Sebring 12 hour race in 1978

Peter Gregg and Brad Frisselle's Brumos Porsche 935 (start number 59) , which retired after Gregg had an accident on the eleventh lap

Porsche 914/6

BMW 320i

The 26th Sebring 12-hour race , also The Twelve Hours of Sebring International Grand Prix of Endurance for the Camel GT Challenge, Sebring , took place on March 18, 1978 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the second IMSA race GT series and the sports car world championship for drivers this year.

Before the race

The 1978 IMSA GT series began on February 5, 1978 with the Daytona 24-hour race . The race was won by Rolf Stommelen , Toine Hezemans and Peter Gregg in a Porsche 935 / 77A in front of their brand and type colleagues Dick Barbour , Manfred Schurti and Johnny Rutherford .

The race

After the end of John Greenwood as organizer and promoter of the race with the dropping of the checkered flag in 1977 , Charles Mendez , a racing driver and racing team owner, took over this position again. In contrast to Greenwood, who brought little changes and improvements to the racing event, Mendez quickly made Sebring a professional race again. The Tampa- born businessman managed to win the Coca-Cola Company as a sponsor. The event team around Mendez and Dave Cowart invested part of the financial resources in the race track. The racetrack was repaired, new run-off zones were created and the entire area was brought up to date. Mendez also created a sustainable cooperation with the local authorities. In the past few years there had been repeated riots by motorcycle gangs who had increasingly taken over the camping areas in recent years. This year, groups known by the authorities were denied access in front of the city. The entire event was completely peaceful in 1978 and was reminiscent of the bring-your-family atmosphere of the 1960s. In addition, the race was part of the sports car world championship this year - even if only in the drivers' championship.

1978 Porsche 935 competed in Sebring for the first time . Due to the activities of Mendez, the FIA regulations applied again , which also affected some of the starters. For the 1977 World Cup season, Porsche revised the body of the racing car, now known as the 935/77, after relaxing the FIA ​​regulations, in order to reduce flow resistance and improve driving behavior . Externally, the 935/77 differed from its predecessor through extensive changes in the front and rear. Compared to its predecessor, the front apron no longer sloped vertically to the ground, but was designed at an angle. The two outer sides in front of the front wheels had an indentation to better divert the air. The main change feature were the fenders that no longer run flush with the front hood. They had fins running from the front to the cockpit, into which the rear-view mirrors were incorporated. At the rear, the changes were even more pronounced.

