1983 Sebring 12 Hours



A look back!!
The 31st Annual Coca Cola
12 Hours of Sebring March 16-19, 1983


Ralph Cooke's Lola T-600 #94 Swap Shop 935 Driven By The Whittington Bros.

Airport Hangars Behind Old Turn #1 Aston-Martin Nimrod








In 1983 a GTO Porsche 934 entered by a small team out of California shocked the world by winning 12 Hours of Sebring, beating out a host of exotic new GTP cars and a squandron of its big brothers, the Venerable Porsche 935. The race had a record entry of 84 cars. This is a look back at this Classic Sebring.


#09 Swap Shop 935 #09 Swap Shop 935

A Young Michael Andretti Preston Henn's #09 Swap Shop 935 had the strongest driver lineup with John Paul Jr. Derek Bell and a very young Michael Andretti. This was the same car that had won the Daytona 24 Hours a month before. John Paul Jr. notched up the pole for the race.





The Start of the 1983 12 Hours of Sebring Jaguar and March Sweep Under The Coca Cola Bridge

Pepe Romero's Chevrolet March 83G
When the race got under way the opening laps turned into a battle between the Group 44 #44 Jaguar XJR-5 of Bob Tullius, Bill Adam and the pink Penelope Racing #47 Chevrolet March 83G of Pepe Romero and Bill Whittington.Whittington retired the car after 8 laps with a blown engine.





Jaguar XJR-5 Bayside Disposal Porsche 935

Marty Hinze Chevrolet March 83G
The next four hours saw a battle between the #44 Jag, the #86 Bayside 935 and the #16 Hinze-Lanier Chevrolet March. In the fifth hour the polesitting Swap Shop 935 retired along with the #44 Jaguar and just past half way the #16 March retired also.





Bob Akins Porsche 935 Bob Akin Battling With Ralph Cookes Lola

Turn#1 in 1983
As the race headed into darkness with #5 Bob Akin Racing Coca Cola 935 holding a two lap margin on the #86 Bayside 935 things started to get crazy like they normally do at Sebring. There used to be a racing saying at Sebring that not much happens till it gets dark and usually everything that happens then is bad.




Racing Beat Mazda RX-7 Cosworth Grid S1 Plaza

With just over two hours remaining the #5 Akin 935 had a problem in the pits with water in the fuel. Into the lead sweeps the leading GTO class #7 Racing Beat Mazda RX-7 of Pete Halsmer and Rick Knoop. Running second now was the unhearalded #3 Cosworth Grid S1 Plaza driven by Milt Minter and Skeeter McKitterick. Everyone at the track was in awe! Could a GTO class Mazda RX-7 possibly win the 12 Hours of Sebring?





Winning Porsche 934

With an hour to go the Mazda had a suspension and brake failure that put it out of the race. The #3 Cosworth Grid then took the lead but they were having mechanical problems and surrendered the lead to the #86 Bayside 935 with Al Holbert at the wheel . With a half hour to go the Bayside Porsche was still experience electrical problems and was forced to pit with no headlights of all things. It seem as if nobody wanted to win the 31st running of the 12 hours of Sebring. Into the lead swept the litlle yellow #9 GTO Porsche 934 driven by Wayne Baker, Jim Mullen and Kees Nierop. there was one last ordeal to happen in the last 15 minutes. Wayne Baker at the wheel of the #9 Porsche had not even been told that they were leading the race overall. With Bob Akin in hot pursuit in the #5 935 , his crew did not want to excite him. So at 11:00PM Baker crossed under the checkered flag believing he had just won the GTO category. As he entered pit lane his crew started telling him go to Victory Lane. Wayne said for winning GTO. No you just won the 12 Hours of Sebring overall. Bob Akins Porsche finished on the same lap 94 seconds back. Another fitting ending to the greatest endurance race in America!



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