12 Hours of Sebring (1956) – Fangio’s Gift

The 5^th annual Sebring 12 Hour Grand Prix held in 1956 achieved international prominence when, for the first time, four major European constructors entered cars and drivers in that event. Teams from Italian auto manufacturers Ferrari and Maserati, along with English auto manufacturers Jaguar and Aston Martin made their way across the Atlantic to Florida.

As an indication of how important what some called North America’s premier sports car race had become, General Motors’ Chevrolet division had decided to enter three of their new 2-seat Corvettes in the race to challenge the Europeans. The three factory supported Vettes were entered under the privateer name of “Raceway Enterprises” to avoid conflicting with the Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on factory-supported racing.

Sebring founder and promoter Alec Ulmann was overjoyed at having both European and American teams compete at Sebring because it raised the national and international status of the race and that resulted in more tickets being sold and more sponsorship money for the race.

Along with some of the best racecars in the world about to make an appearance at Sebring in ’56, there were also some of the best European and American drivers scheduled to drive. One driver who was making a return appearance at Sebring was three-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina. Many considered him the best in the world.

The 44-year old Fangio would drive a 3.4-liter, 4-cylinder factory Ferrari 860 Monza with 25-year-old Italian Eugenio Castellotti as co-driver. Castellotti was also making a return appearance at Sebring having been Fangio’s co-driver, in 1954, when they both drove a Lancia D24 which failed to finish. The biggest challenge for them, as well as the whole Ferrari team, came from the three-car factory team of D-type Jaguars with Sebring veteran Mike Hawthorn and Desmond Titterington co-driving one of the cars. Hawthorn had won the race in ’55 also in a D-type Jaguar and was considered a favorite to repeat his win.

Fangio was recruited personally by Enzo Ferrari to be part of the factory team for an attempt to reclaim the manufacturer’s title they lost to Mercedes-Benz in 1955. Mercedes-Benz would not compete for the title in 1956 after withdrawing from competition due to their involvement in the disastrous 1955 accident at Le Mans that killed 83 spectators and injured over 100.

In 1956, Sebring would be the first points race of the season but the combination of asphalt roads and long concrete runways totaling 5.2 miles made it one of the most challenging events on the calendar for both car and driver. For many Sebring veterans, the race was known as “The 12-Hour Grind” and a high percentage of retirements was expected with many for broken suspension parts caused by the rough Sebring circuit. In fact, by the end of the race in 1956 only 24 of the original 60 that started the race were still running when the checkered flag was dropped.

It is a credit to both the quality of the cars as well as the drivers and mechanics that the race was extremely competitive for almost 10 hours. During the last hours of the race the lead might change every lap or so between the Fangio/Castellotti Ferrari and the Hawthorn/Titterington Jaguar. This caused great consternation in the timing shack as timers tried to produce accurate lap standings despite the frequent changes. It didn’t help that stewards in the tower were constantly pestering them in those final minutes for status updates. For those timers, the 1956 race was becoming one of the closest races in Sebring history.

Finally, the timers got a break when the blistering pace for the leading Hawthorn/Titterington Jaguar became too much for the car and it retired on lap 162 with just over 90 minutes to go in the race. That car either led or was in second place for most of the race until the very last pit stop. When Hawthorn pulled into the pits for the last time the brakes were shot. They had locked up on him going into one of the turns and then stopped working altogether. It seems that a brake piston gave way resulting in him losing all brake fluid. The Jaguar mechanics worked on the car for more than 15 minutes but by then it was too late. Having lost too many laps to the Ferrari of Fangio and Castellotti, they withdrew the car.

Eugenio Castellotti was at the wheel of his leading Ferrari when it was called in for the very last pit stop about 45 minutes before the checkered flag was to fall. It was the custom for team leader and World Champion Fangio to start, and also to finish, the race and hopefully take the checkered flag for his team.

My good friend, the late Gene Bussian, had worked as a pit steward at Sebring starting in the ‘50s and into the early ‘70s and witnessed that last pit stop. According to Mr. Bussian:

“Right before the last drivers’ change Fangio was sitting there in his pit under a single light bulb looking like a man selling popcorn. He seemed to be very relaxed, but you could hear his Ferrari team mechanics yelling in Italian and it became apparent that they were going to have a pit stop and activity increased as they readied themselves.

