Sebring 12 hour race in 1975

BMW 3.0 CSL in the livery of the BMW Motorsport works cars

Porsche 914/6

A racing car with a rarity in US motorsport, but at the start in Sebring; the racing version of the Renault R12

The 23rd Sebring 12-hour race , also known as the Sebring '75 Twelve Hours of Endurance (Camel GT Challenge 12 Hours), Sebring , took place on March 21, 1975 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the second IMSA GT race Series of this year.

The race

For a long time, those responsible at IMSA tried to hold a race in 1974. The 1973 oil crisis ultimately led to the cancellation after the attempt to shorten the racing event to a distance of 1200 km had failed as the last option. After the end of the Ullman era in 1972 , after many quarrels about the route safety, which ultimately led to the loss of the world championship status, the IMSA was the first organizer in 1973 . The cancellation in 1974 appeared to many observers as the final end of the 12-hour race.

In the spring of 1975, after two years of no racing, no maintenance or care, the airfield course was in poor shape. The asphalt was rough and cracked in many places. From the MG bridge only the stairs stood, the crossing had collapsed and lay on the runway. Fences had fallen or been knocked over by vandals, and the stands were in a desolate state. The American racing driver and racing team owner John Greenwood took over the promotion of the race with a partner and, to the astonishment of the professional world, managed to set up the track, pit area and spectator areas so that a race was possible in a short time.

