Sebring 12 hour race in 1981

Route 1981

The 29th Sebring 12-hour race , also known as The Coca-Cola Twelve Hours of Sebring, International Grand Prix of Endurance, Sebring Airport , took place on March 21, 1981 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the second race of the sports car World Championship as well as the IMSA-GTP series this year.

The race

The 12-hour race in Sebring, now the oldest US sports car race, was also considered the most strenuous car race for man and machine in North America in 1981. That was mainly due to the tough and uneven race course at Sebring. In 1981, however, a lot had changed compared to previous years. Sports car races in the USA in the early 1980s suffered from a sharp decline in manufacturers and sponsors. The starting fields were still large; However, the variety of vehicles was missing and only a few teams were professionally managed. In addition, the American viewers lacked the drivers to identify with. The best-known and most popular pilot was missing in 1981. Peter Gregg had committed suicide on a Florida beach in December 1980 . For many years he had formed a successful racing duo with Hurley Haywood ; his racing cars were prepared in an exemplary manner.

The race at Sebring was least affected by these developments. On race day, 47,000 people were announced as the official number of spectators. As in the previous year, John Fitzpatrick in his Porsche 935 achieved the fastest training time . The 935 were the dominant racing model in this race. The first twelve starting positions were taken by the 935, only in 13th position followed the first non- 935 with a Chevrolet Monza .

