Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida (2011, 2012, and 2013)

Sebring International Raceway, Sebring Florida; Produced by Panoz Motorsports Group

For the month of March, I’m going to focus on one of the world’s most classic endurance sports car races: The 12 Hours of Sebring. The race takes place in Sebring, Florida, using the original tarmac from Hendricks Army Airfield, the site of B-17 bomber training during World War II. The track now co-exists and sits beside Sebring Regional Airport, which is active for private and commercial flights.

Just this year (2026), Sebring International Raceway hosted the 74^th running of the twelve-hour endurance classic. I’ve had the pleasure of attending the race twice; the first in 1986 and then 60^th anniversary race in 2012. Due to the bumpy nature of the course, and wear and tear on the cars and drivers, many have said it’s more challenging than the 24-hour races of Daytona and Le Mans. It was a thrill to walk around this famous circuit and experience the race as they drove into the nighttime hours.

As a racing fan, I’ve recorded many races on TV for future viewing pleasure and for my own personal archival purposes. I have stacks of VHS tapes of the Indianapolis 500, Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, and scores of other IndyCar, Sports Car, and F1 races. Most of the endurance races I’ve recorded were just highlight packages. So of course, I was extremely excited to find at one of the American Le Mans Series races I attended at Mid-Ohio, some of the 12 Hours of Sebring races available on DVD in their merchandise tent. Without hesitation, I grabbed a few. 

These races (2011-2013) are from the TV broadcast feed, recorded flag to flag without commercial breaks. They capture a wonderful era of prototype racing featuring the factory efforts of Audi and Peugeot, along with classic GT battles between Corvette Racing, Flying Lizard Motorsports (Porsche), BMW Team RLL, Aston Martin Racing, and Risi Competizione (Ferrari). It’s been a joy to revisit these races again. 

2011 – 59^th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 16-19, 2011. This was a combined event between the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) teams and the ACO Intercontinental Le Mans Cup competitors. Its notable for the emotional and celebrated overall victory by the Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut team principal, Hugues de Chaunac. This was his first 12 Hours of Sebring win, to go along with many other achievements in his storied career.

2012 – 60^th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 14-17, 2012. This was another combined event and featured the first ever race for the newly formed FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the American Le Mans Series. I attended this race, and it was a fantastic experience. My favorite team, Audi Sport Team Joest, with the driver line-up of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, and Dindo Capello were the overall winners. 

2013 – 61^st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 13-16, 2013. This year was a stand-alone event for the ALMS teams. Audi Sport Team Joest were once again the overall winners, this time with the driver line-up of Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer, and Oliver Jarvis. The GT battle between Corvette Racing and the Ferrari team of Risi Competizione was nip and tuck the whole race. In the end the Corvette driving team of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Richard Westbrook took top honors.

These race packages are hard to find these days. At the time I purchased these Sebring races I also grabbed the DVD packages of ALMS events at Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio. They occupy a special place on my racing video shelf. If you find any out there, don’t hesitate to gobble them up. Happy viewing!

TJ…..2026