The favorite to win was the BMW works team, who had traveled from Europe and registered for two BMW 3.0 CSL drivers Brian Redman , Allan Moffat , Sam Posey and Hans-Joachim Stuck . For the North American Racing Team from Luigi Chinetti went Milt Minter and Eppie Wietzes on a Ferrari 365 GT4 / BB into the race. Ronnie Peterson , who was originally registered for the works BMW, could not compete after the FIA was banned from starting . BMW team boss Jochen Neerpasch had Stuck / Posey drive ahead as rabbits, while Rebmann and Moffat were supposed to spare the material. It worked out. The strongest opponents had failed by the middle of the race. However, the Stuck / Posey car had to be parked prematurely at half-time after a defect in the oil pump. But since both Stuck and Posey had covered a section in the second, ultimately victorious 3.0 CSL, all four BMW drivers were able to celebrate the Bavarian vehicle manufacturer's first victory in Sebring.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTO	25th	BMW Motorsport	Brian Redman Allan Moffat Hans-Joachim Stuck Sam Posey	BMW 3.0 CSL	238
2	GTO	30th	George Dyer	George Dyer Jacques Bienvenue	Porsche Carrera RSR	235
3	GTO	43	Ecurie Escargot	John Graves John O'Steen Dave Helmick	Porsche Carrera RSR	231
4th	GTO	91	Bolanos Racing	Juan-Carlos Bolanos Michel Jourdain Gustavo Bolanos	Porsche Carrera RSR	230
5	GTO	4th	George Dickinson	George Dickinson Bill Webbe Harry Theodoracopulos	Porsche Carrera RSR	221
6th	GTO	111	North American Racing Team	Milt Minter Eppie Wietzes	Ferrari 365 GT4 / BB	215
7th	GTO	5	Bob Harmon	Bob Harmon Jon Woodner	Porsche Carrera RSR	213
8th	GTO	68	Diego Febles Racing	Diego Febles Hiram Cruz	Porsche Carrera RSR	211
9	GTO	87	Jones Motorsports	Harry Jones Marcel Mignot	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	209
10	GTU	44	Montura Ranch Estates	Tony Garcia Albert Naon John Freyre	Porsche 911S	209
11	GTU	34	George Drolsom	George Drolsom Bob Nagel	Porsche 911S	207
12	GTO	14th	Holbert's Porsche-Audi	Al Holbert Elliot Forbes-Robinson	Porsche Carrera RSR	204
13	GTO	79	Michael Callas	Michael Callas Jim Cook Adrian Gang	Porsche Carrera RSR	200
14th	GTU	60	Rusty Bond	Rusty Bond George Rollin John Belperche	Porsche 911	200
15th	GTU	67	David McClain	David McClain Dave White	Porsche 911	198
16	GTU	84	Bob Speakman	Bob Speakman John Maffucci	Datsun 240Z	197
17th	GTU	90	Ray Walle Mazda	Ray Walle Tom Reddy	Mazda RX-3	195
18th	GTO	72	Bill Arnold	Bill Arnold Wiley Doran	Chevrolet Corvette	183
19th	GTU	29	Bruce Mabrito	Bruce Mabrito Jack Steel	Datsun 240Z	180
20th	GT0	82	Bill Scott Racing	Bill Scott Harry MacDonald Bill Neuhof	AMC Gremlin	180
21st	GT0	86	Dennis Stefl	Dennis Stefl Robert Fordyce	Chevrolet Corvette	176
22nd	GT0	32	EF Miller & Co.	John Orr Bill Jobe	Chevrolet Corvette	163
23	GTU	914	Holbert's Porsche-Audi	Bill Schmid Doc Bundy	Porsche 914	151
24	GTU	31	Luiz Garcia	Luiz Garcia Jose Arzeno Mandy Gonzalez	BMW 2002	151
25th	GTO	48	John Carusso	John Carusso Dick Vreeland Luis Sereix	Chevrolet Corvette	132
26th	GTO	27	Robert Davis	Robert Davis Tico Almeida Joseph DeGirolamo	Chevrolet Corvette	132
27	GTU	47	Jacques Groleau	Jacques Groleau AJ Brent John Sweeney	Datsun 240Z	124
28	GTU	61	Larry Parker	Larry Parker Robert LaMay Paul Morgan	Ford Pinto	114
29	GTU	58	Professional Paint & Body	Ron Oyler Guy Church	Renault R12	95
Failed
30th	GTO	1	Toad Hall Racing	Michael Keyser Billy Sprowls Andres Contreras	Porsche Carrera RSR	200
31	GTO	92	Oest-Tillson Racing	Mike Tillson Dieter Oest	Porsche Carrera	198
32	GTO	17th	Vince Gimondo	Vince Gimondo John Tremblay	Chevrolet Camaro	171
33	GTO	23	Armorall Racing Team	Charlie Kemp Carson Baird	Porsche Carrera RSR	167
34	GTO	73	Bob Christiansen	Bob Christiansen Gary Myers	Chevrolet Camaro	165
35	GTU	45	Delta Racing	Armando Ramirez Camilo Mutiz Mauricio de Narváez	Porsche 911S	152
36	GTU	46	Buzbee Tropical Fish	Spencer Buzbee Craig Ross William Frates	Datsun 240Z	143
37	GTO	8th	Bob Beasley	Bob Beasley Bruce Jennings	Porsche Carrera RSR	132
38	GTO	38	Roberto Boza	Roberto Boza Diosdado Diaz Eduardo Garrido	Chevrolet Camaro	128
39	GTO	18th	Terry Wolters	Terry Wolters Jack Swanson	Chevrolet Camaro	126
40	GTO	24	BMW Motorsport	Hans-Joachim Stuck Sam Posey	BMW 3.0 CSL	102
41	GTO	12	Ford Smith	Ford Smith Clay Young Bennett Aiken	Chevrolet Corvette	102
42	GTO	54	Southpoint Porsche	John Tunstall Joe Jenkins	Porsche Carrera RSR	97
43	GTO	88	Maurice Carter	Maurice Carter Tony DeLorenzo	Chevrolet Camaro	93
44	GTO	66	Nick Craw	Nick Craw Russ Norburn	BMW 2002	82
45	GTO	76	Kidd America Racing	Burt Greenwood Scott Voeltz Dana English	Chevrolet Corvette	67
46	GTO	33	Roberto Quintanilla	Roberto Quintanilla David Loring	Porsche Carrera RSR	65
47	GTU	28	Bonky Fernandez	Bonky Fernandez Mandy Gonzalez Gustavo Chevres	Lotus Elan	62
48	GTO	62	Scott Chapman	Scott Chapman Bill Hood Bobby Dumont	Chevrolet Corvette	57
49	GTO	49	Neil Potter	Neil Potter Bob Gray Terry Keller	Ford Mustang	54
50	GTU	63	Doell Enterprises	Bob Punch Tom Waugh Eliott Mendenhall	Porsche 911	53
51	GTO	56	Doell Enterprises	Charles Gano Mike Williamson Jerry Parson	Chevrolet Camaro	52
52	GTU	51	Johnson-Bozzoni Porsche-Audi	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby Len Jones	Porsche 914/6	51
53	GTO	59	Brumos Porsche-Audi	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood	Porsche Carrera RSR	50
54	GTU	85	John Hulen	John Hulen Ron Coupland Dave Causey	Porsche 914/6	46
55	GTO	95	Sergio Tabe	Sergio Tabe Jose Marron Fidel Martinez	Porsche Carrera RSR	45
56	GTO	75	John Greenwood	John Greenwood Jerry Thompson	Chevrolet Corvette	42
57	GTU	10	Alf Gebhardt	Alf Gebhardt Bruno Beilcke Sepp Grinbold	BMW 2002	38
58	GTO	40	John Hastings	John Hastings Glenn Bunch	Jaguar XKE	34
59	GTO	26th	Tim Chitwood	Tim Chitwood Joie Chitwood junior	Chevrolet Camaro	33
60	GTU	50	Pedro Vazquez	Pedro Vazquez Manuel Quintana Donald Yenko	Porsche 911S	29
61	GTO	55	Henry Simon	Henry Simon Kirby Stumpff Augusto Molina	Ford Mustang	20th
62	GTU	53	Arthur Mollin	Arthur Mollin Art Riley	Volvo 142	19th
63	GTO	77	Ralph Noseda	Ralph Noseda Ray Mummery Richard Small	Chevrolet Camaro	17th
64	GTO	57	Marty Hinze	Marty Hinze Bob Grossman	De Tomaso Pantera	16
65	GTO	22nd	Dale Kreider	Dale Kreider Bob DeMarco	Chevrolet Corvette	16
66	GTO	9	Tony Ansley	Tony Ansley Ron Connelly Jim Woodall	Chevrolet Corvette	16
67	GTU	69	Juan Montalvo	Juan Montalvo Jim Grob	Ford Escort	8th
68	GTO	74	Ludwig Heinrath	Norm Ridgely Ludwig Heimrath senior	Porsche Carrera RSR	5
69	GTO	2	Daniel Muniz	Daniel Muniz Johnny Gerber Miguel Muniz	BMW 3.0 CSL	3
Not started
70	GTO	3	Ippocampos Racing	Harry Theodoracopulos Skip Barber	Ford Capri RS	1
71	GTO	41	Herb Jones	Herb Jones Phil Currin Steve Lazy	Chevrolet Camaro	2
72	GTU	52	Charles Kleinschmidt	Charles Kleinschmidt Jack Andrus Lee Culpepper	MGB	3
73	GTO	71	Levi's team highball	Amos Johnson Dennis Shaw	AMC Gremlin	4th
74	GTU	83	PPC racing	Louis McAlpine Miller Harding	Austin Mini Cooper	5
75	GTU	83	Bobby Diehl	Ted Kempgens	Chevrolet Corvette	6th
Not qualified
76	GTU	03	Ozone Industries	Philip Then Stephen Bond	Opel GT	7th
77	GTO	6th	Byron Cook	Byron Cook George Bryan Bill McDil	Chevrolet Camaro	8th
78	GTU	37	Tom Fraser	Tom Fraser Tommy Archer	Datsun 510	9
79	GTU	39	Dean Donley	Dean Donley Ben Scott Reggie Smith	MGB	10
80	GTO	65	Ahmed Valhuerdi	Ahmed Valhuerdi Manuel Mendez Tony Garcia	Shelby GT350	11
81	GTU	70	Starbrite	Tom Kuenz Dale Elgie	Datsun 510	12
82	GTO	78	Tom Ross	Tom Ross Louis Beres	Ford Mustang	13
83	GTU	81	Dean Craven	Dean Craven David Horniman	Ford Pinto	14th
84	GTO	98	Cliff thank god	Cliff Thank God Mike Yates	Chevrolet Corvette	15th

