Sebring International Raceway
Sebring in Florida: a circuit built on a former air base, famous for its worn concrete and its 12 Hours.
Sebring International Raceway is in Highlands County, east of the town of Sebring, Florida. It occupies part of Sebring Regional Airport, built as an air base during the Second World War, where among others B-17 bomber pilots were trained from 1941 to 1946.[1],[2]
The present lap is about 6.02 kilometres (3.74 miles) long with 17 turns.[1],[2]
At a glance
| Town | Sebring, Highlands County, Florida[1],[2] |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Endurance series | IMSA |
| Period | 1950-present |
| Length | 6.019 km (3.74 miles), 17 turns[1],[2] |
| First race | 31 December 1950[1],[2] |
| First 12 Hours of Sebring | 15 March 1952[1],[2] |
Landmarks of the circuit
- The old concrete runways
- Part of the circuit still uses the former concrete landing strips of the military base. The seams between the slabs make the track very bumpy and can throw sparks from the undersides of the cars. About 0.7 mile of the lap is concrete, the rest asphalt.[1],[2]
- Turn 17
- Turn 17 is a long, fast right-hander, and the speed carried out of it strongly affects the speed on the front straight.[1]
- The removed hairpin and Gendebien Bend
- In 1997 the hairpin was removed for lack of run-off and replaced by what became known as the "safety pin". Gendebien Bend was reprofiled around the same time to slow the entry onto the Ullman straight.[1]
Key dates
- 31 December 1950 — First race on the site, the Sam Collier 6 Hour Memorial, with about thirty cars; Frits Koster and Ralph Deshon won in a Crosley Hot Shot.[1],[2]
- 15 March 1952 — First 12 Hours of Sebring.[1],[2]
- 1959 — The circuit hosts the first United States Grand Prix counting towards the Formula 1 World Championship.[2]
- 1967 — After the 1966 race, in which a Porsche crashed into a warehouse and spectators, the track is widened in places and lengthened by 50 yards; the Webster Turn is replaced by the Green Park Chicane.[1]
- 1983-1991 — The layout is changed three times to allow simultaneous use of the track and the airport's runways, then to fit the airport's expansion.[1]
- 1997 — The hairpin is removed and the circuit comes under the ownership of Panoz Motor Sports Group.[1],[2]
- 2019 — The 1000 Miles of Sebring are held there.[2]
In the game
This circuit is part of the Circuit game: a heavily zoomed photo of one of its landmarks that you have to recognise. Play Circuit
Sources
The numbers in brackets refer to the sources listed at the bottom of the page.