Video Inspiration: Swimming at Sebring, 1965
Racers from the World Endurance Championship and IMSA are currently encamped throughout the sleepy Citrus Belt town of Sebring, Florida, to compete in two similar but parallel races: the Sebring 1000, a 1,000-mile, eight-hour
event and the 12 Hours of Sebring, which dominates the weekend. The latter is the more well-known of the two, and it is the 1965 running of this famous 12-hour endurance race that provides our video inspiration for this week.
1965 Sebring Grand Prix
King Rose Archives
178K subscribers
23,279 views Jun 5, 2014
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida. The event is the second round of the United SportsCar Championship and in the past has been a round of the now defunct World
Sportscar Championship, IMSA GT Championship and American Le Mans Series. It is known as preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the track's extremely bumpy surface, combined with south-central Florida's perennial hot weather, is a test of a car's reliability. After Daytona, the next match was at Sebring. Once again, Shelby fielded his
Cobras and the two GT 40's. One of the drivers hung on the tail of the leading Ferrari and bided his time. Another challenger, the Corvette Chaparral was a strong contender. The other GT 40 developed suspension trouble and was out of the race. It was now up to the remaining car. A heavy rainstorm added to the tension. It turned into a grueling
race. The rear end broke in the leading Ferrari and the car retired. This cleared the way for the GT-40 to come in second behind the Chaparral. Shelby and his team were ready to take on the world.
Racing in Florida is always dependent on the weather. The town of Sebring averages around 50 inches of precipitation per year, which sounds moderate when spread over 12 months. But in 1965, much of the year’s entire allotment of rain was dumped directly on a field of racing drivers that included Jim Hall, Mario Andretti, Ken Miles, and other notable names—many of whom were competing in open-cockpit cars.
This Sports Car Digest piece by Louis Galanos recounts the moment in detail: eight inches of water standing on the track, pit lane turned into a canal with tires and equipment floating by, Phill Hill opening his door to let waist-high water escape from his car, and drivers pitting to have drain holes drilled in their floor pans. Nevertheless, the race continued, with the leaders’ lap times climbing as high as 10 minutes during the worst of the downpour.
Image: collectorstudio.com
The deluge was not the only notable aspect of the race. The FIA had agreed to raise the displacement limits on prototype racers for 1965, and the early-season Florida races were the opening salvo in the Ford vs. Ferrari contest that dominated endurance racing during the middle part of the decade (though Ferrari officially protested the rule changes and would only allow his cars to race as “privateer” entries).
Meanwhile, Porsche was ascendant—their 904s had been ruling the GT class, and at Sebring waged their own battle against Ford-powered Daytona Coupes and privateer Cobras. Though the rain eventually cleared, the track remained wet until the 10pm finish when the Jim Hall/Hap Sharp Chaparral 2A crossed the line four laps ahead of the next challenger, the Ken Miles/Bruce McLaren Ford GT40. While it’s certain that the 1965 race was miserable for nearly everyone involved, it makes for great viewing today!