1959 12 Hours of Sebring

The 1959 12-Hour Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance for the Amoco Trophy took place on 21 March, on the Sebring International Raceway, (Florida, United States). It was the opening round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. This was eighth running of the 12-hour race.

Report

Entry

A massive total of 81 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 74 arrived for practice. Only these, 65 qualified for, and started the race. Reigning champions, Ferrari had eight of their new 250 TRs in Florida, of which three were works machines (1959 model) for their squad of drivers; Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Chuck Daigh, Olivier Gendebien, Jean Behra and Cliff Allison. Their main opposition would come from a single works Aston Martin.^[1]

David Brown sent just one Aston Martin DBR1/300 over from England for Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori. Also on the entry list were some quick looking Lister-Jaguar entered by Briggs Cunningham with himself, Walt Hansgen and Stirling Moss amongst their squad. The work outfit also brought a car for Moss and paired him with Ivor Bueb.^[2]

Qualifying

Because they was no qualifying sessions to set the grid, the starting positions were decided according to engine size with the 3.0 litre Aston Martin DBR1 of Shelby and Salvadori being given first place.^[3]

Race

Most of the 40,000 spectators expected a battle for sole Aston Martin and the Ferrari. Although early on, there would be a great scrap, the Aston retired after just 32 laps with gear lever problems. This meant it really was a Ferrari battle at the front of the field for almost all the race. The official result lists the winner as the no. 7 Ferrari of Gurney, Daigh, Hill and Gendebien, but that’s not the whole story.^[4][5]

For the opening four and half hours, the Ferrari of Hill and Gendebien led until suffering from a broken differential. That put the Gurney/Daigh car in front. Behra/Allison were in second, followed by Moss/Bueb. And then the heavy rain arrived and the race became intriguing. With cars sliding off all over the place, one of the most dramatic accidents come just after the six-hour mark when Robert Rollason’s Stanguellini 750 Sport collided with a pole that supported a bridge. The car hit the pole while sideways throwing it up in to the air before splitting in half, and ending up on its roof. It required a number of track marshals to flip it back onto its wheels, so that Rollason could escape uninjured.^[6][7][8]

The conditions made it difficult for even the very best to keep their cars under control. The works Lister-Jaguar with Moss behind the wheel, despite struggling for most of the race, came alive and would move up through the field passing both the Ferraris. After five hours, Moss led Behra and by now the little Porsche of Wolfgang von Trips and Jo Bonnier had moved into third. At the time, Scuderia Ferrari decided to call on the experience of Hill and Gendebien and added them the Gurney/Daigh car. Although the fans were not happy, this was team event and Ferrari wanted to win. Then Moss was disqualified for illegal refuelling.^[9][10]

With the better drivers now driving the no.7, Hill past Behra for the lead and the car held on to the lead until the flag dropped. After 12 hours of racing, the Scuderia Ferrari of Gurney, Daigh, Hill and Gendebien , won ahead of their team-mates Behra and Allison. Car number 7, took an impressive victory, completing 188 laps, covering 977.6 miles after 12 hours of racing, averaging a speed of 81.181mph. Second place went to the second Ferrari, albeit one lap adrift. The podium was complete by works Porsche of von Trips and Bonnier who were four laps behind the winners.^[11][12]

