The 3rd Grand Prix, 12 Hours of Sebring, was the inaugural round of the 1953 World Sportscar Championship and was held at the Sebring International Raceway, on 8 March 1953.

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.

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.

Race

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.

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 C-4R then took over lead and was never headed for the rest of the race.

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 drove their Florida license plated Cunningham C-4R 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 due to an earlier collision with a bollard filed with concrete marking the circuit on what was at the time largely an airfield.

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.

Classification

Sebring 12 hours

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos. No. ClassDrivers Entrant Car - Engine Laps Reason Out 1st 57 S8.0 Phil Walters John Fitch Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R-Chrysler 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. YungFerrari 225 S 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 DSQ 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 Ferrari 340 America Engine DNS75 S5.00 Miles Collier Cameron Argetsinger Cameron Argetsinger Jaguar XK120 Engine

Fastest lap: John Fitch, 120.540 mph

Class Winners

Class Winners Class B – Sports 8000 Walters / Fitch Cunningham C-4R Class C – Sports 5000 Johnston / Wilder Jaguar C-type Class D – Sports 3000 Parnell / Abecassis Aston Martin DB3 Class E – Sports 2000 Lunken / Hassan Ferrari 166 MM Class F – Sports 1500 Cunningham / Lloyd Osca MT4 1350 Class G – Sports 1100 Simpson / Colby Osca MT4 1100 Class H – Sports 750 Bonnet / Morehouse DB HBR Panhard

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

References