The race was extremely exciting. The lead changed eleven times during the 12-hour race; six teams were able to advance to the top. The first five hours were led by John Fitzpatrick and Jim Busby , but were unable to finish the race due to a fault in the transmission. What was astonishing was that Hurley Haywood , Al Holbert and Bruce Leven , who were in the lead at half time, lost seven laps after a problem with the pits, but ended up three laps ahead of Roy Woods , Ralph Kent-Cooke and Skeeter McKitterick remained victorious.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTX	86	Bayside Disposal Racing	Hurley Haywood Al Holbert Bruce Leven	Porsche 935/80	245
2	GTX	90	Cooke Woods Racing Garretson Enterprises	Roy Woods Ralph Kent-Cooke Skeeter McKitterick	Porsche 935K3	242
3	GTX	2	Marty Hinze Racing	Marty Hinze Milt Minter Bill Whittington	Porsche 935K3	240
4th	GTX	3	Andial Masters Racing	Howard Master Rolf Stommelen Harald Grohs	Porsche 935M16	233
5	GTO	58	Charles Kendall	Chuck Kendall Pete Smith Dennis Aase	Porsche Carrera RSR	218
6th	GTX	30th	Momo penthouse	Giampiero Moretti Charles Mendez Mauricio de Narváez	Porsche 935J	213
7th	GTO	23	Roe Shelby Racing	Tim Shelby Earl Roe	Porsche Carrera	212
8th	GTO	73	Z & W Enterprises	Marion Speer Eddy Joosen Dirk Vermeersch	Mazda RX-7	212
9	GTU	98	Kent Racing	Lee Mueller Walt Drilling	Mazda RX-7	211
10	GTO	44	Group 44	Bob Tullius Bill Adam	Triumph TR8	208
11	GTU	67	Pennzoil of Puerto Rico	Mike Ramirez Luis Gordillo Manuel Villa	Porsche 911	208
12	GTO	04	T&R Racing	Rene Rodríguez Tico Almeida Miguel Morejan	Porsche Carrera RSR	208
13	GTO	54	Florida Crystals Montura Racing	Albert Naon Tony Garcia Hiram Cruz	Porsche Carrera RSR	203
14th	GTO	35	HSM Racing	Mandy Gonzales Bonky Fernandez Juan Cochesa	Porsche 934	199
15th	GTU	50	Downing Maffucci Racing	Jim Downing Irv Hoerr Scott Hoerr	Mazda RX-7	196
16	GTU	49	Faza Squadra	Al Cosentino Bob Speakman	Mazda RX-7	190
17th	GTX	9	Cooke Woods Racing Garretson Enterprises	Bob Garretson Bobby Rahal Brian Redman	Porsche 935K3	190
18th	GTO	4th	Group 44	John Kelly Pat Bedard	Triumph TR8	187
19th	GTU	77	Bruce Jennings	Bruce Jennings Bill Bean Tom Ashby	Porsche 911	185
20th	GTX	68	USA Racing	Richard Valentine Maurice Carter	Chevrolet Corvette	182
21st	GTX	05	Miguel Morejan	Fred Flaquer Joe Gonzales Angelo Dominguez	Porsche Carrera RSR	182
22nd	GTU	31	Hallet Motor Racing Circuit	Anatoly Aruntunoff José Marina	Lancia Stratos HF	177
23	GTX	84	Scorpio Racing	Enrique Molins Eduardo Barrientos Guillermo Valiente	Porsche 935M16	177
24	GTO	25th	Red Lobster Racing	Dave Cowart Kenper Miller	BMW M1	176
25th	GTU	81	Trinity Racing	Steve Dietrich Tom Winters Hugh McDonough	Mazda RX-7	174
26th	GTX	83	George Shafer	George Shafer Craig Shafer Al Crookston	Chevrolet Camaro	173
27	GTO	34	Drolsom Racing	George Drolsom Bob Hoskins Buzz Marcus	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	165
28	GTO	15th	DL performance engineering	Doug Lutz Dave Panaccione	Porsche Carrera RSR	155
29	GTU	52	Ours & Hours Racing	Jack Swanson Tom Cripe Van McDonald	Porsche 911	155
30th	GTU	88	Klaus Bitterauf	Klaus Bitter to James Moxley Jim Leo	Porsche 911	155
31	GTU	39	The Foreign Exchange	John Higgins Chip Mead Bill Johnson	Porsche 911	136
32	GTU	66	Dunham Trucking	Jack Dunham Tom Sheeby Louis Sereix	Mazda RX-7	136
33	GTX	02	Firestone Tire & Rubber	John Morton Tom Klauser	Ford Mustang	133
34	GTO	60	Bob's Speed ​​Products	Bob Lee Vicki Smith Tom Marx	AMC AMX	128
35	GTX	72	Vince Thompson	Del Russo Taylor Rex Ramsey	Chevron GTP	96
Failed
36	GTU	45	Autosport Technology	Dwight Mitchell Ray Ratcliff Bill Cooper	Porsche 914/6	189
37	GTO	28	NTS Racing	Sam Posey Fred Stiff	Datsun 280ZX	187
38	GTU	32	Alderman Datsun	George Alderman John McComb	Datsun 240Z	187
39	GTU	92	Kent Racing	Kathy Rude Divina Galica	Mazda RX-7	160
40	GTO	43	Bob Gregg Racing	Bob Gregg Bob Young Joe Varde	Porsche Carrera	153
41	GTX	41	Stratagraph	Billy Hagan Terry Labonte	Chevrolet Camaro	144
