Sebring 12 hour race in 1980

The winning Porsche 935K3 from John Fitzpatrick and Dick Barbour ; here at the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in the same year where Axel Plankenhorn was the third driver

Triumph TR8

The 28th Sebring 12-hour race , also Coca-Cola Twelve Hours of Sebring International Grand Prix of Endrurance (28th Annual Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring), Sebring Airport , took place on March 22, 1980 at the Sebring International Raceway took place and was the second round of the IMSA GT series and the third of the sports car world championship of this year.

The race

The 1980 race marked the return of the event to the premier US sports car race. After almost a decade of agony, the 1980s edition shone with the strongest field since the early 1970s. While the organizers of the 24-hour race in Daytona were still struggling with the lack of acceptance by the spectators, 50,000 people came to the race weekend in 1980 and turned the event back into the big racing game as in the 1950s and 1960s. As in previous years, Porsche was the dominant brand in the GTX and GTO classes this year . The Porsche 935 had reached the height of its development history.

In practice, John Fitzpatrick set a new lap record in a Dick-Barbour -935 with a time of 2: 34.053. This lap time corresponded to an average of 195.563 km / h. However, the training was overshadowed by a fatal accident. It was the first fatal incident since the disaster race in 1966 . The multiple Sebring starter Manuel Quintana , who emigrated from Cuba , lost control of his Porsche 911 during an evasive maneuver . The Porsche overturned several times and stayed on the roof. Quintana was driven to the Highlands Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. He died of severe head injuries during transport and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The first three hours of racing were dominated by the duel between the Dick Barbour Porsche and the Bayside Disposal Racing 935 of Peter Gregg , Hurley Haywood and Bruce Leven , before this car fell back due to clutch problems. From then on, the way was clear for Fitzpatrick and Barbour to win, three laps ahead of another 935 driven by Ted Field and Danny Ongais .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTX	6th	Dick Barbour Racing	John Fitzpatrick Dick Barbour	Porsche 935K3	253
2	GTX	0	Interscope Racing	Ted Field Danny Ongais	Porsche 935K3 / 80	250
3	GTX	93	Whittington Bros.	Don Whittington Bill Whittington Dale Whittington	Porsche 935K3	247
4th	GTX	09	Thunderbird Swap Shop	John Paul Sr. Preston Henn Al Holbert	Porsche 935K3	239
5	GTX	05	Mendez Woods Akin	Bob Akin Roy Woods Skeeter McKitterick	Porsche 935K3	232
6th	GTO	44	Group 44	Bob Tullius Bill Adam	Triumph TR8	230
7th	GTX	9	Dick Barbour Racing	Bob Garretson Bobby Rahal Kees Nierop	Porsche 935K3	227
8th	GTX	07	Ludwig Heimrath	Ludwig Heimrath senior Johnny Rutherford Carlos Moran	Porsche 935	224
9	GTU	77	Mandeville Racing	Roger Mandeville Jim Downing Brad Frisselle	Mazda RX-7	222
10	GTX	86	Bayside Disposal Racing	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood Bruce Leven	Porsche 935 / 77A	220
11	GTO	03	Toyota Village	Werner Frank James Brolin	Porsche 934	213
12	GTO	92	Framm Promotions	Roger Schramm Rudy Bartling	Porsche Carrera RSR	213
13	GTU	95	Mike Ramirez	Mike Ramirez Manuel Villa Luis Gordillo	Porsche 911	212
14th	GTU	96	NTS Racing	Sam Posey George Alderman Fred Stiff	Datsun 240Z	211
15th	GTO	37	Botero Racing	Honorato Espinosa Jorge Cortes	Porsche Carrera	211
16	GTU	81	Trinity Racing	Mark Welch Tom Winters Jim Cook	Mazda RX-7	210
17th	GTU	34	Drolsom Racing	George Drolsom Bill Johnson Rob Hoskins	Porsche 911	206
18th	GTO	56	Rick Borlase	Rick Borlase Don Kravig Michael Hammond	Porsche 911	205
19th	GTU	22nd	R & H Racing	Gary Hirsch Rainer Brezinka Peter Aschenbrenner	Porsche 914/6	205
20th	GTO	98	Van Every Racing	Lance Van Every Ash Tisdelle	Porsche Carrera RSR	195
21st	GTO	90	Bob's Speed ​​Products	Bob Lee Rick Kump Jim Leo	AMC AMX	191
22nd	GTU	87	The Klaus house	Klaus Bitter to James Moxley Vicki Smith	Porsche 911	185
23	GTU	31	Lopez Bros.	Juan Lopez Jose Arzeno	Porsche 911	179
24	GTO	60	Bill Ferran	Bill Ferran Rusty Bond Jack Refenning	Porsche Carrera RSR	172
25th	GTX	25th	Red Lobster Racing	Dave Cowart Kenper Miller Derek Bell	BMW M1	172
26th	GTO	49	Tortilla Flats Racing	Warwick Henderson Bob Copeman John Humphreys	Porsche Carrera	166
27	GTU	57	Personalized Porsche	Wayne Baker Jeff Scott Dan Gilliland	Porsche 914/4	163
28	GTU	78	Revolution Wheels	Bruce Nesbitt Alan Johnson	Mazda RX-2	162
