1954 12 Hours of Sebring

The 1954 12 Hours of Sebring (officially the Florida International 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance ^[1]) was a motor race for sports cars, staged on 7 March 1954 at the Sebring International Raceway, Florida, United States. It was the second race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship and was the fourth 12 Hours of Sebring. The race was won by Bill Lloyd and Stirling Moss driving an Osca MT4 1450.

Report

Entry

A grand total 89 sports cars were entered for this event, of which only 63 arrived for practice. The race was supported by the work of teams of Scuderia Lancia, running four cars, the Aston Martin running three cars and the Austin-Healey team consisting of four cars, only one of which was a factory entry, under the name of Donald Healey Ltd., the others entered by private individuals. The three work’s Lancia D24’s in particular were entered for – Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti, Piero Taruffi and Robert Manzon and Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi, were in a class of their own.^[2][3]

The factory Ferrari entries did not materialize, in order to defend their championship lead, but the private entries of Bill Spear and Briggs Cunningham were on hand. Likewise, there was no Jaguar factory team, but eight Jaguars were listed on the entry.^[2]

Some of the race participants who also were noted in other fields of endeavor included ex-US congressman Jim Simpson, “international playboy” Porfirio Rubirosa, and, fresh from finishing second in the Buenos Aires 1000km, Marquis de Portago – well known equestrian at the time and also a high ranking Spanish nobility.^[4]

Practice

It became obvious during Friday practice sessions that the race would be between the Ferraris and Lancias. The Lancia D24s lapped the 5.2 mile circuit in three minutes 38 seconds and on the Saturday, Cunningham’s Ferrari 375 MM made it in 3m 31sec. Another of Cunningham cars, an Osca MT4 1450 piloted by young English driver, Stirling Moss with his partnered Bill Lloyd, turned in lap on Friday of, 3m 56 secs, although this small engined car, no one considered this car a real threat the Lancias.^[2]

Race

The race was held over 12 hours on the 5.2 miles Sebring International Raceway. The early morning rain cleared to leave a cold, windy but dry day. However, throughout the race, the strong wind blowing directly out of the north created a nasty crosswind on the fast back stretch.^[2]

With the race starting promptly at 10am, 59 cars scrambled for positions. Cunningham in his own Cunningham-Chrysler C4R was the first across the line, but was soon headed by Erwin Goldschmidt in his Allard-Cadillac J2R. However, before the end of lap one, the three Lancias, of Fangio, Ascari and Taruffi had sorted themselves out and headed the field, running one, two and three with Spear’s Ferrari close behind. The Cunningham Ferrari of Phil Walters, stopped for a replacement spark plug and lost several minutes. Moss was keeping the bigger cars on their toes holding down 4th.^[2][4]

Around mid-distance, trouble hits Spear’s Ferrari, crippled by a broken oil seal. Last year’s winner’s, John Fitch and Walters, in their Ferrari had been marking up time, and with Spear’s retirement, the only threat to the flying Lancias. Fitch and Walters had been pushing the car hard, and this too would not finish, going out late afternoon with a bad connecting rod bearing.^[2][4]

As darkness fell on the former Hendricks Army Airfield, the Lancias of Ascari and Villoresi, and Fangio and Castellotti had retired due to brakes and gearbox issues respectively, leaving the burden on the shoulders of Taruffi and Manzon. This D24, was still lapping swiftly on the now night-blackened circuit, at an average speed of 82 mph – more than seven mph faster than the 1953 record-breaking Cunningham C4R – albeit with only one headlight. As Taruffi and Manzon streaked out of sight, chief race steward, Alec Ulmann announced that the Lancia would be black-flagged if it continued to race with just one light. The team’s race director, Attilio Pasquarelli put out a red flag, and leaned far out onto the course to block the car’s path. When the car finally pitted, Manzon protested: “The car wouldn’t go any faster – oil pressure was off”. He thought the red flag was a pit signal that their lead was in danger.^[2]

Moss and Lloyd's race winning Osca MT4

Despite, as Moss said, the Lancias were “wiping the floor with the rest of us”, Lloyd and Moss soon took advantage of the Osca’s beautiful handling, by throwing the car sideways, into the corners to scrub off as much speed as they started to countering the high brake wear.^[3]

