Sebring 12 hour race 1971

The Porsche 917K with starting number 3; Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse's winning car

The Penske Racing Ferrari 512M with which Mark Donohue and David Hobbs drove to sixth place in the overall standings

The 19th Sebring 12 Hours of Sebring , also known as the 12 Hours of Sebring, took place on March 20, 1971 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the third round of the sports car world championship of that year.

The race

As early as 1970 it was foreseeable that the 12-hour race in its previous form would be difficult to hold. As in previous years, the officials of the International Motorsport Federation complained about the lack of safety equipment on the racetrack. But organizer Alec Ulmann had little room for improvement. He rented the circuit every year from the owner of the airport where the racetrack was located and found it difficult to push through any adjustments. The plan to build a new racetrack remained at the draft stage, as it was not affordable for him to build. Ulmann had to realize that sports car racing had changed fundamentally since the start of the race nineteen years ago . As the racing cars got faster and faster, the need for safety also increased. Nevertheless, the race received the status of a world championship run again in the winter of 1970/71.

As in the previous year , the battle for victory took place between the brands Porsche and Ferrari , which after failures and accidents of the two fastest Ferraris - the factory - 312PB and Penske-Racing - 512M - with a victory for the Porsche 917K of Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse ended.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S.	3	Martini & Rossi Racing	Vic Elford Gérard Larrousse	Porsche 917K	260
2	P 3.0	33	Autodelta Spa	Nanni Galli Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	257
3	P 3.0	32	Autodelta Spa	Andrea de Adamich Henri Pescarolo Nino Vaccarella	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	248
4th	S.	2	JW Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Pedro Rodríguez Jackie Oliver	Porsche 917K	248
5	S.	1	JW Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Joseph Siffert Derek Bell	Porsche 917K	244
6th	S.	6th	Penske White Racing	Mark Donohue David Hobbs	Ferrari 512M	243
7th	GT + 2.5	48	John Greenwood	John Greenwood Dick Smothers	Chevrolet Corvette	218
8th	P 3.0	21st	North American Racing Team	Luigi Chinetti junior George Eaton	Ferrari 312P / 71	213
9	GT 2.5	31	Locke Lake Colony & Waterville Estates	Jim Locke Bert Everett	Porsche 911T	203
10	GT + 2.5	57	Dave Heinz Racing Inc.	Dave Heinz Robert Johnson or Costanzo	Chevrolet Corvette	199
11	T 2.5	39	K&T Enterprises	Ash Tisdelle Peter Kirill	Porsche 911S	199
12	S.	24	North American Racing Team	Harley Cluxton Bob Grossman	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	195
13	T + 2.5	47	Bruce Behrens Racing	John Tremblay Bill McDill	Chevrolet Camaro	193
14th	GT 2.5	59	Brumos Porsche Audi Corp.	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood	Porsche 914/6	192
15th	T + 2.5	89	Houghton Smith	Bert Gafford Houghton Smith	Chevrolet Camaro	191
16	GT 2.5	81	Ray Walle Ent. Inc.	Ray Walle Tom Davey Tom Reddy	Porsche 911S	187
17th	GT 2.5	5	Jacques Duval	Jacques Duval George Nicholas Bob Bailey	Porsche 914/6	187
18th	T + 2.5	19th	Tom Ciccone	Tom Ciccone Len Greenhalgh Dick Roberts	Chevrolet Camaro	183
19th	T + 2.5	19th	Boykin Auto Repair	CC Canada Bob Christiansen	Chevrolet Camaro	183
20th	GT 2.5	40	Bozzani Porsche Inc.	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby	Porsche 911S	180
21st	GT 2.5	60	Wheel Sport Ent.	Michael Walker Daryl Springer	Porsche 911S	176
22nd	T + 2.5	52	Bob Mitchell	Bob Mitchell Charlie Kemp	Chevrolet Camaro	158
23	T 2.5	84	Del Taylor	Ron Goldleaf Del Russo Taylor Bob Wheat	Alfa Romeo GTV	148
24	T + 2.5	63	Preston Hood Chevrolet	John Elliott Don Gwynne	Chevrolet Camaro	142
Not classified
25th	S.	74	Dr. Mervin Rosen	Merv Rosen Dick Jacobs	Porsche 906	172
26th	GT + 2.5	11	Troy Promotions Inc.	Donald Yenko Tony DeLorenzo Jerry Thompson	Chevrolet Corvette	150
27	P 2.0	17th	Ring-Free Oil Racing Team	Tom Fraser Charles Reynolds Jean Sage Clive Baker	Chevron B16	141
28	T + 2.5	42	Garcia Racing	Luis Sereix Javier Garcia Ralph Noseda	Chevrolet Camaro	133
29	GT 2.5	29	Ralph Meaney Inc.	Stephen Behr Charles Conrad John Buffum	Porsche 914/6	112
30th	T + 2.5	66	Performance automobiles	Richard Small Robert Fordyce	Chevrolet Camaro	111
Failed
31	S.	74	Ralph Meaney Inc.	Ralph Meaney Gary Wright Forry Laucks	Porsche 914/6	187
32	S.	22nd	North American Racing Team	Peter Revson Swede Savage	Ferrari 512M	169
33	S.	58	Nationwide Food Brokers Racing Team	Mike Rahal Werner Frank Hugh Wise	Porsche 906	167
34	P 2.0	61	Promotional Advertising Corp.	Hugh Kleinpeter Tony Belcher	Lola T210	161
35	T + 2.5	88	S-Car-Go-Racing	John Oliver John Maynard Peter Flanagan	Chevrolet Camaro	131
36	P 3.0	25th	Ferrari Automobili	Mario Andretti Jacky Ickx	Ferrari 312PB	117
37	S.	23	North American Racing Team	Ronnie Bucknum Sam Posey	Ferrari 512S	114
38	P 2.0	16	Ring-Free Oil Racing Team	Bobby Rinzler Clive Baker	Chevron B16	113
39	GT + 2.5	86	Cliff thank god	Cliff Gottlob Ed Lowther	Chevrolet Corvette	108
40	T + 2.5	43	Garcia Racing	Manuel Garcia Santiago Gonzalez Norberto Mastandrea	Chevrolet Chevy II	103
41	T + 2.5	44	Reventlow-Pettey Automobiles	Paul Pettey Tom Dutton	Ford Mustang	95
42	T + 2.5	38	John Belperche	Manuel Quintana John Belperche Reinaldo Almeida	Shelby GT500	76
43	T + 2.5	35	Collins-Wilson Racing Ent.	Larry Wilson Vincent Collins	Chevrolet Camaro	64
44	P 2.0	54	Automobiles of Italy Inc.	Anatoly Arutunoff Bill Pryor Brian Goellnot	Abarth 2000SP	61
45	T + 2.5	71	Takondo Racing	Vince Gimondo Chuck Dietrich	Chevrolet Camaro	61
46	P 2.0	56	Joseph Greger	Joseph Greger Hans-Dieter Weigel	Porsche 907	53
47	GT + 2.5	50	John Greenwood	Allan Barker Gene Harrington	Chevrolet Corvette	50
48	GT + 2.5	12	Troy Promotions Inc.	Jerry Thompson John Mahler	Chevrolet Corvette	42
49	T + 2.5	46	Sebring Racing Inc.	Bob Gray Terry Keller Len Magner	Ford Mustang	39
50	GT 2.5	52	Waldron Motors Racing Team	Ben Scott Lowell Lanier Dave Houser	MGB	35
51	S.	20th	Young American Racing Team	Masts Gregory Gregg Young	Ferrari 512M	29
52	P 3.0	34	Autodelta Spa	Nino Vaccarella Toine Hezemans	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	27
53	GT 2.5	51	Waldron Motors Racing Team	Jim Gammon Dean Donley	MGB	25th
54	GT 2.5	15th	Toad Hall Racing	Michael Keyser Bruce Jennings	Porsche 911S	23
55	S.	26th	North American Racing Team	Chuck Parsons David Weir	Ferrari 512S	20th
56	T + 2.5	92	BF Goodrich Tire Co.	John Cordts Don Pike	Chevrolet Camaro	6th
57	P 2.0	18th	Ring-Free Oil Racing Team	Janet Guthrie Rosemary Smith	Chevron B16	1
Not started
58	GT + 2.5	64	Bob Baechle	Bob Baechle Robert Luebbe	Chevrolet Corvette	1
59	S.	T	JW Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Joseph Siffert	Porsche 917K	2
Not qualified
60	GT + 2.5	7th	Blessing Racing Inc.	Mike Rand Randy Blessing	Shelby Cobra	3
61	GT + 2.5	9	Simone Fleming	Paul Fleming Amos Johnson Bill Barnes	Chevrolet Corvette	4th
62	T 2.5	53	Marion Dickson	Warren Drescher Robert Luchette	Ford Cortina Lotus	5
63	T 2.5	55	Clearwater Datsun	Bobby Clark Ray Kessler Don Kearney	Datsun 510	6th
64	T 2.5	69	Triton Racing	John Howard Raymond Gage	Ford Escort	7th
65	T 2.5	78	George Sanderson	Ron Polimeni Robert Theall	Volvo 122S	8th
66	T 2.5	80	Jack Baldwin	Jack Baldwin Jerry Jacob	Datsun 510	9
67	T 2.5	83	German Motors Inc. & Chem Air Spray Inc.	Juan Montalvo Tony Garcia Alfonso Gómez-Mena	BMW 2002	10

