A dual celebration of Sebring International Raceway’s rich auto racing history and illustrious aviation legacy will be held for the second time this weekend, November 29 – December 3, when vintage racecars and historic aircraft come together for Historic Sportscar Racing’s Classic 12 Hour at Sebring, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network.
The Classic 12 Hour at Sebring, Pistons and Props, is an on-track and on-the-runways celebration of the 12 Hours of Sebring and historic Hendricks Field, the iconic military and civil aviation facility on which the famous sports car race has been run for 65 years.
The Classic 12 Hour at Sebring features three full days of historic and vintage sports car racing and a full “fly-in” and display of equally awe-inspiring military and civilian aircraft from the last half century and beyond.
The 2017 edition of Pistons and Props will feature an expanded collection of legendary airplanes as well as some first-time historic prototype and vintage sports car entries competing in the HSR Classic 12 Hour tribute race. The full weekend also features the Sebring Historics, the year-ending rounds of the full-season HSR WeatherTech Sprint and B.R.M. Enduro series.
Recent additions to the racecar entry list include a pair of pristine prototypes from Dyson Racing. The championship sports car racing team has entered a bright orange 2006 Lola/AER B06/10 in both the Classic 12 Hour and Sebring Historics and a 2002 MG-Lola B01/60 in the Historics’ sprint and enduro events.
Chris Dyson (above, with the #20 MG-Lola, photo courtesy of HSR), who lists the 2011 IMSA ALMS P1 Driver title among his championships, will compete in both prototypes, co-driving the bright-orange Lola with car owner Tony Burgess.
“We just finished a complete restoration of Tony’s car at our shop in Poughkeepsie, New York,” said Dyson. “It has been shaken down and track-tested, and Tony was eager to make the Sebring event. While the car was raced by Tony with other teams in the ALMS, it is in fact the same chassis-engine package that our team raced in 2006 in ALMS, so we have a nice ‘book’ of setup data to apply.”
Dyson, son of Dyson Racing founder Rob Dyson, was a participant in 2016’s inaugural Classic 12 Hour weekend with the No. 20 MG-Lola, but is looking forward to a little more track time this year.
“The MG-Lola is the same car that we tried to run in last year’s HSR event, but we had a fuel cell issue that we couldn’t fix at the track and had to pack up early,” Dyson said. “This car is my 2003 ALMS championship-winner and the 2005 ALMS runner-up. We’ve been wanting to run it in anger since reacquiring it three years ago, and the HSR sessions are ideal for that. It should be an enjoyable week back at Sebring.”
Still in part an active airport, the Classic 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, will once again have vintage aircraft landing on one of the Sebring runways on Friday afternoon and later taxi into the paddock to be displayed right alongside the historic racecars. For complete information please visit www.hsrrace.com