The three Aston Martins had retired quite early ^[5] and the leading Lancia D24 being driven by Manzon, stopped on the circuit with engine trouble an hour from the end of the race.^[6] Manzon returned to the pits on foot, but co-driver Taruffi acted to push the car for the mile and a half back to the pits.^[6] The Lancia was finally pushed across the finish line but was disqualified and the Osca, driven by Moss and Lloyd, won the race.^[6] The Osca survived a slightly suspect clutch and a tremendous rain storm to take a totally unexpected win. They covered 168 laps (873.6 miles), averaging a speed of 72.800 mph. Second place went to the Lancia D24 of Porfirio Rubirosa and Gino Valenzano, albeit five laps adrift. Third place was awarded to the Austin-Healey 100 entered by Donald Healey and driven by Lance Macklin and George Huntoon.^[2][3][4][7]

Although there were no fatalities during the race, James Brundage, died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on his way home when the Allard he was driving hit a tree.^[4]

Official Classification

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps	Reason Out
1st	56	S1.5	Bill Lloyd	Stirling Moss	B. S. Cunningham	Osca MT4 1450	12hr 00:00.0, 168
2nd	39	S5.0	Porfirio Rubirosa	Gino Valenzano	Scuderia Lancia Co.	Lancia D24	163
3rd	29	S3.0	Lance Macklin	George Huntoon	Donald Healey Ltd.	Austin-Healey 100	163
4th	91	S1.5	James Simpson	George Colby	James Simpson	Osca MT4 1450	163
5th	61	S1.5	Otto Linton	Harry Beck	Speedcraft Enterprises	Osca MT4 1350	161
DISQ	38	S5.0	Piero Taruffi	Robert Manzon	Scuderia Lancia Co.	Lancia D24	161	Pushed
6th	97	S2.0	Bill Carpenter	John van Driel	W. K. Carpenter	Kieft-Bristol Sport	158
7th	41	S2.0	Richard Cicurel	Jim Pauley	Richard Cicurel	Siata 208S	155
8th	65	S1.1	Rees Makins	Frank Bott	Rees Makins	Osca MT4 1100	152
9th	15	S5.0	Jake Kaplan	Russ Boss	Jacob Kaplan	Jaguar XK120	151
10th	49	S1.5	Fernando Segura	Daimo Bojanich	Fernando Segura	Porsche 550	144
11th	54	S1.5	Fred Allen	Gus Ehrman	Fred Allen	Kieft-MG Sport	144
12th	62	S1.5	Richard Toland	Charles Devaney	Richard Toland	Denzel-VW 1300 Super	142
13th	9	S5.0	Austin Young	Jack Morton	A. F. Young Jr.	Jaguar XK120	142
14th	18	S5.0	Fred Dagavar	Henry Fanelli	Fred Dagavar	Jaguar XK120	141
15th	50	S1.5	Hubert L. Brundage	William Simpson	H. L. Brunsdage	Porsche 956 America Roadster	141
16th	62	S8.0	Walt Gray	Chuck Hall	Walter S. Gray	Allard-Oldsmobile J2	141
17th	32	S3.0	Jim Feld	Robert Gary	Brooks Stevens	Excalibur-Willys J	141
18th	46	S1.5	Howard Hanna	Evans Hunt	Howard Hanna	Porsche 550	136
DNF	19	S5.0	Al Garz	Len Lesko	Fred Dagavar	Jaguar XK120	134	Brakes
19th	74	S750	Ken Heavlin	C. J. Davis	C. J. Davis	DB HBR Panhard	127
20th	67	S1.1	John Bentley	Guy Atkins	John Bentley	Siata-Fiat 300BC	127
21st	66	S1.1	Austin Conley	Horman Christianson	Austin Conley	Siata-Fiat 300BC	126
22nd	64	S5.0	D. Carleton Wilson	Bob Kennedy	D. Carleton Wilson	Jaguar XK120	124
DISQ	10	S5.0	John Gordon Bennett	Traver McKenna	Frank Miller	Jaguar C-type	113	Disqualified
NC	12	S5.0	Charles Schott	David Michaels	Chas. Schott	Jaguar XK120	111	Accident
DNF	5	S5.0	Phil Walters	John Fitch	B. S. Cunningham	Ferrari 375 MM	104	Engine
DNF	1	S8.0	Briggs Cunningham	Sherwood Johnston	B. S. Cunningham Co.	Cunningham-Chrysler C4-R	104	Engine