From the start, David Hobbs was in the lead in the BMW 320i Turbo registered by McLaren North America . Hobbs had set the fastest training time in qualifying with 2: 35.734 minutes, but was already overtaken by Rolf Stommelen in the Porsche 935/77 on the second lap. The anticipated duel between the Porsche 935 teams began, and they fought a tough battle for overall victory. Peter Gregg had an accident on the eleventh lap, but was uninjured in a rollover. The strongest performance was provided by Hurley Haywood and Bob Hagestad , who started a furious race to catch up after repairs to the brake system and were beaten by Brian Redman , Charles Mendez and Bob Garretson by just 35 seconds after 12 hours . This led to the unusual circumstance that the promoter won his own race.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTX	9	Dick Barbour performance	Brian Redman Charles Mendez Bob Garretson	Porsche 935	240
2	GTX	95	Bob Hagestad	Bob Hagestad Hurley Haywood	Porsche 935	240
3	GTX	13	Ore House - Vail	Hal Shaw Tom Spalding	Porsche 935	239
4th	GTO	33	JLP Racing	John Paul senior Bonky Fernandez	Porsche Carrera RSR	233
5	GTX	32	Earle & Akin Racing	Steve Earle Bob Akin Rick Knoop	Porsche Carrera RSR	225
6th	GTU	77	Bill Scott Racing	Francisco Romero Ernesto Soto	Porsche 911	219
7th	GTU	42	El Sol Racing	Chiqui Soldevilla Luis Gordillo	Porsche 911S	213
8th	AC	96	Unicure	Gene Felton Vince Gimondo	Buick Skylark	209
9	GTU	62	Bill Koll	Bill Koll David Hamren Dennis Sherman	Porsche 914/6	209
10	GTO	03	Cliff thank god	Cliff Thank God Danny Terrill	Chevrolet Corvette	199
11	GTU	99	Bob Bondurant	Steve Cook Bill Cooper Ron Southern	Datsun 260Z	198
12	GTO	57	Sebring Racing	Terry Keller Bob Gray Nort Northam	Chevrolet Corvette	197
13	GTU	36	Case Racing	Ron Case Dave Panaccione Jack Rynerson	Porsche 911	196
14th	GTU	50	Fritz Hochreuter	Fritz Hochreuter Rudy Bartling Rainer Brezinka	Porsche 911	189
15th	GTO	48	Autodyne	Luis Sereix Lyn St. James Phil Currin	Chevrolet Corvette	186
16	GTU	01	Roehrig Racing Inc.	Dave White Dana Roehrig Gary Mesnick	Porsche 911	185
17th	AC	92	Road Atlanta	Dave Sloyer Jim Fitzgerald	Plymouth Volare	184
18th	GTU	01	Racing Porsche Works	Michael Callas Peter Papke Jim Cook	Porsche Carrera	182
19th	GTU	89	Barrick Motor Racing	Rusty Bond Ren Tilton	Porsche 911	181
20th	GTX	05	Saltwater Band	Stephen Bond Philip Then	Chevrolet Monza	181
21st	GTU	85	John Hulen	John Hulen Ron Coupland Nick Engels	Porsche 914/6	174
22nd	GTU	93	Whittington Bros.	Don Whittington Russ Boy	Porsche 934/5	172
23	GTU	70	Race Car Ent.	Marion Speer Windle Turley	Porsche 911S	168
24	GTU	71	Foreign Exchange Racing	John Higgins Tim Cooper James King	Porsche 911	168
25th	GTU	88	Hamilton House Racing	Joseph Hamilton Chuck Wade Ron Collins	Porsche 911	167
26th	GTU	52	Native tan	Charles Kleinschmidt Lee Culpepper William Koch	MGB GT	160
27	GTU	21st	DiLella Racing	Vince DiLella Manuel Cueto	Porsche 914/4	152
28	GTO	91	Framm Promotions W. Frank	Werner Frank Roger Schramm	Porsche Carrera RSR	140
29	GTU	35	Team Beilcke	Bruno Beilcke Sepp Grinbold Alf Gebhardt	BMW 2002	123
30th	GTO	12	George Garcia	George Garcia Daniel Vilarchao	Chevrolet Corvette	122
31	GTU	61	Faza Squadra	Al Cosentino Jim Downing	Mazda RX-3	116
32	GTX	38	Meldeau Tire Co.	Mike Meldeau Bill McDill	Chevrolet Camaro	113
33	GTX	17th	Kenneth LaGrow	Kenneth LaGrow Jimmy Tumbleston	Chevrolet Camaro	112
34	GTX	02	David Redszus	David Redszus Merv Rosen	BMW 2002	111
35	GTX	28	Desperado Racing	Clif Kearns Marty Hinze Stephen Behr	Porsche 935	79
