Sebring 12 hour race in 1989

The Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo with the starting number 83; Winning car from Chip Robinson , Geoff Brabham and Arie Luyendyk

Cockpit of the Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo with right-hand drive

The Toyota 88C with starting number 98; here in the paddock at the 3 Hours of West Palm Beach 1989 . In Sebring the car broke down prematurely after an engine failure.

37. The 12-hour race at Sebring , including The 37th Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring International Grand Prix of Endurance, Sebring International Raceway , took place on 18 March 1989 at the Sebring International Raceway place and was the fourth championship round of the IMSA -GTP series this year.

Before the race

First race of the IMSA GT Championship in 1989 was the 24 Hours of Daytona , the bob wollek , Derek Bell and John Andretti on a Porsche 962 won. In the second round of the season, the 3-hour race in Miami , Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson remained victorious behind the wheel of a Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo . The discharged on the same day 45-minute race from Miami won Pete Halsmer Mercury Cougar XR-seventh

The race

In 1985 Nissan entered the IMSA GTP series. In 1988 Geoff Brabham had won the overall ranking of the GTP class with the Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo and in 1989 the vehicle was at the start in Sebring for the first time. Electramotive Engineering was Nissan's official US motorsport partner from 1984. The task was to use and further develop the racing car. The involvement in the IMSA series, like the Le Mans campaign from 1983, served to convey the name of Nissan and the Group's technical know-how to the public. The engine was developed by Nissan with the help of Electramotive. The renowned racing car manufacturer Lola Cars was commissioned to develop the chassis . The first three chassis with the designation Lola T810 were ready in early 1985. This chassis was a further development of the T710 that Lola had developed for the Corvette GTP from Chevrolet . The first year was dedicated to the further development of the car and then to be competitive from 1986. First and foremost, Electramotive had to adapt the car to the shorter sprint races of the IMSA GTP series. Lola built three more chassis, which Electramotive adapted by the end of 1987. However, the adjustments were so extensive that Electramotive finally designed and built the chassis itself. A total of five chassis were manufactured by Electramotive in 1988. In 1990 Electramotive was renamed Nissan Performance Technology Inc. (NPTI) and the GTP ZX-Turbo was replaced by the NPT-90 at half-time of the season .

Electramotive Engineering reported two vehicles (starting numbers 83 and 84) with identical driver lines. Geoff Brabham, Chip Robinson and Arie Luyendyk both drove racing cars. In practice, Geoff Brabham achieved the fastest qualifying time with a time of 1: 55.822 minutes (average 205.589 km / h). He was only marginally faster than Luyendyk, who achieved a time of 1: 55.977 minutes. So both Nissans were on the front row.