29	GTO	99	National Jets	Russ Boy Tom Hunt	Chevrolet Corvette	160
30th	GTU	79	Sports Ltd. Racing	Bob Bergstrom Pat Bedard	Mazda RX-7	148
31	GTO	84	Bard Boand Racing	Bard Boand Robert Kivela Ray Irwin	Chevrolet Corvette	140
32	GTX	27	Holley & LaGrow	Kenneth LaGrow William Boyer Jack Turner	Chevrolet Camaro	138
33	GTO	58	Coco Lopez Pina Colada	Mandy Gonzalez Diego Febles Chiqui Soldevilla	Porsche 934	135
34	GTO	40	Joe Cotrone	Joe Cotrone Emory Donaldson Phil Currin	Chevrolet Corvette	106
Failed
35	GTO	68	Porsche Montecarlo	Luis Mendez Jaime Rodriguez Ernesto Soto	Porsche Carrera RSR	216
36	GTO	54	Montura Racing	Tony Garcia Albert Naon Terry Herman	Porsche Carrera RSR	187
37	GTO	46	de Narváez Enterprises	Mauricio de Narváez Ricardo Londoño	Porsche Carrera RSR	177
38	GTX	30th	Electrodyne Moretti	Giampiero Moretti Giorgio Pianta Renzo Zorzi	Porsche 935J	176
39	GTU	24	DiLella Racing	Vince DiLella Manuel Cueto	Porsche 914/6	172
40	GTX	80	All Canadian Peerless	Maurice Carter Craig Carter Murray Edwards	Chevrolet Camaro	167
41	GTU	08	Moran Construction	Ray Ratcliff Marion Speer Terry Wolters	Porsche 911	161
42	GTO	51	Kirby-Hitchcock Racing	Robert Kirby Freddy Baker Michael Sherwin	Porsche Carrera RSR	153
43	GTO	88	Herb Adams VSE	Herb Adams Jerry Thompson	Pontiac Fire-Am	146
44	GTU	82	Trinity Racing	John Casey Steve Dietrich Lee Mueller	Mazda RX-7	123
45	GTU	73	Z & W Enterprises	Pierre Honegger Mark Hutchins Walt Drilling	Mazda RX-7	118
46	GTO	06	Fassler-Mullen Racing	Jim Mullen Paul Fassler Craig Siebert	Porsche Carrera	108
47	GTO	21st	Oftedahl Trucking	Bob Young Bob Lazier	Chevrolet Camaro	101
48	GTX	3	Jim Busby Industries	Jim Busby Bruce Jenner Rick Knoop	March-BMW M1	100
49	GTX	55	Condor Racing	Ralph Kent-Cooke Lyn St. James	Porsche 935	87
50	GTU	70	Chris Doyle	Chris Doyle Charles Guest Mike Meyer	Mazda RX-7	87
51	GTX	7th	Caribbean AMC Jeep	Lou Statzer Amos Johnson Dennis Shaw	AMC spirit	84
52	GTO	32	Scorpio Racing	Enrique Molins Carlos Pineda Eduardo Barrientos	Porsche Carrera RSR	80
53	GTO	10	Oftedahl Trucking	Dave Heinz Bob Nagel	Chevrolet Camaro	74
54	GTO	38	Boricua Racing	Bonky Fernandez Tato Ferrer Ulrich Lange	Porsche Carrera RSR	73
55	GTU	23	Metalcraft Racing	Bob Zulkowski Dennis Brisken Gary Nylander	Porsche 914/6	73
56	GTU	71	Bruce Jennings	Bruce Jennings Bill Bean Tom Ashby	Porsche 911	69
57	GTO	83	David Deacon	David Deacon Peter Moennick	Porsche Carrera	63
58	GTO	15th	Bavarian Motors International	Alf Gebhardt Bruno Beilcke	BMW CSL	63
59	GTO	14th	George Garcia	George Garcia Vic Shinn Daniel Vilarchao	Chevrolet Corvette	63
60	GTX	4th	Dick Barbour Racing	Buzz Marcus Bob Harmon Marty Hinze	Porsche 935	52
61	GTX	13	Andial Racing	Randolph Townsend John Morton Howard Master	Porsche 935	52
62	GTU	35	Janis Taylor	Del Russo Taylor Janis Taylor Dave Cavenaugh	Alfa Romeo Alfetta	51
63	GTX	50	Shulnburg Scrap Metal	Robert Shulnburg Michael Keyser Tim Morgan	Chevrolet Corvette	49
64	GTX	5	Mendez Woods Akin	Charles Mendez Brian Redman Paul Miller	Porsche 935K3	49
65	GTO	41	Jones Industries Racing	Herb Jones Steve Lazy Kent Combs	Buick Skylark	43
66	GTU	66	George Shafer	George Shafer Craig Shafer Al Crookston	Datsun 240Z	37
67	GTO	89	Hector Huerta Racing	Ernesto Soto Luis Rodriguez Delfino	Porsche Carrera	35
68	GTX	02	T&R Racing	Tico Almeida Rene Rodriguez Gabriel Riano	Chevrolet Corvette	33
69	GTO	65	Jeff Loving	Ralph Noseda Jeff Loving Richard Small	Chevrolet Camaro	28
70	GTO	48	Dynasales	John Carusso	Chevrolet Corvette	28
71	GTO	12	Performance marine	Ford Smith Bruce Jernigan Jimmy Tumbleston	Chevrolet Camaro	28
72	GTU	8th	AI Honda	Anatoly Arutunoff José Marina	Lancia Stratos	23
73	GTU	85	John Hulen	John Hulen Ron Coupland	Porsche 914/6	20th
74	GTO	17th	Tim Chitwood	Tim Chitwood Sam Fillingham Vince Gimondo	Chevrolet Nova	19th
75	GTO	28	Hamilton House Racing	Robert Overby Joseph Hamilton Herb Forrest	Porsche 911	12
76	GTU	74	Z & W Enterprises	Carlos Ramirez Neale Messina Chester Vincentz	Mazda RX-7	8th
77	GTO	61	Tim Morgan	Vince Muzzin Marcus Opie Tim Evans	Chevrolet Corvette	5
78	GTX	62	Tom's Dome Kegel Enterprises	Nobuhide Tachi Bill Koll Tim Sharp	Dome Toyota Celica Turbo	4th
79	GTU	36	Case Racing	Dave Panaccione Ron Case Jack Rynerson	Porsche 911	4th
Not started
80	GTO	47	Dennis Mikell	Terry Keller Bob Gray Scott Chapman	Chevrolet Corvette	1
81	GTX	53	Bruce Leven	Bruce Leven Hurley Haywood	Porsche 935	2
83	GTU	67	Manuel Quintana Racing	Manuel Quintana Fernando Garcia	Porsche 911	3
Not qualified
84	GTU	39	John Ellerman	Jack Ellerman Diego Londoño	BMW 2002	4th
85	GTU	45	Magic engineering	Mark Trumbull Peter Flanagan	Datsun 510	5