42	GTO	24	Jack Refenning	Jack Refenning Ren Tilton Peter Welter	Porsche 934	139
43	GTX	1	John Fitzpatrick Racing	John Fitzpatrick Jim Busby	Porsche 935K3 / 80	129
44	GTU	62	Kegel Enterprises	Bill Knoll Jeff Kline	Porsche 911S	121
45	GTX	0	Interscope Racing	Ted Field Danny Ongais	Porsche 935K3 / 80	117
46	GTO	53	Fritz Hochreuter	Fritz Hochreuter Rainer Brezinka Gary Hirsch	Porsche Carrera	114
47	GTX	27	Kenneth LaGrow Jack Holley	Kenneth LaGrow Jack Turner	Chevrolet Camaro	114
48	GTU	7th	Loud car racing	Jim Mullen Michael Zimicki	Mazda RX-7	112
49	GTX	09	T-Bird Swap Shop	Preston Henn John Gunn Gary Belcher	Porsche 935K3	107
50	GTO	14th	BMW Challenge Team	Alf Gebhardt Marc Surer	BMW M1	106
51	GTU	57	Personalized car dealership	Wayne Baker Robert Overby Dan Gilliland	Porsche 914/6	96
52	GTX	20th	Chris Cord Racing	Chris Cord Jim Adams	Chevrolet Monza	94
53	GTX	97	The Cummings Marque	Don Cummings Tom Juckette	Chevrolet Monza	94
54	GTU	55	Mandeville Racing Ent.	Roger Mandeville Amos Johnson	Mazda RX-7	89
55	GTO	93	Sanyo Russ Boy	John Carusso Russ Boy Rex Ramsey	Chevrolet Corvette	89
56	GTX	48	Meldeau Tire Stores	Bill McDill Robert Whitaker	Chevrolet Camaro	85
57	GTO	29	Bill Ferran	Nort Northam Chiqui Soldevilla	Porsche Carrera RSR	84
58	GTU	82	Trinity Racing	Jim Cook John Casey Bob Bergstrom	Mazda RX-7	74
59	GTO	12	Performance marine racing	Jimmy Tumbleston Bobby Dumont Ford Smith	Chevrolet Camaro	63
60	GTX	5	Bob Akin Motor Racing	Bob Akin Derek Bell Craig Siebert	Porsche 935K3	62
61	GTU	75	Z & W Enterprises	Pierre Honegger Pierre Dieudonné Jean-Paul Libert	Mazda RX-7	60
62	GTX	07	Heimrath Porsche	Ludwig Heimrath senior Ludwig Heimrath junior	Porsche 935	57
63	GTU	16	Corp Racing Ltd.	Douglas Grunnet Jim Burt Steve Parquette	Mazda RX-7	50
64	GTO	40	David Deacon Racing	David Deacon Mike Freberg Rudy Bartling	BMW M1	47
65	GTX	94	Whittington Brothers	Don Whittington Bill Whittington Dale Whittington	Porsche 935K3	43
66	GTX	8th	JLP Racing	John Paul senior John Paul junior	Porsche 935JLP-3	43
67	GTO	79	Lance Every Racing	Lance Van Every Richard Bond Ash Tisdelle	Porsche Carrera RSR	27
68	GTO	56	Rick Barlose	Rick Barlose Michael Hammond Don Kravig	Porsche Carrera	27
69	GTO	03	Angelo Pallavicini	Angelo Pallavicini Neil Crang Dan Simpson	Porsche 934	23
70	GTO	89	Vette Brakes	Al Levenson Elizabeth Kleinschmidt Charles Kleinschmidt	Chevrolet Corvette	21st
71	GTO	42	Cotrone Racing Enterprises	Jo Cotrone Kal Showkat Phil Currin Emory Donaldson	Chevrolet Corvette	20th
72	GTO	85	Sunrise Auto Parts	Jeff Loving Ralph Noseda Richard Small	Chevrolet Camaro	18th
73	GTO	61	Sharkskin Racing	CC Canada Earle Moffitt Harry Cochran	Chevrolet Corvette	15th
74	GTU	38	Case Racing	Ron Case Ray Mummery Jack Emeryson	Porsche 911	12
75	GTU	70	Doyle Racing	Chris Doyle Hubert Phipps	Mazda RX-7	10
76	GTU	21st	Alps Restoration	Peter Aschenbrenner Peter Moennick Herman Lausberg	Porsche 914/6	6th
77	GTO	13	Garcia Racing	John Lino George Garcia Fernando Garcia	Chevrolet Corvette	2
78	GTU	37	Vince Thompson	Janis Taylor Pat Godard Carol Cone	Alfa Romeo GTV	1
Not started
79	GTX	00	Interscope Racing	Ted Field Danny Ongais	Porsche 935K3 / 80	1
80	GTU	01	T&R Racing	Fred Flaquer Joe Gonzales Angelo Dominguez	Porsche Carrera	2
81	GTO	10	TC Racing	Tim Chitwood Joe Varde	Chevrolet Camaro	3
82	GTX	18th	JLP Racing	Werner Frank	Porsche 935	4th
83	GTX	19th	Chris Cord Racing	Chris Cord Jim Adams	Chevrolet Monza	5
84	GTX	22nd	Paul Canary Racing	John Gunn Paul Canary	McLaren M12 GT	6th
85	GTO	36	Herman + Miller P + A	Doc Bundy Paul Miller	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	7th
86	GTO	46	BR Racing	Mark Leuzinger Mike Van der Werff	De Tomaso Pantera	8th
87	GTO	65	Yenko Chevrolet	Gary English Don Yenko Bob McClure	Chevrolet Camaro	9
88	GTU	71	Morgan Perf. Group	Charles Morgan Jim Miller Herb Forrest	Datsun 280ZX	10
89	GTX	74	Z & W Enterprises	Pierre Honegger Ernesto Soto	Mazda RX-7 GTP	11
90	GTX	91	T-Bird Swap Shop	Preston Henn John Gunn Gary Belcher	Ferrari 512BB	12

