THE 12 HOURS OF SEBRING is one of those races at one of those tracks that just hold a lot of mystique and fascination. The 12-hours of Sebring is one of those races at one of those tracks that just hold a lot of mystique and fascination.
The tall tales told by my dear departed friend, Rudy Bartling, only amplified my desire to run in that race one day. Rudy started it 16 times, and I only did twice, after multiple trips to participate in the vintage racing groups that used to be part of the big weekend.
In 1999, I won the Endurance Championship of SVRA with my 1970 2.3-litre 911ST and felt it was time to move on up and make some of those big dreams a reality. I ordered a 2000 911 GT3R from the factory via PMNA and Alwin Springer, with Rudy vouching for me, and took delivery of the car at the Raffay Porsche dealership in Hamburg, Germany in mid-February 2000.
Jumping right into the deep end, our first professional, international race was at Silverstone with zero prior practice, then onto the Nurburgring, then California, then Mosport, and then back to the US again, all culminating in a 6-hour race in Adelaide, AUS. We had been entered for Sebring in March but unfortunately received the car too late to make it there in our first season. Come 2001, we were smarter(?), faster, more experienced and better equipped, and the car was updated to the new ‘911RS’ specs of these 996 derivatives.
Our first event of the new season was, in fact, Sebring and it was everything that I dreamed it would be, with incredibly rough pavement and transitions on this old airfield that are not only hard on the car but even harder on the driver, but it was also glorious with incredible spectator crowds and atmosphere.
Sadly, we lost Porsche factory driver Bob Wolleck that year in a road accident, as he was riding his bicycle outside of the grounds for exercise, hence the black stripe on the hood of my car. We came in seventh in class that year, behind two factory supported Porsches, two factory BMWs and two highly experienced European privateer teams. Not bad for a first attempt! </>
