HomeMediaPorsche celebrates anniversary of first ‘Florida 36’ sweep

Porsche celebrates anniversary of first ‘Florida 36’ sweep

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Porsche celebrates more than its 70th anniversary in 2018. This year also marks 50 years since the “Florida 36,” a sweep of the 24-hour race at Daytona Beach and the 12-hour at Sebring, Florida.

In fact, Porsches finished 1-2-3 that year at Daytona with long-tail 907 racers and 1-2 at Sebring, where it ran the short-tail version of the car, the longer and more-aerodynamic design used on the high-speed high banking not needed on the flat circuit made from airport runways.

Hans Herrmann and Jo Siffert shared the winning car in both events, with Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch joining them in the Daytona victory. Elford will be among the featured guests at Sebring this coming weekend for the 66th annual 12-hour race.

Also present will be the Porsche 907 that won at Sebring 50 years ago. The car is on loan to Sebring’s Gallery of Legends from the Collier Museum in Naples, Florida.

Porsche noted in its news release that the sweep of the so-called Florida 36 in 1968 was the first of a record 14 such performances that followed, including a streak 1978-1987.

HSR opens its season with mid-week races at Sebring

In conjunction with the 66th annual 12-hour race at Sebring, Historic Sportscar Racing launches its 2018 schedule with a pair of races, one Wednesday afternoon and the other Thursday evening.

Among the featured cars will be a 1953 Jaguar E-type entered by Russell Gee and a 1970 Porsche 911 RSR by Danny Stewart, whose car will be raced as a tribute to the late Dave White, according to the HSR news release. White was the lead instruction at the Akin-White Racing School in the 1980s, raced in the IMSA Camel GT series, and won the GTU championship in 1978.

On Friday, the vintage racers will take part in a race car parade that starts Friday morning in  downtown Sebring and ends back at the racing circuit in the early afternoon.

50th anniversary of Porsche ‘Florida 36’ sweep | ClassicCars.com Journal
Porsche parade at Brands Hatch | Porsche Club GB ph

Festival of Porsche scheduled at Brands

HatchSpeaking of Porsche racing, entries have opened for those who want to enter their cars in the Porsche Classic Trophy Race, scheduled for September 2 on the Indy circuit at the Brands Hatch track in England. The 30-car race grid is open to 1953-73 models.

In addition to the trophy race, the festival will feature a 70-year marque timeline, demonstrations and displays.

Those interested in the trophy race can email [email protected] for more information.

Race Retro draws record crowds

Britain’s Race Retro show drew more than 23,000 people, a record, for its three-day run late last month, organizers report.

The event featured a long list of racing champions and cars, including the last F1 car driven by the late Dan Gurney, a tribute to 40 years of ground effects, and the debut of a Chevron B48 that had been restored after more than 30 years in storage. The weekend included a pair of Silverstone Auctions sales.

Dates for the 2019 event are February 22-24. For more information, visit the Race Retro website.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

1 COMMENT

  1. I was at this race . I had a great Dad who started taking me to the races at the Daytona speedway beginning in 1962 . we lived in Daytona at the time . This era was truly a golden age of auto racing of all auto types . then the FIA lower the sports car engine size from 7 liters to 3 liters or so and did away with the Chaparrals Ford GTs etc. this was not the first time the FIA changed the rules and basically destroyed sports car racing for 10 years or so , until the racing could re group . these cars were ultra beautiful and was really when i became a major Porsche fan . it is also the first race that i recall seeing Peter Gregg race .

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