¹ Training vehicle ² not started ³ withdrawn ⁴ not started ⁵ Training vehicle ⁶ withdrawn ⁷ Accident during training ⁸ withdrawn ⁹ not started ¹⁰ not started ¹¹ withdrawn ¹² not started

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
91	GTO	11	Clayton Dopke	Clayton Dopke Freddy Baker Joe McCurdy	Ford Capri RS
92	GTX	17th	Pepe Romero	Pepe Romero Luis Mendez	Porsche 935M16
93	GTO	26th	Seacoast Aircraft	Lloyd Frink Ed Hinchcliff	Chevrolet Corvette
94	GTX	33	Avo Racing Cars	Paul Nacol Vincent Collins Lojza Vosta	AVO Mazda 13
95	GTO	47	Bells Racing	David Bell Harry Dinwiddie Ben Burrell	Datsun 260Z
96	GTO	63	Don Nooe	Don Nooe Jim Stricklin John Eckelberry	Chevrolet Corvette
97	GTO	64	Sharkskin Racing	Boyd Franklin CC Canada	Chevrolet Camaro
98	GTO	69	Southwind Enterprises	Ralston Long Charlie Cook Bob McGraw	Plymouth Volare
99	GTX	76	Arrow Heating Co.	John Chamberlain Joe Chamberlain	Chevrolet Corvette
100	GTU	78	R. Sanchez Racing	Diego Febles Armando Ramirez	Mazda RX-7
101	GTX	95	Whittington Brothers	Don Whittington Bill Whittington Dale Whittington	Porsche 935K3
102	GTO	99	Full time racing	Kai Showkat Phil Currin Emory Donaldson	Chevrolet Corvette

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTX	Hurley Haywood	Al Holbert	Bruce Leven	Porsche 935/80	Overall victory
GTO	Chuck Kendall	Pete Smith	Dennis Aase	Porsche Carrera RSR	Rank 5
GTU	Lee Mueller	Walt Drilling		Mazda RX-7	Rank 9

Racing data

• Reported: 102
• Started: 78
• Rated: 35
• Race classes: 3
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 8.369 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:00: 49.855 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 245
• Total distance of the winning team: 2050.304 km
• Winner's average: 170.661 km / h
• Pole position: John Fitzpatrick - Porsche 935/80 (# 1) - 2.28.675 - 202.636 km / h
• Fastest race lap: John Paul junior - Porsche 935JLP-3 (# 18) - 2.28.630 - 202.697 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd round of the sports car world championship in 1981
• Racing series: 2nd round of the IMSA GTP series in 1981

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 WSRP

Previous race of the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour Mugello race in 1981

Previous race of the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours

IMSA-GTP series

Succession race 45-minute race at Road Atlanta in 1981, the first race