¹ Defective driveshaft before the race ² not started ³ not started ⁴ withdrawn ⁵ withdrawn ⁶ not started ⁷ not qualified ⁸ not qualified ⁹ not qualified ¹⁰ not qualified ¹¹ not qualified ¹² not qualified ¹³ not qualified ¹⁴ not qualified ¹⁵ 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
85	GTO	7th	Bob Buchler	Bob Buchler Eddie Johnson	Chevrolet Nova
86	GTO	15th	Garcia Racing	Javier Garcia George Garcia Manuel Garcia	Chevrolet Corvette
87	GTU	19th	Aubrey Bowles	Aubrey Bowles Philip Reynolds	Porsche 911S
88	GTO	20th	Dennis Dallmeyer Jack Refenning	Dennis Dallmeyer Jack Refenning Scott Chapman	Pontiac Firebird
89	GTU	42	Richard Hughes	Richard Hughes Fred Geisel Robert Whitaker	Datsun 510
90	GTO	64	CC Canada	CC Canada Russ Boykin	Chevrolet Camaro
91	GTO	64	Carmon Solomone	Carmon Solomone Fred Land	Chevrolet Camaro
92	GTO	64	Tony Vinas	Tony Vinas Miguel Perez	Chevrolet Camaro

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTO	Brian Redman	Allan Moffat	Sam Posey	Hans-Joachim Stuck	BMW 3.0 CSL	Overall victory
GTU	Tony Garcia	Albert Naon	John Freyre		Porsche 911S	Rank 10

Racing data

• Registered: 92
• Started: 69
• Rated: 29
• Race classes: 2
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: cloudy and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:03: 28.846 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 238
• Total distance of the winning team: 1991.724 km
• Winner's average: 165.183 km / h
• Pole position: Hans-Joachim Stuck - BMW 3.0 CSL (# 24)
• Fastest race lap: Hans-Joachim Stuck - BMW 3.0 CSL (# 24) 2.49.200 - 178.055 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd round of the IMSA GT series in 1975

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 24 Hours of Daytona 1975

IMSA GT Championship

Succession race 100-mile race at Road Atlanta in 1975, the first race