I was keeping an eye on Fangio since it was too dark to take photos. I was fascinated by what I saw happening in the Ferrari pits. Fangio casually reached over to get a clean towel and began wiping his racing goggles, which he then placed on his helmet. After that he proceeded to put on his driving gloves.

Pretty soon you could not only hear but see the Castellotti Ferrari from where I was standing as the car came down the back straight and into the last turn with brakes glowing red.

I then walked over to the pit railing and watched the Ferrari come down pit road. At about 40 feet from the Ferrari pit, Castellotti set the car’s hand brake and began climbing out of the car with one hand on the wheel. It was something to see as the car slid into the spot where it was supposed to. Of course, there was plenty of room to do this since many of the other racecars had already retired.

Castellotti was already out of the driver’s seat when the car finally stopped, and he jumped over the two-by-four pit railing and went immediately up to Fangio and started talking to him.

I found out later he was imploring Fangio to let him finish the race. He wanted to be the first Italian driver to win Sebring, driving an Italian car. He was hoping that Fangio would let him.

Fangio said something to Castellotti which I could not hear. I did not speak their language so I probably would not have understood what they said. After hearing what Fangio had asked him Castellotti did a little jig or dance. I found out later that Fangio was worried about Castellotti’s physical condition and wanted to know if he was tired after doing his turn at the wheel. That little jig was Castellotti’s way of telling Fangio that he had plenty of energy left to finish the race.

After Castellotti finished his little dance, he stared at Fangio for a response. Fangio did not say a word as far as I could tell. All he did was start taking off his driving gloves. That was the answer that Castellotti was looking for and he turned and ran for the car. The Ferrari mechanics had to physically restrain him since the car was not ready and they did not want the car to get disqualified if Castellotti prematurely entered the car. When the car was ready, he jumped in and drove it away for Ferrari’s first ever Sebring win.

It was the greatest thing I have ever seen in all the years I worked as a pit steward at Sebring.”

Castellotti’s joy at being allowed to finish the race and take the checkered flag did not cloud his judgment because he began driving at a slower pace now that the threat of the Hawthorn/ Titterington Jaguar was gone. He was determined that the car would finish and during one lap his time was 3 minutes, 55 seconds which was slower than most of the cars left in the race. However, he made sure not to slow down enough to give the second place Ferrari of teammates Luigi Musso and Harry Schell any chance of catching his car.

With just a few minutes left in the race there was an announcement that the official finish line would be in front of the timing shack in the last turn. At 10 p.m. Castellotti took the checkered flag with the #17 Ferrari 860 Monza completing 194 laps and a record 1,008.8 miles at an average speed of 84.07 mph. It was the first time that the 1000-mile mark had been achieved at the Sebring 12-Hour GP.

As overall winners, Fangio and Castellotti were awarded $3,000 with an additional $500 for finishing third in the Index of Performance. Adjusted for inflation, the prize money for being the overall winners would be equal to $33,340.00 in 2020 dollars. Teammates Musso and Schell took home $1,500 for their second-place finish.

During that first couple of days following the 1956 Sebring race everyone connected with promoting the event waited anxiously to read the reviews from the automotive press. While the newspaper accounts were available almost immediately the magazine reports might take up to three months. They should not have worried because, in general terms, they had a hit on their hands. Jeff Cooper, writing for Road & Track, summarized how many in the racing community felt after witnessing the ’56 Sebring race when he said: “Sebring has come a long way in five years….it has developed into a truly great sporting event of intercontinental stature, and the only contest in the U.S. in which we can observe the masters at work.”

Before he retired in 1958 Fangio would make one last appearance at Sebring, in 1957, winning his second 12-hour race but this time driving for the Maserati factory. Sadly, his co-driver in previous years at Sebring, Eugenio Castellotti, would die in a testing accident in Modena, Italy, just one week before he was to captain the Ferrari factory team scheduled to race at Sebring in ‘57.