George Reed (racing driver)

George Reed a retired American racing car driver and racing team owner.

Career in motorsport

George Reed competed in sports car races in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean for a decade (1956 to 1965), usually using sports cars he had bought himself. In 1956 he made his debut at the Sebring 12-hour race , where he competed ten times. In his first run, he was eliminated after 127 laps; his best placement was fifth overall in 1960 . The success was achieved together with Alan Connell in a Ferrari 250 GT California LWB . Several times he won SCCA races in the Wilmot. He remained successful on this road circuit in 1959, 1961 and 1962.

Reed also took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race twice. In 1961 he started for the North American Racing Team and dropped out. Reed purchased racing cars from Ferrari for his races in the USA . Through the mediation of Luigi Chinetti , he received a factory cockpit for the Le Mans race in a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone, which he shared with Ed Hugus . The two Americans finished the race in ninth place in the overall standings.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1961	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GT SWB	George Arents	failure	Electrics
1962	Ed Hugus	Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone	Ed Hugus	Rank 9

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1956	Chester Flynn	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	Chester Flynn		failure	camshaft
1957	C. Kreisler	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	Fred Windridge	Rundle Gilbert	Rank 25
1958	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GT LWB	George Arents	Don O'Dell	Rank 7
1959	RRR Enterprises	Ferrari 250 GT LWB	George Arents	Don O'Dell	Rank 46
1960	RRR Motors	Ferrari 250 GT California	Alan Connell		Rank 5
1961	McCook Window Company	Ferrari 250TR59 / 60	Bill Sturgis		Rank 8
1962	Scuderia Bear	Ferrari 250 GT SWB EXP	Ed Hugus		Rank 8
1963	George Reed	Shelby Cobra	Nathan Karas		failure	ignition
1964	George Reed	Shelby Cobra Roadster	Dan Gerber		failure	Leak in the fuel tank
1965	Gerber-Payne Ford	Shelby Cobra	Dan Gerber		failure	accident

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1956	Chester Flynn	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
				DNF
1957	C. Kreisler	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
				25th
1958	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GT	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				7th
1959	RRR Enterprises	Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			46
1960	RRR Motors	Ferrari 250 GT	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
				5
1961	McCook Window Company North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250TR Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			8th			DNF
1962	Scuderia Bear Ed Hugus	Ferrari 250 GT	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
					8th					9
1963	George Reed	Shelby Cobra	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					DNF
1964	George Reed	Shelby Cobra	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				DNF
1965	Gerber-Payne Ford	Shelby Cobra	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
				DNF

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissedre: 24 hours of mans . 1923-1992. 2 volumes. Édition d'Art JB Barthelemy, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

• George Reed at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Further information and pictures on George Reed
2. ↑ Sebring 12-hour race in 1960