The Nissan with the number 84 - at that time driven by Luyendyk - lost a wheel after only 14 racing laps and had to be parked on the track. The second car, starting number 83, dominated the race like rarely before a sports car in Sebring. With an average speed of 181.441 km / h, Robinson / Brabham and Luyendyk won, despite an unscheduled repair stop, clearly ahead of the Jaguar XJR-9D of John Nielsen and Price Cobb . Porsche's long-term hegemony in Sebring ended with the first major international sports car success of a Japanese automobile manufacturer . Since Al Holbert and Michael Keyser's overall victory in the Porsche Carrera RSR in 1976 , only Porsche racing cars had won.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTP	83	Electramotive engineering	Chip Robinson Geoff Brabham Arie Luyendyk	Nissan GTP ZX Turbo	330
2	GTP	61	Castrol Jaguar Racing	John Nielsen Price Cobb	Jaguar XJR-9D	328
3	GTP	86	Bayside Racing Bruce Leven	James Weaver Dominic Dobson	Porsche 962	320
4th	GTP	30th	Momo Gebhardt Racing	Giampiero Moretti Massimo Sigala Michael Roe Derek Bell	Porsche 962	317
5	GTP	0	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Jean-Louis Ricci Bob Wollek	Porsche 962C	315
6th	GTP	10	Hotchkis Racing	Jim Adams John Hotchkis John Hotchkis junior	Porsche 962	300
7th	Lights	55	Huffaker Racing	Bob Lesnett Dan Marvin	Spice SE86CL Pontiac Firebird GTP	292
8th	GTO	11	Roush Racing	Wally Dallenbach Dorsey Schroeder	Lincoln Mercury Cougar XR-7	292
9	GTO	11	Essex Racing	Charles Morgan Tom Hessert	Spice SE88P	290
10	GTO	16	Roush Racing	Pete Halsmer Bob Earl	Lincoln Mercury Cougar XR-7	288
11	GTP	33	Spice Engineering USA	Costa's Los Jeff Kline	Spice SE89P Pontiac Firebird GTP	285
12	GTO	38	Mandeville Auto Tech	Roger Mandeville Kelly Marsh	Mazda RX-7	284
13	GTO	90	Road Circuit Technology	Les Delano Andy Petery Craig Carter	Lincoln Mercury Capri	282
14th	GTP	60	Castrol Jaguar Racing	Davy Jones Jan Lammers	Jaguar XJR-9D	281
15th	GTU	74	Huffaker Racing	George Robinson Bart Kendall Johnny Unser	Pontiac Fiero	278
16	GTU	82	Dick Greer Racing	Dick Greer Mike Mees John Finger	Mazda RX-7	273
17th	GTU	71	Team highball	Amos Johnson Dennis Shaw Paul Lewis	Mazda RX-7	272
18th	Lights	19th	Essex Racing	Reggie Smith Michael Dow Monte Shalett	Tiga GT288	270
19th	GTU	89	901 Racing	Peter Uria Jack Refenning Freddy Baker	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	268
20th	Lights	43	John Higgins	Charles Monk Lorenzo Lamas John Higgins Chip Mead	Fabcar CL	254
21st	GTU	72	Jay Kjoller	Jay Kjoller Patrick Mooney Steve Volk	Porsche 911	248
22nd	GTO	03	Skoal Bandit Racing	Max Jones Buz McCall	Chevrolet Camaro	246
23	Lights	63	Downing Atlanta	Jim Downing John O'Steen Howard Katz	Argo JM19	246
24	Lights	4th	S&L Racing	Scott Schubot Tom Blackaller Linda Ludemann	Spice SE88P	245
25th	GTU	57	Cryderacing	Reed Kryder John Gimble Frank Del Vecchio	Nissan 300ZX	245
26th	GTO	18th	Ken Bupp	Ken Bupp Robert Peters	Chevrolet Camaro	244
27	GTU	87	Overton Autosport	Lance Stewart Ron Cortez	Mazda RX-7	243
28	GTU	95	Leitzinger Racing	Bob Leitzinger Butch Leitzinger Chuck Kurtz	Nissan 240SX	228
29	GTU	62	Alex Job Racing	Alex Job Chris Kraft Rusty Bond	Porsche 911	225
30th	Lights	12	Carlos Bobeda Racing	Tomas Lopez Albert Rocca Carlos Bobeda	Tiga GT286	225
31	GTU	17th	Al Bacon Perf	Al Bacon Bob Reed	Mazda RX-7	216
32	GTO	47	Lion Rampant Racing	Ferdinand de Lesseps Luis Sereix Chaunce Wallace Hervé Regout	Chevrolet Camaro	189
Failed
33	GTP	09	Ball Bros. Racing	Steve Durst Mike Brockman Jay Cochran	Spice SE88P	263
34	GTO	75	Cunningham Racing	John Morton Steve Millen	Nissan 300ZX	215
35	Lights	40	Bieri Racing	Martino Finotto Paolo Guatamacchi Uli Bieri	Tiga GT286	193
36	GTU	48	Red Line Racing	Mike Graham Dave Russell Alan Crouch	BMW 325	187
37	GTP	67	Busby Racing	Bob Wollek Derek Bell John Andretti	Porsche 962	184
38	GTO	44	Thomas Sapp	Tim Morgan Marcus Opie Peter Morgan Charles Bair	Chevrolet Corvette	171
39	GTP	98	All American Racers	Chris Cord Steve Bren Drake Olson	Toyota 88C	149
40	GTO	53	Bill McDill	Richard McDill Bill McDill	Chevrolet Camaro	146
41	GTU	22nd	Guy Church	Guy Church EJ Generotti Louis D'Agostino	Mazda RX-7	141
42	Lights	25th	Brent O'Neill	Brent O'Neill Steve Shelton Don Courtney	Argo JM19	116
43	GTO	2	Powell Equipment	John Jones Hunter Jones Richard Andison	Chevrolet Corvette	116
44	GTU	50	Fritz Hochreuter	Rudy Bartling Rainer Brezinka Fritz Hochreuter	Porsche 911	115
45	GTU	68	Luis Mendez	Luis Mendez Mandy Gonzalez Tato Ferrer	Porsche 911 Carrera	101
46	GTU	45	Charles Slater	Charles Slater Kenneth Brady Norm Dupont	Porsche 911	93
47	GTO	05	Ken Hendrick Racing	Ken Hendrick Dan Gallant	Oldsmobile Toronado	90
48	GTU	7th	Juan Negron	Juan Negron Chiqui Soldevilla Luis Gordillo	Mazda RX-7	72
49	GTO	42	Bob's Speed ​​Products	Del Russo Taylor Mark Montgomery	Pontiac Firebird	58
50	GTO	46	Team Gulfwind	Daniel Urrutia Gene Whipp Gary Smith	Pontiac Firebird	20th
51	Lights	58	Gary Wonzer Racing	Bill Bean Nort Northam Gary Wonzer Bruce Westcott	Lola T616	19th
52	GTP	84	Electramotive engineering	Arie Luyendyk Chip Robinson Geoff Brabham	Nissan GTP ZX Turbo	14th
53	GTP	39	Phoenix Race Cars	John Gunn Chip Mead Gary Belcher	Phoenix JG2	10
Not started
54	GTU	00	Full time racing	Kal Showket Neil Hanneman	Dodge Daytona	1
55	GTO	23	Raul Garcia	Raul Garcia	Pontiac Firebird	2
56	GTP	99	All American Racers	Willy T. Ribbs Juan Manuel Fangio II	Eagle HF89	3
57	Lights	4T	S&L Racing	Scott Schubot Linda Ludemann	Spice SE88P	4th
58	GTP	30T	Momo Gebhardt Racing	Giampiero Moretti Massimo Sigala	Porsche 962C	5
59	GTU	45T	Charles Slater	Bob Lesnett Charles Slater Kenneth Brady Norm Dupont	Porsche 911	6th
60	GTO	47T	Chaunce Wallace	Ferdinand de Lesseps Luis Sereix Chaunce Wallace Hervé Regout	Chevrolet Camaro	7th
61	GTP	66	Castrol Jaguar Racing		Jaguar XJR-9	8th