Failed
36	GTO	25th	KWM Racing	Kenper Miller Walt Drilling	BMW 3.5 CSL	211
37	GTO	58	Diego Febles Racing	Diego Febles Alec Poole	Porsche Carrera RSR	197
38	GTO	07	Morrison's Inc.	Dave Cowart Nick Craw Joe Castellano	Porsche Carrera RSR	165
39	GTU	00	Red Roof Inns	Steve Southard Jim Trueman	Porsche 914	164
40	GTU	51	Wynn's International	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby Dennis Aase	Porsche 911	142
41	GTO	14th	Robert LaMay	Robert LaMay Richard Valentine Larry Parker	Ford Mustang	140
42	GTU	08	Terry Wolters	Terry Wolters Wayne Miller	Porsche 911S	129
43	GTX	2	McLaren North America	David Hobbs Milt Minter Tom Klausler	BMW 320i Turbo	119
44	GTX	09	Belcher Racing	Gary Belcher Doc Bundy	Porsche 934/5	115
45	GTU	34	Drolsom Racing Inc.	George Drolsom Hugh Davenport	Porsche 911S	98
46	GTU	84	Worldparts	Bob Speakman John Maffucci	Datsun 260Z	98
47	AC	47	Tim Chitwood	Tim Chitwood Sam Fillingham KP Jones	Chevrolet Nova	90
48	GTO	87	Pedro Vazquez	Pedro Vazquez Ron Oyler	Porsche 911	83
49	GTX	06	RV Shulnburg Scrap Metal	Robert Shulnburg Dave Heinz Michael Keyser	Chevrolet Corvette	83
50	GTX	24	Executive Industries	Tom Frank Bob Bergstrom	Porsche Carrera RSR	77
51	GTO	46	Mauricio de Narváez	Mauricio de Narváez Albert Naon	Porsche Carrera RSR	76
52	GTU	27	Miami Auto Racing	Ray Mummery Jack Refenning Tom Sheehy	Porsche 911S	70
53	AC	0	Chesrown Olds	Gene Rutherford Tom Wallace Kathy Wallace	Oldsmobile Cutlass	66
54	GTX	3	Bill Freeman Racing	Bill Freeman Bob Harmon Byron Leydecker	Porsche Carrera RSR	62
55	GTX	73	Howey Farms	Clark Howey Dale Cook	Chevrolet Camaro	50
56	GTO	4th	BR Racing Team	Mark Leuzinger Mike Van der Werff	De Tomaso Pantera	48
57	GTX	6th	Dick Barbour performance	Dick Barbour Rolf Stommelen Manfred Schurti	Porsche 935 / 77A	47
58	GTX	11	Javier Garcia	Javier Garcia	Chevrolet Corvette	46
59	GTX	41	Jones Ind. Racing	Herb Jones Steve Lazy	Chevrolet Camaro	45
60	GTU	76	Quality Inn	Frank Thomas Lee Mueller Paul May	Porsche 911	43
61	GTU	19th	Hallet Motor Racing Circuit	Anatoly Arutunoff Brian Goellnot José Marina	Lancia Stratos	34
62	GTU	19th	Bob Beasley	Bob Beasley Bruce Jennings	Porsche Carrera RSR	30th
63	GTU	45	Vann's auto body	Gary Steele Jim Gaeta Bob Zulkowski	Porsche 911	28
64	GTO	20th	Bostyan Racing	Richard Bostyan Jerry Thompson Donald Yenko	Chevrolet Corvette	26th
65	GTO	30th	Mandy Gonzalez	Mandy Gonzalez Hiram Cruz Manuel Villa	BMW 3.0 CSL	25th
66	AC	80	Herb Adams	Herb Adams Pat Bedard Marv Thomson	Oldsmobile Cutlass	21st
67	GTX	86	Team Pantera	Hugh Kleinpeter Jef Stevens	De Tomaso Pantera GT4K	17th
68	GTO	04	Rick Thompkins	Rick Thompkins Randy Blessing	Chevrolet Corvette	15th
69	GTX	59	Brumo's Porsche	Peter Gregg Brad Frisselle	Porsche 935	11
70	GTO	23	Overbagh Motor Racing	Hoyt Overbagh Billy Hagan Bud Wamsley	Chevrolet Monza	8th
71	GTU	78	Abingdon Ashley Motors	Rod Bremner Don McKnight	Triumph TR7	7th
72	GTU	49	Ted Schumacher Racing	Ted Schumacher Robert Hubbard John Kelly	Triumph GT6	7th
73	GTX	7th	Heimrath Racing	Ludwig Heimrath senior Norm Ridgely	Porsche 935	6th
74	GTX	40	Quintana Racing	Manuel Quintana Richard Stone	Ford Mustang	5
75	GTX	1	Dale Kreider Racing	Dale Kreider Jack Baldwin	Chevrolet Corvette	4th
76	GTX	54	Raul Garcia	Joaquin Lopez Raul Garcia	Chevrolet Camaro	2
Not started
77	GTU	16	Striped Tiger Racing	Dan Slodowick Cliff McCandles Jay Miller	Porsche 914/6	1
78	GTU	61	Juan Montalvo	Juan Montalvo Tony Garcia	Ford Escort	2
Not qualified
79	GTX	65	Ahmed Valhuerdi	Ahmed Valhuerdi Bruce Jernigan	Shelby GT350	3

