When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
March means the 12 hours of Sebring race, which will take place on the 21st. Today's races pale by comparison to those of the past when the cars were not bullet-proof, nor overly safe. If you love old-time racing as I do, then this is the best 15 minutes you can spend to take in a wonderful unpredictable race - the 1970 Sebring race.
Average speed 107 MPH! I was surprised to see Andretti giving brutally honest assessment of his car's gearbox troubles during the race. It was nice to see Steve McQueen with broken foot driving with partial cast. Thank you for sharing.
Takes me back. Chris Economaki with his forever duh commentary. Steve McQueen! I loved these cars. How about those REALLY long pit stops? My gosh, Mario looked young.
I think what is more remarkable is the track itself.
pavement, some dirt and short scrub grass, a few trees, then houses and buildings, even some local streets with nothing in between.
No armco or cement blocks, nothing.
I think what is more remarkable is the track itself.
pavement, some dirt and short scrub grass, a few trees, then houses and buildings, even some local streets with nothing in between.
No armco or cement blocks, nothing.
IIRC, an old airfield. So it's as flat as a pancake. No banking, no elevation changes, like Nurburgring. Very hard on cornering, at speed.
I love those old Ferrari and Porsche Le Mans cars, of that era. Body styles and sound of those big, non-turbocharged engines!
Sebring and Daytona have stayed relatively unchanged, the Armco and safety barriers are fairly recent safety additions. The transitions (pavement to cement and vice versa) make for "interesting" grip levels. Throw in temp./humidity variations along with vintage bias ply race tires and you have a race car with unique handling characteristics. I've attached an in car video of a Porsche RSR chasing a 1965 Shelby GT350 and the different race line and grip each have or don't have. In the case of Sebring the video shows the original road course, unfortunately it doesn't show how rough the course is.
For those that appreciate the vintage race cars you should check into attending a HSR or SVRA vintage race. We have race cars competing from the early 1905 era through the early 90's in 10 different classifications. If anyone is in the Sebring area this month HSR has their Spring Fling on March 26-29th, spectators don't need a pit pass to get right next to the cars. I'll be there with #74 running in Group 5.
Vintage racing is the best! I was crewing for #49 at Sebring in 2005 but it was not all work that weekend.
And this is what it was like at Sebring before MG's became vintage. BMC used Murphy's Garage as a off track support facility and nearby Reed's Motel for housing in Avon Park, FL on US-27 at Sebring.
VP, I enjoyed that video. To really appreciate how rough the course is you just have to be sitting on wooden or plastic box (whatever we put in there for me to sit on) and have no seat belt. We were doing parade laps just before the 12-hour race but even then there was a little red mist in the air since the stands were full and the vintage racers were enjoying themselves.
Sebring
