The 1959 12-Hour Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance for the Amoco Trophy was a motor race for sportscars, staged on 21 March at the Sebring International Raceway, Florida, United States. It was the opening round of the 1959 World Sportscar Championship and was the eighth running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The race was won by Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Chuck Daigh and Olivier Gendebien driving a Ferrari 250 TR 59 for Scuderia Ferrari.
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.
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.
Qualifying
Because there were 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.
Race
Most of the 40,000 spectators expected a battle for sole Aston Martin and the Ferrari. Although early on, there was 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.http://www.ferrariexperts.com/SCCA%20results%201959.html#seb
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 into 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.http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1959/1959seb.html
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 moved 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 this 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 a team event and Ferrari wanted to win. Then Moss was disqualified for illegal refuelling.
With the better drivers now driving the no.7, Hill passed Behra for the lead and the car held on to first place 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.
Official Classification
Class Winners are in Bold text.
Pos No ClassDriver 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 Jo 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 Ray “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 Callanan 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)
Fastest Lap: Jean Behra, 3:21.6secs (92.857 mph)
Class Winners
Class Winners Sports 3000 – Class D 7 Ferrari 250 TR 59 Gurney / Daigh / Hill / Gendebien Sports 2000 – Class E 31 Porsche 718 RSK von Trips / Bonnier Sports 1500 – Class F 34 Porsche 718 RSK Holbert / Sessiar Sports 1100 – Class G 48 Elva-Climax Mk IV Baptista / Wallace / Tweedale Sports 750 – Class H 59 D.B.-Panhard HBR4 Laureau / Armagnac Grand Touring 3500 – Class 9 70 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder Hively / Ginther Grand Touring 2000 – Class 7 25 AC Ace Burns / Jackson-Moore / Cook Grand Touring 1600 – Class 6 33 Porsche 356A Carrera GT von Hanstein / de Beaufort Grand Touring 1300 – Class 5 44 Alfa Romeo Giuletta Spider Veloce Kaplan / Rainville Grand Touring 1000 – Class 4 54 Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite Stiles / Sutherland Grand Touring 750 – Class 3 64 Fiat-Abarth 750 Record Monza Rutan / Cuomo / Richards
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.