Tales from Sebring
Michael Keyser recounts his victory with Al Holbert at the 1976 Sebring 12 Hours at the wheel of a 3.0-litre Carrera RSR
Michael Keyser relives his outright Sebring victory at the wheel of a Carrera RS 3.0 in 1976
To risk sounding trite, I could start this story by saying that the 12 Hours of Sebring of 1976 seems as if it were held only yesterday. But it’s not that way. It was 43 years ago, and my memories of the race I won with Al Holbert stream back to me through the misty veil of time.
At the 24 Hours of Daytona held earlier that year I’d driven with George Dyer in his three-litre Porsche RSR. We were only five laps into the race when our engine blew. If it’s going to blow, that’s the right time. Not the next morning when both you and the car are worn out.
Al Holbert came home second at Daytona, driving with the Frenchman Claude Ballot-léna in Al’s RSR. In the month following the race one thing led to another, as they say. For some reason Al and I were having a phone conversation when he asked if I’d drive with him at Sebring. I had my own Toad Hall RSR I was thinking of entering, but it had just undergone an extensive rebuild in preparation for its sale. I’d decided to move to a Chevy Monza, as had Al. Why wear my car out on the rough 5.2-mile Sebring circuit when Al had asked me to do that to his? Besides, I’d be racing with him rather than against him. A nobrainer, I agreed.
I set out to find sponsors for our effort and managed to land two – the department store Jordan Marsh and its line of Benrus wristwatches, and
Penthouse magazine. Doc Bundy, who’d go on to become a talented driver in his own right, was working for Al at the time as a combination jack-ofall-trades and PR man. As part of the sponsorship deal Jordan Marsh wanted to display the Porsche at one of its stores in the Fort Lauderdale area a few days before the race.
Doc drove the car down to Florida in the team transporter, a small truck back then, and I flew down to meet him. While the car was on display at the Jordan Marsh store during the two days we were there, Doc and I spent our time either at the beach chasing women or hanging out at one of the many bars in the area doing the same thing.
The main race competition came from a gaggle of other RSRS, two BMW CSLS driven by Peter Gregg/hurley Haywood and David Hobbs/benny Parsons, and the Corvette of John Greenwood, who was the promoter of the race this year, partnered by Mike Brockman. We had a few minor problems in practice – nothing serious – and Al qualified the car in 3rd behind Greenwood and Gregg.
After final practice on Friday I glanced out on the runway behind the pits and noticed the
Goodyear blimp tethered to the ground. The possibility of a unique photograph immediately materialised in my mind. Al agreed to let me borrow the car for a few minutes, so I asked long-time
photographer Hal Crocker, who was standing nearby, to ride out to the blimp with me. I positioned the
RSR in front of the airship, stood alongside and Hal snapped the photo. It’s one of the more memorable of my brief racing career.
Penthouse had decided to send one of its Pets to the race, and that afternoon Miss Anneka Di Lorenzo arrived at the track, accompanied by her middle-age female chaperone – Pets never travelled alone. More on Anneka later.
For the first 15 laps of the race John Greenwood led in his Corvette before pitting with problems, at which point the Hobbs/parsons BMW went in front, followed by Al in our RSR. When he handed the car over to me we were running in 2nd, but shortly after taking the wheel the leading BMW faltered, and suddenly I found myself in the lead. The car was running like a train and I was thoroughly enjoying flinging it around the rough circuit. Al had set the car up perfectly. It was neutral and you could induce understeer or oversteer at will. No one was passing me and I was passing everyone. It was the true Sebring dream.
Then a car I was following nose-to-tail out of the hairpin missed a shift and I had to hit my brakes in a hurry. The car following behind wasn’t as quick, and it smacked me a good one in the rear. As a result both exhaust pipes were badly bent. A long pit stop for repairs dropped us three laps behind the new leaders, Jim Busby and Carl Shaffer in another RSR.
When the Busby/shaffer car lost a wheel on course yet another RSR, this one driven by Bob Hagestad and Jerry Jolly, went in front. They led for two hours before electrical problems put them into the pits. Since my incident in the hairpin our car had been running like a scalded cat, and as the sun set we were back in the lead, although not without some concern. We thought the blow to the exhaust pipes had cracked a head as the engine note had changed and we were down on revs a bit on the long straights.
For the remainder of the race Al and I drove as if our lives depended on it. It was hard enough to give us a victory by two laps over five other RSRS and the Gregg/haywood BMW. As luck would have it for me, I was in the car for the last stint and had the emotional satisfaction of taking the checkered flag. I may have had tears in my eyes on the cool-down lap, but I can’t really recall. Remember, this is through the mists of time.
When I pulled onto the ramp in Victory Lane
I was greeted by Al and a happy crew including Bundy; Al’s father, Bob; the Camel race queen Pattie Huffman, now Kyle Petty’s wife, and our Penthouse
Pet, Anneka Di Lorenzo. I didn’t learn until sometime later of the amusing incident involving Anneka that occurred on her way to join in with our post-race victory celebration.
She’d spent a good deal of time during the latter stages of the race sipping champagne in the
VIP box above the pits, and at the finish she was feeling no pain. Sebring press officer John Smiley asked photographer Bill Warner if he’d be so kind as to escort Anneka to Victory Lane. Bill quickly agreed, and when they arrived at the gate into the winner’s enclosure an elderly guard asked our Pet: “Where are your credentials?” Without giving it a second thought Anneka ripped open her chiffon blouse – under which she was wearing no bra – and stated emphatically, “Right here!” The poor geriatric Floridian almost went into cardiac arrest.
Winning the Sebring 12 Hours is obviously a highlight in anyone’s career, and it was no different in my case. From time to time I dream I’m racing again, and it’s probably no accident that it’s always on the old Sebring circuit in our winning RSR.
“I positioned the RSR in front of the airship, stood alongside and Hal snapped the photo. Its one of the more memorable of my brief racing career”