¹ engine failure during training ² replacement car ³ fatal accident involving Quintana during training ⁴ not qualified ⁵ 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
86	GTX	00	Interscope Racing	Danny Ongais Ted Field	Porsche 935 / 77A
87	GTU	01	Midwest BMW Service	David Redszus Leo Franchi Merv Rosen	BMW 2002
88	GTU	11	Louis Bocskai	Louis Bocskai Tony Ansley Nick Bodoki	Datsun 240Z
89	GTO	16	Budweiser Racing Team	Javier Garcia Luis Sereix Tom Sheehy	Chevrolet Corvette
90	GTX	18th	JLP Racing	John Paul Al Holbert	Porsche 935 JLP-2
91	GTO	19th	Cliff thank god	Cliff thank god	Chevrolet Corvette
92	GTO	20th	Rock 'n roll t-shirts	Stephen Bond	Chevrolet Monza
93	GTO	26th	BTS Racing	Alejandro Cortes Eugenio Matienzo	Ford Mustang
94	GTU	52	Snowmobile Racing	Fred Snow Tom Cripe	Porsche 911
95	GTX	63	Guy Thomas Motor Racing	Guy Thomas Hugh Davenport	Chevrolet Camaro
96	GTO	64	Ego racing	Earle Moffitt George Jones CC Canada	Chevrolet Corvette
97	GTO	75	Show Cars of Florida	Dale Kreider Billy Hagan Terry Labonte	Chevrolet Corvette
98	GTU	76	Al Cosentino	Al Cosentino Bob Speakman	Mazda RX-7
99	GTO	91	BR Racing Team	Mark Leuzinger Mike Van der Werff	De Tomaso Pantera
100	GTX	94	Whittington Bros.	Dale Whittington David Hobbs	Porsche 935/79
101	GTO	97	Charles Gano	Charles Gano Lawrence Pleasants Nort Northam	Chevrolet Corvette

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTX	John Fitzpatrick	Dick Barbour		Porsche 935K3	Overall victory
GTO	Bob Tullius	Bill Adam		Triumph TR8	Rank 6
GTU	Roger Mandeville	Jim Downing	Brad Frisselle	Mazda RX-7	Rank 9

Racing data

• Reported: 101
• Started: 79
• Rated: 34
• Race classes: 3
• Spectators: 50,000
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:00: 44.771 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 253
• Total distance of the winning team: 2117.253 km
• Winner's average: 176.255 km / h
• Pole position: John Fitzpatrick - Porsche 935K3 (# 6) - 2: 34.053 - 195.563 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Bill Whittington - Porsche 935K3 (# 93) - 2: 31.014 - 199.497 km / h
• Racing series: 3rd round of the 1980 sports car world championship
• Racing series: 2nd round of the IMSA GT series 1980

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. ↑ On the death of Manuel Quintana

Previous race, Brands Hatch 6 Hours, 1980

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour Mugello race in 1980

Previous race 24 Hours of Daytona 1980

IMSA GT Championship

Succession race 100-mile race at Road Atlanta in 1980