¹ not started ² training car ³ not qualified ⁴ not qualified ⁵ not qualified ⁶ not qualified ⁷ not qualified ⁸ not qualified ⁹ not qualified ¹⁰ not qualified

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
68	GT + 2.5	10	Iroquois Racing Association	Bill Schumacher Bob Kiefer	Chevrolet Corvette
69	T 2.5	82	Pro-Race Inc.	Robert Whitaker John Tunstall	Alfa Romeo GTA

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
S.	Vic Elford	Gérard Larrousse	Porsche 917K	Overall victory
P 3.0	Nanni Galli	Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Rank 2
P 2.0	no participant in the finish
GT + 2.5	John Greenwood	Dick Smothers	Chevrolet Corvette	Rank 7
GT 2.5	Jim Locke	Bert Everett	Porsche 911T	Rank 9
T + 2.5	John Tremblay	Bill McDill	Chevrolet Camaro	Rank 13
T 2.5	Ash Tisdelle	Peter Kirill	Porsche 911S	Rank 11

Racing data

• Registered: 69
• Started: 57
• Valued: 24
• Race classes: 7
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 01: 03.770 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 260
• Total distance of the winning team: 2175.833 km
• Winner's average: 181.053 km / h
• Pole position: Mark Donohue - Ferrari 512M (# 6) - 2.31.650 = 198.661 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Joseph Siffert - Porsche 917K (# 1) - 2.30.460 = 200.231km / h
• Racing series: 3rd round of the 1971 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 .
• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race results at Racing Sports Cars

Previous race of the 1971 24 Hours of Daytona

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 1000 km Brands Hatch race in 1971