¹ Engine failure in training ² not started ³ 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
80	AC	10	Clay Young	Clay Young Eddie Johnson Bob Buchler	Pontiac Grand Am
81	GTX	15th	Bavarian Motors Inc.	Alf Gebhardt Franz Romer	BMW 3.5 CSL
82	GTX	18th	Motorcito Racing	Tico Almeida Rene Rodriguez Pepe Romero	Chevrolet Corvette
83	GTU	26th	Eleven-Tenths Racing	Ernie Smith Gene Budd John Foshee	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce
84	GTX	39	Neil Potter	Neil Potter William Boyer	Ford Mustang
85	GTX	43	Harris Engineering	William Harris Charles Gano	Ford Pinto
86	GTU	44	Sud Porsche Racing	Kent Murry George Van Arsdale	Porsche 911
87	GTU	55	Ron Duprey	Ron Duprey Bob Lapp	Datsun 240Z
88	GTX	60	Motex Automotive	Hans Berner Willy Goebbels	Porsche Carrera
89	GTX	63	Fur jewelers	Charles Fur Wiley Doran	Chevrolet Camaro
90	GTX	66	Ralph Noseda	Ralph Noseda Richard Small	Chevrolet Camaro
91	GTO	68	Luis Mendez	Luis Mendez Jaime Rodriguez Joaquin Lopez	Porsche Carrera RSR
92	GTX	69	T / A Racing School	Thomas Abbott Mike Murray Byron Walker	Ford Pinto
93	GTU	74	George Hulse	George Hulse Dennis Kline	Porsche 911
94	GTU	75	Mike Ramirez	Mike Ramirez Robert Cao Manuel Godinez	Porsche 911
95	GTX	90	Bob's Speed ​​Products	Bob Lee Guy Church Rick Kump	AMC AMX
96	GTX	94	Whittington Bros.	Bill Whittington Don Whittington	Porsche 935 / 77A
97	GTX	97	Ansley Racing	Tony Ansley Ron Connelly	Chevrolet Corvette
98	GTX	98	The Racing Team	Ralph Tolman Rick Hurst	Saab 900 Turbo

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTX	Brian Redman	Charles Mendez	Bob Garretson	Porsche 935	Overall victory
GTO	John Paul	Bonky Fernandez		Porsche Carrera RSR	Rank 4
GTU	Francisco Romero	Ernesto Soto		Porsche 911	Rank 6
AC	no participant in the finish

Racing data

• Registered: 98
• Started: 76
• Rated: 35
• Race classes: 4
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:00: 08.986 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 240
• Total distance of the winning team: 2008.461 km
• Winner's average: 167.336 km / h
• Pole position: David Hobbs - BMW 320i (# 2) - 2: 35.734 - 193.451 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Rolf Stommelen - Porsche 935 / 77A (# 6) - 2: 37.348 - 191.675 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd round of the IMSA GT series 1978
• Racing series: 2nd round of the 1978 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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Gregg's Porsche 935 in an accident
2. ↑ The uninjured Gregg emerges from the wreck

Previous race of the 1978 Daytona 24 Hours

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour Mugello race in 1978

Previous race of the 1978 Daytona 24 Hours

IMSA GT Championship

Successor to the 6 Hours of Talladega 1978