¹ Accident during training ² Not started ³ Suspension damage during training ⁴ Training cars ⁵ Training cars ⁶ Training cars ⁷ Training cars ⁸ Training cars

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
62	Lights		Tommy Johnson	Tommy Johnson Buzzy Smith	Tiga GT285
63	Lights	01	Racecraft International	Michael Dow George Wilkie Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Spice SE87L Pontiac Firebird GTP L
64	GTU	07	Joe Varde	Joe Varde Tommy Riggins	Dodge Daytona
65	GTO	31	Anthony Puleo	Anthony Puleo Richard Valentine Phil Currin	Chevrolet Camaro
66	GTU	46	Adriano Abreu	Adriano Abreu	Nissan 280Z
67	Lights	70	Downing Atlanta	Tom Blackaller Jim Downing	Argo JM16
68	GTP	76	Hendrick Motorsports	Jack Baldwin Tom Pumpelly	Chevrolet Corvette GTP
69	Lights	79	Roy Roach		Spice SE87L Pontiac Firebird

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTP	Chip Robinson	Geoff Brabham	Aria Luyendyk	Nissan GTP ZX Turbo	Overall victory
Lights	Bob Lesnett	Dan Marvin		Spice SE86CL Pontiac Firebird GTP	Rank 7
GTO	Wally Dallenbach	Dorsey Schroeder		Lincoln Mercury Cougar XR-7	Rank 8
GTU	George Robinson	Bart Kendall	Johnny Unser	Pontiac Fiero	Rank 15

Racing data

• Registered: 69
• Started: 53
• Rated: 32
• Race classes: 4
• Spectators: 30,000
• Race day weather: warm, sunny and dry
• Route length: 6.614 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:01: 48.381 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 330
• Total distance of the winning team: 2182.753 km
• Winner's average: 181.441 km / h
• Pole position: Geoff Brabham - Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo (# 83) - 1: 55.822 - 205.589 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Arie Luyendyk - Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo (# 84) - 1: 59.776 - 198.802 km / h
• Racing series: 4th round of the IMSA GTP series in 1989

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 45-minute race of Miami 1989

IMSA-GTP series

Follow -up race 500 km from Road Atlanta 1989