Official Classification

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps	Reason Out
1st	7	S3.0	Dan Gurney Phil Hill	Chuck Daigh Olivier Gendebien	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 TR 59	12hr 02:31.8, 188
2nd	9	S3.0	Jean Behra	Cliff Allison	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 TR 59	187
3rd	31	S2.0	Wolfgang von Trips	Jon Bonnier	Porsche Auto Co.	Porsche 718 RSK	184
4th	34	S1.5	Bob Holbert	Don Sesslar	Cyrus L. Fulton	Porsche 718 RSK	182
5th	32	S1.5	John Fitch	Edgar Barth	Porsche Auto Co.	Porsche 718 RSK	181
6th	12	S3.0	E.D. Martin	Lance Reventlow	Edwin D. Martin	Ferrari 250 TR 58	174
7th	14	S3.0	Ed Lunken Gaston Andrey	Augie Pabst	James Johnston	Ferrari 250 TR 58	174
8th	35	S1.5	Jack McAfee	Ken Miles	Precision Motors	Porsche 718 RSK	173
9th	70	GT3.5	Howard Hively	Richie Ginther	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 GT California	171
10th	37	S1.5	Ernie Erickson	Ed Hugus	Chester J. Flynn	Porsche 7118 RSK	170
11th	33	GT1.6	Huschke von Hanstein	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche Auto Co.	Porsche 356A Carrera GT	164
12th	3	S3.0	Walt Hansgen	Dick Thompson	B.S. Cunningham	Lister-Jaguar	164
13th	19T	S2.0	Lloyd Casner Dan Collins	Jim Hunt	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 500 TRC	164
14th	25	GT2.0	Bobby Burns James Cook	Roy Jackson-Moore	A.C. Cars, Ltd.	AC Ace	164
15th	4	S3.0	Briggs Cunningham Russ Boss	Lake Underwood Stirling Moss	B.S. Cunningham	Lister-Jaguar	164
16th	44	GT1.3	Jake Kaplan	Charlie Rainville	Jake Kaplan	Alfa Romeo Giuletta Spider Veloce	162
17th	59	S750	Gérard Laureau	Paul Armagnac	Deutsch & Bonnet	DB-Panhard HBR4	162
18th	60	S750	Alejandro de Tomaso Isabel Haskell	Denise McCluggage Ricardo Rodríguez	Alejandro de Tomaso	Osca S750	161
19th	48	S1.1	Frank Baptista Art Tweedale	Charles Wallace	Elva Engineering Co.	Elva-Climax Mk IV	160
20th	15	GT3.5	Alfonso Gomez-Mena	Juan Montalvo	Auto Sport Club, Havana	Ferrari 250 GT LWB	160
21st	45	GT1.3	Pete Lovely Sam Weiss	Jay Chamberlain	Team Lotus	Lotus Elite	160
22nd	24	GT2.0	Arch Means Ross Wees	Charles Kurtz	A. C. Car Ltd	AC Ace	159
23rd	49	S1.1	Burdette Martin Chuck Dietrich	William Jordan	Elva Engineering Co.	Elva-Climax Mk IV	158
24th	23T	GT2.0	Lonnie Rix	Ed Rahal	A. C. Car Ltd	AC Ace	158
25th	26	GT2.0	Max Goldman Sydney H. Arnolt	Ralph Durbin	S. H. Arnolt	Arnolt Boldie	155
26th	22	GT2.0	Mike Rothschild	Arch McNeill	Fergus Motors (Morgan M.)	Morgan Plus 4	155
27th	28	GT1.6	Ray Saidel	Gus Ehrman	Hambro Auto Corp.	MG A Twin Cam	155
28th	64	GT750	Bill Rutan Paul Richards	Ray Cuomo	Roosevelt Auto Co. Inc.	Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Monza	152
29th	62	GT750	Lanzo Cussini	Remo Cattini	Roosevelt Auto Co. Inc.	Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Monza	150
30th	65	GT750	Bob Kuhn	Jim Jeffords	George F. Schrafft	Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Monza	149
31st	54	GT1.0	Phil Stiles	Hugh Sutherland	Hambro Auto Corp.	Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite	149
32nd	63	GT750	Mario Poltonieri	Alfonso Thiele	Roosevelt Auto Co. Inc.	Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Monza	147
33rd	40	S1.5	Charles Moran, Jr.	George Rand	Charles Moran, Jr.	Lotus-Climax Eleven	145
34th	29	GT1.6	John Dalton	Jim Parkinson	Hambro Auto Corp.	MG A Twin Cam	145
35th	51	GT1.3	Harry Blanchard	Skip Callahan	Harry C. Blanchard	Lancia Appia Zagato	144
36th	53	GT1.0	Ed Leavens	Harold Kunz	Hambro Auto Corp.	Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite	142