NC	35	S2.0	Alan Patterson	Ernesto Tornquist	Alan Patterson	Triumph TR2	103
NC	57	S1.5	George Moffett	Bob Sand	George Moffett	Osca MT4 1450	102
DNF	99	S1.5	Victor Herzog	Steve Lansing	A.E. Goldschmidt	Kieft-MG Sport	88
DNF	37	S5.0	Alberto Ascari	Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Lancia Co.	Lancia D24	87	Brakes
DNF	17	S3.0	John Schmidt	John German	John Ellwood	Jaguar XK120	82	Off course
DNF	25	S3.0	Charles Wallace	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	77	Rear end
DNF	42	S2.0	Don McKnought	William Eager	Don McKnought	Maserati A6GCS	67	Accident
DNF	100	S1.5	Gleb Derujinsky	Don Underwood	Gleb Derujinsky	Kieft-MG Sport	65
DNF	14	S5.0	Conrad Janis	James Daly	Conrad Janis	Jaguar XK120	65
DNF	7	S5.0	William Spear	Phil Hill	William Spear	Ferrari 375 MM	60	Rear end
DNF	48	S1.5	James Graham	J. Stimpson	James Graham	Porsche 550	57	Fuel system
DNF	36	S5.0	Juan Manuel Fangio	Eugenio Castellotti	Scuderia Lancia Co.	Lancia D24	51	Real axle
DNF	44	S2.0	Larry Kulok	Harry Grey	Geo. B. McClellan	Fraser Nash Le Mans Replica	50	Engine
DNF	58	S1.5	William Brewster	Henry Rudkin	Wm. Brewster	Osca MT4 1450	47	Transmission
DNF	40	S2.0	Luigi Musso	Ferdinando Gatta	Maserati Co.	Maserati A6GCS	47	Brakes
DNF	30	S3.0	James L. Brundage	James Orr	H. L. Brundage	Austin-Healey 100	36	Engine
DNF	11	S5.0	Watt Hansgen	Paul Timmins	Walt Hansgen	Jaguar C-Type	28	Engine
DNF	59	S1.5	William Franklin	Ned Curtis	Howard Hanna	MG Magnette	27
DNF	22	S3.0	Harry Schell	Alfonso de Portago	Harry Schell	Ferrari 250 MM Vignale	26	Axle
DNF	24	S3.0	Peter Collins	Pat Griffiths	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	25	Brakes
DNF	8	S5.0	Peter Sparacino	Raymond Osborne	A. F. Young, Jr,	Jaguar XK120	25
DNF	23	S3.0	Reg Parnell	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	24	Engine
DNF	70	S750	Bret Hannaway	Miles Collier	Miles Collier	Bandini-Crossley	21	Engine
DNF	26	S3.0	William Wellenberg, Jr.	William Wonder	Wm. Wellenberg	Austin-Healey 100	20	Engine
DNF	33	S3.0	Mike Rothschild	George Hunt	Michel Rothschild	Healey-Riley Silverstone	17
DNF	69	S750	Roger Wing	Karl Brocken	Isabelle Haskell	Siata-Crosley 300BC	17
DNF	72	S750	Phil Stiles	George Schrafft	Geo. Schrafft	Palm Beach-Crosley Special	16	Rear end
DNF	31	S3.0	Hal Ullrich	Ham Reidy	Brooks Stevens	Excalibur-Willys J	10	Fuel leak
DNF	98	S8.0	Erwin Goldschmidt	Johnny Rocco	A. E. Goldschmidt	Allard-Cadillac JR	9	Engine
DNF	27	S3.0	Joe Giubardo	Phil Smyth	Joseph Giubardo	Austin-Healey 100	3
DNF	28	S3.0	Dick Irish	Ralph Knudson	Brooks Stevens	Excalibur-Willys J	1	Engine
DNS	20	S3.0	F. Randolph Pearsall	George Tilp	George Tilp	Aston Martin-Offenhuaser DB2		Transmission
DNS	51	S1.5	John Schmidt	John German	John Ellwood	Porsche 550		raced car #17
DNS	63	S1.5	Dickson Yates	Duncan Black	Dickson Yates	Excalibur-Willys J		Oil pressure
DNS	75	S350	Bill Wood	John Moncur	Wm. W. Wood	Rex Mercury Marine		Failed scrutineering

^[7][8][9]

• Fastest Lap: Alberto Ascari, 3:32.0secs (88.302 mph) ^[7][8]

Class Winners

^[10]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1=	Ferrari	8
	Osca	8
3	Lancia	6
4=	Aston Martin	4
	Austin-Healey	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 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer.

References

Further reading

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