1961 Sebring 12 Hours – Race Profile Page Ten
With one hour gone the Rodriguez brothers were leading in their NART Ferrari with the Ginther/von Trips car second and the Hill/Gendebien 250 TR third. The McLaren/Hansgen Maserati was fourth and the Moss/Hill Mazer was fifth. In the Maserati pits the mechanics voiced concern that when Moss made his scheduled pit stop that the car might not start. The faulty battery situation was weighing heavily on their minds.
Still in the pits was the Nethercutt/Lovely Ferrari and mechanics were working to find out what was causing oil to be pumped out the breathers. At this point the mechanics had the oil sump removed. Also experiencing oil problems was the #49 Porsche RS61 of Jo Bonnier. After some hasty repairs co-driver Dan Gurney took out the car but returned 20 minutes later. Leaking oil had gotten onto the clutch and it was slipping.
The problem with the oiled clutch was affecting the other Porsches. A shot of carbon tetrachloride was only a temporary fix. The main culprit was a sloppy main-shaft that sent oil gushing onto the clutch.
Pit stops and reports of accidents and retirements on the course were coming in at an unusually rapid pace for any 12 Hour. On the course the D. B. Le Mans Panhard of Howard Hanna and Frank Manley had blown its 701 c.c. engine and the car sat forlornly in a grassy area. The A.C. Ace Bristol of Leo May and James Johnston was withdrawn due to accident damage. Also going behind pit wall was the Porsche 718 RS60 of Augie Pabst and Bill Wuesthoft after they entered their pit with oil leaking badly from the rear of the car. With less than two hours into the race pit crews were getting ready for the first scheduled pit stops.
Moss entered the pits for a scheduled stop and driver change at 11:40 a.m. He mentioned to the mechanics that a “ticking” was coming from the engine. By some unofficial accounts of the race in less than two hours of racing Stirling Moss had gone from dead last to second place before handing the car over to his co-driver Graham Hill. By any account is was a tremendous racing effort, but what about the car?
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