37th	58	S750	Henri Perrier	Bill Wood	Deutsch & Bonnet	DB-Panhard HBR4	141
38th	55	GT1.0	Fred Hayes John Colgate	John Christy	Hambro Auto Corp.	Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite	141
39th	43	GT1.3	Bob Pfaff Wynn Kramarsky	Louis Comito Tom O’Brien	Louis Comito	Alfa Romeo Giuletta Veloce	140
40th	52	GT1.3	Peter Baumberger Walter Cronkite	Warren Rohlfs	Charles Kreisler	Lancia Appia Zagato	140
41st	18	S2.0	Jim Hall	Hap Sharp	Carroll Shelby Sports Cars	Maserati 250S	138
42nd	42	GT1.3	Bob Rubin Louis Comito	Bob Grossman	Robert Grossman	Alfa Romeo Giuletta Veloce	134
DNF	10	S3.0	Rod Carveth	Gilbert Geitner	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 TR 58	130	Collision
DNF	21	GT2.0	Charles Kolb Gene Hobbs	Fred Moore	Standard Triumph Motor Co.	Triumph TR3	128	Valve
NC	80	GT1.0	Fred Lieb	Smokey Drolet	Turner Sports Cars, Ltd.	Turner 750 Sport	128
DNF	27	S2.0	Harry Entwistle	Bob Hanna	Autosport, Ltd.	Lotus-Climax 15	126	Electrics
NC	47	S1.1	Tom Fleming Harry Dager	Bill Schade	Team Lotus	Lotus-Climax Eleven	123
NC	30	GT1.6	Ray Pickering Sherman Decker	Jack Flaherty	Hambro Auto Corp.	MG A Twin Cam	121
DNF	38	S1.5	Carl Haas Jay Middleton	Frank Campbell	Automobile OSCA	Osca S1500	115	Wet ignition
NC	16	GT3.5	George Reed George Arents	Don O’Dell	RRR Enterprises	Ferrari 250 GT LWB	110
NC	56	S1.1	Ricardo Rodríguez	Frank Bott	Automobile OSCA	Osca S950	106
DISQ	2	S3.0	Ivor Bueb	Stirling Moss	The Lister Corp.	Lister-Jaguar	98	Illegal refuelling
NC	20	GT2.0	Robert Samm Fred Moore	John Bentley	Standard Triumph Motor Co.	Triumph TR3	98
DNF	66	S750	Robert Rollason	Sandy MacArthur	Sandy MacArthur	Stanguelliin S750 Bialbero	97	Accident
DNF	57	GT1.0	Howard Hanna	Richard Toland	Deutsch & Bonnet	DB-Panhard HBR4	82	Engine
DNF	61	S750	Alan Markelson	Rees Makins	Automobile OSCA	Osca S750	82	Electrics
DNF	8	S3.0	Olivier Gendebien	Phil Hill	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250 TR 59	77	Differential
DNF	11	S3.0	Pedro Rodríguez	Paul O’Shea	Mexican National Auto Club	Ferrari 250 TR 58	66	Engine
DNF	46	GT1.3	Jay Chamberlain	Sam Weiss	Team Lotus	Lotus Elite	65	Engine
DNF	36	S1.5	Roberto Mieres Pedro von Döry	Anton von Döry	Count von Döry	Porsche 718 RSK	34	Camshaft
DNF	50	S1.1	M.R.J. Wyllie Margaret Wyllie	Skip Lange	M.R.J. Wyllie	Elva-Climax Mk. IV	34	Suspension
DNF	1	S3.0	Roy Salvadori	Carroll Shelby	David Brown-Aston Martin	Aston Martin DBR1/300	32	Gear lever
DNF	41	GT1.3	Fred van Beuren Mario Mercader	Javier Velásquez	Fred T. van Beuren	Alfa Romeo Giuletta Veloce	31	Accident
DNF	39	S1.5	Jean Lucas	Jean-François Malle	Los Amigos	Cooper-Climax Monaco T49	20	Oil loss
DNF	17	GT3.5	Duncan Forlong David Schiff	Joe Sheppard	Joe Sheppard-David Schiff	Aston Martin DB2/4	11	Piston
DNS	5	S3.0	Ed Lawrence Ralph Durbin	James Cook	Rallye Motors	Maserati 300S		Fatal accident (Lawrence)
DNS	19	S3.0	Lloyd Casner	Jim Hunt	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 TR
DNS	23	GT2.0	Lonnie Rix George Avent	Ed Rahal	A. C. Car Ltd	AC Ace		practiced only (Road accident)

^[13][14]

• Fastest Lap: Jean Behra, 3:21.6secs (92.857 mph) ^[15][16]

Class Winners

^[17]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	8
2	Porsche	4

• 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 3 results out of the 5 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

Further reading

• Alec Ulmann. The Sebring Story. Chilton Book Company. ASIN B0006CUAP2.