Walter Huggler John Mull	Jaguar XK120	1
88	S 5.0	12A	Chester Flynn	Reina Morales Ed Munoz	Ferrari 340 America	2
89	S 1.5	21P	Manfredo Lippmann	Sterling Edwards Chester Flynn	Ferrari 250 Monza	3
90	S 3.0	41	Robert Fergus	Sandy McPherson Robert Fergus Harley Watts	Austin-Healey 100S	4th
91	S 1.5	62	Ed Crawford	Ed Crawford John Urbas	Porsche 550 Spyder	5
92	S 8.0		Rod Carveth	Rod Carveth Sid Blackburn	Allard J2X	6th
93	S 5.0		Victor Forno	Victor Forno Bob Bucher	Jaguar XK140 MC	7th
94	S 5.0		Joseph Hap Dressel	Joseph Hap Dressel William Woodbury	Nash-Healey Series 25	8th
95	S 3.0		Walter Christie	Walter Christie Joe Trotter George Parrington	Austin-Healey 100	9
96	S 1.5		Hector Scheffer	Rees Makins Frank Bott Hector Scheffer	Osca MT4	10
97	S 1.5		Henry Wessells	Henry Wessell's Lex duPont	Osca MT4	11
98	S 1.5		C. Pitt Browne	C. Pitt Browne WR Wilson Elliott Evans	Porsche 356	12
99	S 750		Ralph Deshon	Ralph Deshon Don Quackenbush	Bandini	13
100	S 750		Charles Brecht	Charles Brecht Henry Lindenmeier	Crosley Hot Shot	14th
101	S 2.0	T	HH Arnolt	HH Arnolt	Arnolt Bolide	15th

¹ reserve

² Accident during training ³ Engine damage during training ⁴ Accident during training ⁵ not started ⁶ Reserve ⁷ Reserve ⁸ Reserve ⁹ Reserve ¹⁰ Reserve ¹¹ Reserve ¹² Reserve ¹³ Reserve ¹⁴ Reserve ¹⁵ Training car

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
102	S 5.0		Bird / Quackenbush	Don Quackenbush John Bird	Jaguar XK120
103	S 1.1		Harry Beck	Harry Beck Stan Hoffstein	Ford Anglia
104	S 1.1		Bernhard Vihl	Bernhard Vihl George Parrington David Michaels	Bandini
105	S 1.5		Norm Patton	Norm Patton Clarence Graham	Porsche 356
106	S 1.5		Bernard Lust	Bernard Lust Steve Quigley	MG TD
107	S 2.0		Kenneth Ahr	Kenneth Ahr William Klinck	Triumph TR2
108	S 5.0		Richard Perrin	Richard Perrin	Jaguar XK120
109	S 5.0		Erwin Goldschmidt	Erwin Goldschmidt	Ferrari 375MM Vignale
110	S 5.0		Fred Dagavar	Al Garz	Jaguar XK120
111	S 3.0		Jack Pry	Duncan Black Dickson Yates	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
112	S 3.0		Officine Alfieri Maserati	John Fitch	Maserati 300S
113	S 3.0		Officine Alfieri Maserati	Sergio Mantovani Luigi Musso	Maserati 300S
114	S 3.0		Robert Publicker	Robert Publicker Bernie Kousar	Ferrari 250MM
115	S 2.0		Joe Sheppard	Warren Smith Joe Sheppard	Triumph TR2
116	S 5.0		Frank Miller		Jaguar C-Type
117	S 5.0		Jim Kimberly		Ferrari
118	S 2.0		Robert Tappan	Robert Tappan Robert Magenheimer	Ferrari 500 Mondial
119	S 3.0	23	John von Neumann	John von Neumann	Ferrari 750 Monza
120	S 3.0	30th	Hector Scheffer	Hector Scheffer William Lilley	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
121	S 3.0	34	Mercedes-Benz distributors		Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
122	S 2.0	50	Antonio Pompeo	Antonio Pompeo Robert Blackwood Tony Palmer-Morewood	Alfa Romeo 1900
123	S 1.5	70	Gleb Derujinsky	Gleb Derujinsky	Porsche 356 Super

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
S 8.0	Ray Crawford		Kurti's power	Rank 13
S 5.0	Mike Hawthorn	Phil Walters	Jaguar D-Type	Overall victory
S 3.0	Phil Hill	Carroll Shelby	Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder	Rank 2
S 2.0	John Panks	Ernie Erickson	Arnolt Bolide	Rank 18
S 1.5	Bill Lloyd	George Huntoon	Osca MT4 1450	Rank 7
S 1.1	Paul O'Shea	Fritz Koster	Porsche 550	Rank 23
S 750	EC Miller	Curtis Attaway	Renault 1063	Rank 44

Racing data

• Reported: 123
• Started: 86
• Rated: 46
• Race classes: 7
• Spectators: 20,000
• Race day weather: dry and warm, cold in the evenings
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 182
• Total distance of the winning team: 1523.083 km
• Winner's average: 127.621 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Sherwood Johnston - Maserati 300S (# 35) - 3: 38.800 = 137,692 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd round of the 1955 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 .

Web links

• Results at Racing Sports Cars

Previous race 1000 km race in Buenos Aires 1955

Sports car world championship

Successor race Mille Miglia 1955