Sports Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) held its 12 Hours of Sebring race on March 13-17, 2012 at the Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. Held in conjunction with the 60th anniversary 12 Hours of Sebring, the SVRA historic races are waged on the same 3.7 mile, 17-turn track that is home to the famed endurance race won this year by the Audi R18 TDI.
The 2012 running of the SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring included three days of qualifying and racing with two feature sprint races and a one-hour enduro into the dark Thursday evening.
Since the vintage racers share track time with their modern brethren at Sebring, SVRA has to group cars together much differently, opting for two race groupings – Vintage and Historic – instead of the normal six to eight pairings. The Vintage Group included cars manufactured and prepared to 1972 and earlier racing specifications, while Historic Group entrants were cars with post-1970 specifications, regardless of year of manufacture and certain earlier cars deemed more appropriate for this group.
Among the more than 100 entries at the 2012 running of the SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring were historic MGs to recent Sebring-winning Audi R8s, headlined by the 1967 Ford GT40 on Dan Mershon, 1969 Lola T70 Mk3B of Shelby Mershon, Doug Smith’s 1985 Jaguar XJR-7 and the aforementioned Audi R8 LMP of Travis Engen. The Sebring Hall of Fame Gallery of Legends display included the following overall winners: Cunningham CR4 (1953); OSCA MT4 (1954); Maserati 450S (1957); Porsche 917 LH (1970); BMW 3.0 CSL (1975); Porsche 935 (1979); Ferrari 333 SP (1998); BMW V12 LMR (1999); among others.
Similar to the 2011 races, photographer Michael DiPleco documented the 2012 SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring vintage race with a great collection of pictures that capture the late day sun and solid line-up of cars that tackled the Sebring track.
SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring 2012 – Photo Gallery (Click image for larger picture and description)
[envira-gallery id=”149542″]
SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring 2012 – Vintage Race Group Results (7 laps)
1. Richard Lind, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
2. Greg Ira, 1971 Datsun 240Z
3. Kevin Wheeler, 1970 Porsche 914/6
4. Ken Mennella, 1963 Chevrolet Corvette GS Replica (2:24.949 fastest lap)
5. Sam Viviano, 1969 Chevrolet Corvette
SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring 2012 – Historic Race Group Results (8 laps)
1. Andy Wallace, 2005 Audi R8 LMP (1:58.824 fastest lap)
2. Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
3. Doug Smith, 1985 Jaguar XJR-7
4. Jeff Bernatovich, 1990 Chevrolet Corvette GT1
5. Lee Arnold, 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
SVRA 12 Hours of Sebring 2012 – Enduro Race Group Results (15 laps)
1. Andy Wallace, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
2. Doug Smith, 2005 Audi R8 LMP (1:58.549 fastest lap)
3. Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
4. Jeff Bernatovich, 1990 Chevrolet Corvette GT1
5. Lee Arnold, 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
[Source: SVRA; photo credit: Michael DiPleco]
Your article has an error as there wasn’t a 2 hour enduro on Sunday at Sebring for the SVRA racers. There is no event on the schedule on the SVRA website, or the schedule of events, or results
Thank Larry – much appreciated. It looks like you were the only person to proofread the article. Apparently this is what happens when you try to publish an article on Friday afternoon.
Really nice pictures Michael. Glad to see the XJR-7 out to play. I bet it sounded outrageous.