Now in its 16th year, the event gives every indication of immortality. despite competition from Daytona. Improvements continue to be made at the old WW II airport course, which consists of a 5.2-mi tour of two long, right-angle runways and various access roads. A new vehide bridge between the esses and the hairpin has increased parking and camping areas by half. New covered pits, as well as contour pit/box seats were also added since last year, and all the permanent buildings shone brightly in new coats of orange and green paint. More important after last year's traffic jams, roads leading to the circuit were widened for more efficient ingress/egress.
Although no scaffolding of any sort was permitted, the Sebring spectator could stand, sit, hang from a tree, watch from a car top, squeeze into the bleachers, or rubber-neck from the Goodyear blimp. For an extra fee, the spectator could even cross the Mercedes-Benz bridge at the head of the pits and mingle with the great and near-great in the paddock area. For the blue blazer and ascot tie set, the Auto Racing Club of Florida had a tent where a gentleman or lady could partake of a cold bird and a bottle of Chateau-Yquem.
A capacity crowd of more than 40,000 came to Sebring for the 12-hr race this year and they weren't disappointed. During the days before the 12-hr there had been the usual alarums and excursions, a bit of high drama played out between Ford and Ferrari over whose car was to be fastest in practice, and an interesting 4-hr sedan race to kick off SCCA's new TransAmerican Sedan series. In the battle for fastest practice hip, Ferrari had a day's glory resulting from' Mike Parkes' fast Thursday lap in the Ferrari P3 he was to share with Bob Bondurant. On Friday however, Dan Gurney returned the honors to Ford as he lapped the course in 2 min 54.6 sec in a 427 Ford GT Mk II, a full tick of the watch faster than the Ferrari.
In the 4-hr. sedan race on Friday, Alfa Romeo GTAs won impressively and finished five cars in the first eight places. A Ford Mustang driven by A. J. Foyt led the early laps, then a Dodge Dart driven by Bob Tullius took over when Foyt dropped out. Tullius held the lead until his second pit stop when Jochen Rindt moved his Alfa into the lead. Rindt, with only one pit stop required, went on to win with Tullius' Dart second, more Alfas in third, fourth, fifth, Barracudas in sixth and seventh and another Alfa in eighth.
For the 12-hr race, Ford was a heavy favorite. Three of the 427 Mark II coupes were on the line, one with an automatic transmission, and there was a 427 Mark II "Xl" roadster in addition. There were also two 289-cu-in. GT-40s in the prototype class and seven more in the Sports 50 class, plus three Cobras to help out Ford Motor Co. did not actually appear as an entrant, leaving this up to Shelby American, Holman-Moody, Essex Wire, Comstock Racing Team of Canada, and Alan Mann Racing of Byfleet, England. These groups were responsible for two cars each with private entries taking care of the balance.
Ferrari's efforts seemed almost insignificant by comparison. The big hope was pinned on a single 4-liter 330P3 to be driven by Parkes/Bondurant and on the 2 liter Dino 206 for Bandini IScarfiotti. These were the factory cars. Backing them up, Chinetti's North American Racing Team had a respectably strong 330P2 for Pedro Rodriguez and Mario Andretti. And there was a 330P, a 275P, a GTO and an LM, none of which offered much hope of victory.
Chaparral was on hand too. The poker-faced Texans arrived with two 2D coupes. Gone now were the driver-controlled spoilers. "We don't need the airfoils here," said Hall. "That makes just one less thing for the driver to fool with."
A total of 64 cars lined up according to their practice times for the 10 A.M. Saturday start. The blue Ford Mk II of Gurney/Grant first, then the red P3 Ferrari of Parkes/Bondurant. More Fords, the Chaparrals. An upstart Porsche Carrera 6 shared by Mitter and Klass in11th starting position. More Fords. More Porsches. A couple Sting Rays. Three Alfas. A Lotus Elan. Hard-topped MGBs. Two Yenko Stingers. A Matra, a Lancia, an Abarth Simca.
At 10 sharp, the Governor of Florida dropped the flag (no count-down this year) and the race was on. Dan Gurney won the foot race only to have trouble starting and Dick Thompson was first to move in Roger Penske's blue Sting Ray roadster.
But Bandini's Dino Ferrari was closer toward the head of the line and led the pack under the Mercedes-Benz foot bridge and into the first turn. Gurney, with only one car still behind him, finally got going in the Ford and passed 27 cars on the first lap.
Minutes later, finishing the first lap, Graham Hill streaked past in the lead in a Ford GT-40 with the Dino in hot pursuit. Then came the P3 and P2 Ferraris, Thompson's Sting Ray, the Hansgen/Donohue Mk II Ford, two more Fords, a Porsche, Hap Sharp's Chaparral, and the rest of the pack, already stringing out.
