1961 Sebring 12 Hours – Race Profile Page Six
Early on race day Sebring veterans who were staying in hotels outside the track were already up and on the road to the track by 4 a.m. If you waited until sunrise you stood a good chance of being stuck in the kind of monumental traffic jam that Sebring was known for. On more than one race day some Sebring race fans didn’t get into the track until several hours after the 10 a.m. start.
By 9:30 a.m. most of the 65 cars that would start the race were on the starting grid. One car was being pushed into place by its crew while a mechanic was still working under the hood. Also on the grid were dozens of photojournalists taking last minute pictures of cars and drivers while the print journalists did last minute interviews. Those photographers assigned to cover the start would stay in the pit area while the others would climb into a hand full of four-wheel-drive SAABs, donated by the manufacturer, to get out to the turns to cover the early action.
One late arriving driver, looking like he had just gotten up, began to strip to his skivvies in his pit enclosure before donning his Dunlop driving suit. He then rushed out to the grid to be photographed with his car and co-driver.
While this was to be the year of the rear-engine car with seven Porsches, two Maseratis and one Ferrari with power plants behind the driver it was apparent that one of the drivers had changed his mind about such cars. That driver was British ace Stirling Moss who, at the last minute, took over the front engined #23 Mazer of Masten Gregory and Lloyd Casner which was a brand new Type 61 and the last of the 22 built. Moss had been unhappy about the handling of the new rear-engine Tipo 63 and demanded the switch. When asked about the switch Casner said they were “happy” to make the swap but it was apparent that Masten Gregory was a bit miffed.
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