1953 12 Hours of Sebring

The 3rd Grand Prix, 12 Hours of Sebring, was the inaugural round of the first F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship and was held at the Sebring International Raceway, on 8 March 1953.^[1]

Report

Entry

A total of 81 cars were entered for the event, across eight classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 8.0 litre. Of these 59 cars practised, 54 qualified to race.^[1]

Amongst the mostly American entrants, the greatest news for the 1953 race was that the famous English Aston Martin team would join the French factory DB’s for the 12 Hour competition. In fact, David Brown and René Bonnet, heads of these European manufacturers, both went to Florida to watch the race. Bonnet also took part in the race.^[2]

Race

Sebring in 1953

The race started at noon, and ran until midnight, on a day described as "partly cloudy and mild", in front of an estimated crowd of 12,500 spectators.^[2]

Cunningham-Chrysler C4-R won in the hands of Phil Walters and John Fitch.

The Aston Martins made a great start, leading the first 32 laps of the Florida road course before losing the lead as a result of an accident. The #57 Cunningham CR-4 then took over lead and was never headed for the rest of the race.^[2]

The car was driven by Phil Walters and John Fitch took the winner spoils for Briggs Cunningham’s team. They were boosted to the lead when the front running Aston Martin of Geoff Duke and Peter Collins collided with a Jaguar, and was forced to retire with accident damage. Walters and Fitch, driving their Florida license plated Cunningham-Chrysler C4-R, to victory covering a distance of 908.9 miles, averaging a speed of 75.338mph. One lap adrift in second place was the Aston Martin DB3 of the Reg Parnell and George Abecassis, despite reportedly being hampered by having one of its headlamps not working.^[2][3]

There was one car fire, the Allard-Cadillac J2X of Paul Ramos was destroyed when a fuel line split, however the driver, Anthony Cumming escaped unharmed. Another competitor, Randy Pearsall, also escaped injury when he flipped his Jaguar XK120.^[2]