Donna Mae Mims earned the dubious distinction of being the first to retire from the race as her Yenko Stinger blew a piston on the first lap. First of the favorites to go was the Phil Hill /Joakim Bonnier Chaparral coupe. It was retired with a persistent oil leak after completing a total of 27 laps. To everyone's surprise, the second Chaparral lasted only 8 laps more, retiring with broken rear suspension.
When the sorting out was completed after the start, Dan Gurney was in the lead in the Ford Mk II and the Miles /Ruby entry in the XI roadster was keeping him company. The P3 Ferrari was staying close to keep them honest. As fuel loads lightened, Ken Miles started to press Gurney. This pair passed and repassed for several laps, with Dan turning the fastest lap of the day, a record 107.09 mph, on the 44th time around. This was contrary to team strategy and after the conventional "Slow Down" signals were ignored, team boss Shelby finally restored discipline by brandishing a hammer from the pit wall. The sign, "Dan Pace 3 Min" went out to both
drivers and things quieted down. In the fifth hour of the race, Canadian driving champion Bob McLean was killed when his Comstock Team Ford GT-40 went out of control on the approach to the hairpin. The car went off course, struck a ditch, was catapulted into a power pole and burst into flame. The second Comstock entry, another Ford GT-40, was withdrawn from the race.
Until the ninth hour, the standings of the leaders remained unchanged except for minor re-shufflings. Gurney /Grant held the lead ahead of Miles /Ruby and then came the P3 Ferrari of Parkes /Bondurant and the P2 of Rodriguez / Andretti. The Ferrari Dino had dropped out of the 2-liter prototype lead due to some Classic Ferrari pit work and handed 5th. overall to the Porsche Carrera 6 driven by Scooter Patrick and Don Wester.
The Parkes /Bondurant Ferrari, which had been 2nd to Gurney/Grant on several occasions, parked with a seized gearbox after 172 laps and with it went Ferrari's only real hope of victory. The NART P2 driven by Andretti /Rodriguez moved up to third when the P3 went out but it was shortly to be involved in a tragic accident that would eliminate it. This accident took place in the 11 th hour of the race when, coming down the short warehouse straight, Andretti missed a shift in the P2, spun, bunted Wester and the two cars went off course on opposite sides of the track. Andretti's Ferrari came to rest against a spectator fence, fortunately without injury to anyone. Wester's Porsche, going off to the left, struck and fatally injured four persons who were watching from an unfenced, non-spectator area. Wester, who was trapped in the car for several minutes, was hospitalized for a broken ankle, cuts and shock. Andretti was able to drive the P2 on to the_pits where it was retired from the race.
The elimination of the P2 and the Carrera 6 from the race moved the Hansgen /Donohue FordMk II up to 3rd and the Peter Revson /Skip Scott Ford GT-40 up to 4th. Then came the Hans Herrmann /Joe Buzzetta Carrera 6 followed by Bandini /Scarfiotti in the Dino.
It looked as though that would be the finishing order as the cars droned steadily onward and the clock approached 10 P.M. Around 9:30, Jerry Grant brought the leading Ford in so Dan Gurney could drive it to the finish and Dan motored on as the winner's circle was prepared and photographers began to crowd in. Suddenly, with less than four minutes to go, the shout went up, "Gurney's stalled out on the course!" Pandemonium and sure enough, the Great Profile was missing.
As it turned out later, a timing chain had apparently gone but whatever, the engine had quit cold. Dan had opened. the hood, couldn't see anything and asked the turn marshals, "Okay if I push it in?" The consensus seemed affirmative. so Gurney started the long hike only to be disqualified later. Ironically, if he had stayed put, the car would have been placed second on basis of laps completed. As it was, the car was disqualified for "failing to cross the line under power."
The second car of the team, the Miles /Ruby roadster, was acclaimed the winner and Ford had another 1-2-3 victory to go with the 1-2-3 scored a month earlier at Daytona. Ford won the over-2-liter Prototype category (Miles /Ruby) and the Sports 50 (Revson /Scott) category as well. Porsche did equally well in the under 2-liter class; winning the Prototype category with the Herrmann /Buzzetta Carrera 6 in 4th overall and Sports 50 class with the Follmer /Gregg Porsche 904 in 7th. Ferrari's 5th overall with the Dino got 2nd-place points in the under-2-liter Prototype class.
Other finishes worth noting included the Moore/Wintersteen Sting Ray that wound up 9th overall ahead of the first of the 427 Cobras, Grossman /Lowther in 10th, four laps behind. The 4-car Alfa Romeo team had dwindled to one by the finish but Roberto Bussinello and Andrea de Adamich had won their class by taking 14th overall. Two Sprite prototypes, bright with Dayglo paint, put on a good show. Four Triumph TR-4As started and four finished in the Sports 50 class.
And so, as they say in the travelogues, another Sebring race passes into history and we all look forward to 1967.
Ford try to buy Ferrari
Life in 66
Author: ArchitectPage
USA