Classification

Sebring 12 hours

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos.	No.	Class	Drivers		Entrant	Car - Engine	Laps	Reason Out
1st	57	S8.0	Phil Walters	John Fitch	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham-Chrysler C4-R	173
2nd	30	S3.0	Reg Parnell	George Abecassis	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3	172
3rd	74	S5.0	Sherwood Johnston	Bob Wilder	A. H. Feverbacher	Jaguar C-Type	162
4th	311	S5.0	Bob Gegen	Harry Grey	David Hirsch	Jaguar C-Type	155
5th	59	S1.5	Briggs Cunningham	Bill Lloyd	Briggs Cunningham	Osca MT4 1350	153
6th	49	S2.0	Ed Lunken	Charles Hassan	E. P. Lunken	Ferrari 166 MM	153
7th	38	S5.0	Charles Wallace	Chuck Sarle	Jack Pry Ltd.	Jaguar XK120	151
8th	45	S3.0	Peter Yung	Robert Yung	Peter S. Yung	Ferrari 225S	148
9th	91	S1.1	James Simpson	George Colby	James Simpson	Osca MT4 1100	146
10th	28	S5.0	Russ Boss	Jake Kaplan	J. Kaplan	Jaguar XK120M	144
11th	25	S750	René Bonnet	Wade Morehouse	Hobart Cook	DB HBR Panhard	143
12th	18	S5.0	Walt Hansgen	Don McKnought	Walter Hansgen	Jaguar XK120	142
13th	12	S1.5	David Ash	Frank Ahrens	David H. Ash	MG Special	135
14th	53	S1.5	Phil Smyth	Bob Said	Lt. Col. Wojdiech Kolaczkowski	Frazer Nash Mille Miglia	134
15th	53	S1.5	James Shields	Bob McKinsey	James Shields	MG TD	132
16th	42	S1.5	William Wellenberg, Jnr.	William Wonder	William Wellenberg, Jnr.	MG TD	132
17th	29	S5.0	Fred Dagavar	Al Garz	Fred Dagavar	Jaguar XK120	132
18th	63	S750	Harry Beck	Charles Devaney	Paul Hessler	Siata-Crossley 300BD	132
DISQ	24	S750	Bill Cook	André Moynet	Hobart Cook	DB HBR Panhard	130	Pit violation
19th	44	S1.5	Fred Allen	Robert Longworth	Fred Allen	MG Special	127
20th	56	S750	Thomas Scatchard	Henry Wessells	Thomas Scatchard	Siata-Crossley 300BD	127
21st	27	S1.1	Paul Farago	Lou Torco	Robert T. Keller	Siata 300BC Special	123
22nd	111	S750	George Sachrafft	Jim Hamlett	Geo. F. Schrafft	Palm Beach-Crossley Special	119
23rd	55	S3.0	Mike Rothschild	Jack Nile	Mike Rothschild	Morgan Plus 4	119
24th	32	S8.0	Arnold Stubbs	Jack McAfee	Jack Burkhard	Allard-Cadillac J2	116
25th	6	S1.5	Rees Makins	Frank Bott	Rees T. Makins	Osca MT4 1100	115
26th	15	S5.0	George Huntoon	Phil Stiles	Jack Shepperd	Jaguar C-Type	114
27th	64	S2.0	Walter von Schoenfeld	René Soulas	Walter E. von Schoenfeld	Maserati A6GCS	110
28th	14	S1.5	Alan Patterson	Hubert L. Brundage	Alan Patterson	MG Special	99
29th	16	S5.0	Morris Carroll	Randy Pearsall	Geo. E. Tilp	Jaguar XK120	94
30th	51	S5.0	Walt Grey	Dale Duncan	Walter S. Grey	Allard-Cadillac J2	94
31st	37	S1.1	Roger Wing	Stephen Spitler	Jack Pry, Ltd.	Morris Minor	93
32nd	11	S1.1	Paul Ceresole	Logan Hill	Paul Ceresole	Cisitalia Spider	88
33rd	2	S3.0	Hal Ullrich	Dick Irish	Brooks Stevens	Excalibur-Willys J	86
34th	23	S5.0	Charles Schott	John van Driel	Charles M. Schott	Jaguar XK120	63
DNF	5	S3.0	Jim Kimberly	Marshall Lewis	Jim Kimberly	Ferrari 225 S	95	Transmission
DNF	60	S1.5	Dickson Yates	William Kinchloe	Dickson Yates	MG TD		Engine
DNF	80	S1.5	Richard Toland	Howard Hanna	Richard Toland	Porsche 356		did not finish
DNF	61	S2.0	Ray Leibensperger	Howard Class	Ray Leibensperger	MG Special	78	did not finish
DNF	39	S750	William Eagar	Otto Linton	Speedcraft Enterprises	Siata Amica Special	63	Engine
DNF	8	S3.0	Bill Spear	Phil Hill	William Spear	Ferrari 225 S	56	Differential
DNF	19	S5.0	Norman Christianson	Austin Conley	Austin L. Conley	Jaguar XK120	56	Accident
DNF	31	S3.0	Peter Collins	Geoff Duke	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3	52	Accident damage
DNF	98	S8.0	Erwin Goldschmist	Paul O’Shea	Erwin Goldschmidt	Healey Silverstone-Cadillac	45	Rear end
DNF	33	S1.5	Bernard Cahier	Miles Collier	René Bonnet	DB HBR Panhard	37	Brakes
DNF	58	S2.0	John Gordon Bennett	Charles Moran	Briggs Cunningham	Frazer Nash Targa Florio	28	Unknown
DNF	26	S750	Ralph Deshon	Don Quackenbush	Ralph Deshon	Crosley Special	25	Suspension
DNF	66	S5.0	Tony Cumming	Paul Ramos	Paul Ramos	Allard-Cadillac J2X	20	Fire
DNF	36	S8.0	Masten Gregory	Tony Newcomer	Masten Gregory	Allard-Chrysler J2X	16	Transmission
DISQ	48	S2.0	Jorge Daponte	Fritz Koster	Fritz Koster	Maserati A6GCS	15	pit rule violation
DNF	97	S8.0	Beau Clarke	Bob Said	Mark B. Deitsch	Allard-Cadillac J2	9	Engine
DNF	3	S3.0	Ralph Knudsen	Jim Feld	Brooks Stevens	Excalibur-Willys J	4	Engine
DNF	1	S2.0	Tony Bonadies	George Rice	Stuart Donaldson	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica Mk II	2	Engine
DNF	9	S2.0	Johnnie Rogers	Russ Klar	Stuart Donaldson	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica Mk II	2	Engine
DNS	17	S750	George Sanderson	N. J. Coscoros	Geo. Sanderson	Crosley Hotshot		Engine
DNS	21	S1.5	Larry Kulok	Harry Grey	Lawrence Kulok	Porsche 356 1500 Super		Gearbox
DNS	41	S1.1	Randy Pearsall	William Eager	F. Randolph Pearsall	Cisitalia Spider		Engine
DNS	65	S5.00	Tom Cole	Bill Lloyd	William Lloyd	Ferrani 340 America		Engine
DNS	75	S5.00	Miles Collier	Cameron Argetsinger	Cameron Argetsinger	Jaguar XK120		Engine

^[3][4][5]

• Fastest lap: John Fitch, 120.540 mph ^[1][4]

Class Winners

^[1][4]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Cunningham	8
2	Aston Martin	6
3	Jaguar	4
4	Osca	2
5	Ferrari	1

• Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings.

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.

References