Sebring 12 hour?

So, it looks as if Janel is working in Florida the week before the 12 hours of Sebring. I might have to fly out and spend the weekend with her there

Anybody going? What do I need to know?

I know a guy who might be there for the MX-5 Cup race.

Ask Brad (Maroon92), it looks like a few of us Ohioans are coming for the weekend

Yeah, and if Aussie pulls it together, we're taking a party bus! The entry fee is gas money and a bottle of scotch.

I only live an hour or so from the track....someday I need to go watch

Okay, now for a more specific set of questions...

I've never been to this race before. Heck, I haven't been to an endurance race when I wasn't working before. I will not have camping gear with me, I'll probably just be showing up for the race and leaving afterwards - unless someone can give me a good reason to extend that.

I can't find a schedule of what exactly is going on - is it worth making the effort to get out for Friday? I won't be able to arrive any earlier.

Is it worth staying near the track, or should we just hang out in Orlando?

I may crash the ohio party

Sebring is kind of in the middle of no where, so the lodging options are tight and scarce.

The MX-5 Cup series races on Thursday and Friday. You should probably check it out.

Here's their schedule: http://www.mx-5cup.com/files/schedules/Sebring_schedule_2.10.%2012.pdf

Friday is a great day to walk the paddock. It was a better day when the World Challenge races were in the afternoon.

The camping / redneck / local scene is something I've found nowhere else. During the day you may see an Aston Martin convertible cruise by, followed by a 1973 Cadillac with a bleacher welded to it, 20 people dancing on the back, and a thousand beer cans hanging from the perimeter.

How exactly did Sebring not make the GRM calendar? I can only guess since its not a Grand-Am race.

http://www.sebringracewaynews.com/2012-Guest-Guide.pdf see p5

We are staying at T3, driver's right. You will Sebring. Don't limit your trip to "just the race" because there is so much more to the event than that. The support races, for example, are awesome.

The Social Scene can be "interesting". Many fuzzy memories from that track. One of my favorites was watching the Mazdas go down the straight with the entire exhaust glowing bright red.

Looks like there are 5 ( ) support races on Friday, and qualifying for the 12 hour.

here's a complete schedule (the other two weren't working for me)

http://americanlemans.com/files/events/2012/1/Sebring_Event_Schedule.pdf

If you can be there on Friday it's definitely worth it. The only problem is you're not going to get a hotel room anywhere near the track. I had found one about 50 miles from the track but decided I might as well just commute from Tampa where I live.

Kevin

Re: Where to stay. I crewed at the 12 several times. We were put up at a fish camp a few miles away. Slept in the all time worst old camper trailers ever seen. Gators growling outside. I can't imagine that place is still there, but it is possible. Yeah, our team owner really was that cheap.

There are lots of places to stay near Sebring and more added every year. This late you may have difficulty getting a close by room, but you won't have to go too far. Go south of the main track road, everyone else looks north and several new places to stay have been added just south.

Definitely go as many days as you can and stay late into the night. The social aspect is wonderful. Walk the whole track and you'll cross into several "zones". Decorating and theme zones that is.

People will offer to let you stay with them, climb on top of their RVs to watch the race, eat with you, & probably have sex with you. It's great fun!

You have great access to the pits and cars and the race is much better than the Rolex.

I had been going to Sebring since '88, up until a few years ago. Lately though, it's been nowhere near the event or race that it has been, and the 24 has been much better. The support races have really sucked the last two or three years (about the time they stopped inviting the World Challenge guys). Last year, they invited the Trans-Am back, which helped some, but it's mostly open wheel cars these days.

Their advertising touts "The biggest field in 17 years", so that ought to tell you something...

Thanks for the feedback and the link to the schedule. I'll look into how we can make it work for Friday. Looks like there are some hotels available in Lakeland. 60 miles away, but that can work and that's what you get for a last-minute trip. It means I'll be missing my planned (and paid-for) test day for the Targa Miata in Denver, but I can work around that too. This could be fun.

A buddy of mine that I work with and I will be going. We'll be camping out since we got 2 day tickets. The field is going to be 64 cars and I know it will be spectacular.

Maroon92 wrote: Yeah, and if Aussie pulls it together, we're taking a party bus! The entry fee is gas money and a bottle of scotch.

Any preferred Scotch? Would Johnny Walker Black be sufficient?

Keith wrote: Looks like there are some hotels available in Lakeland. 60 miles away, but that can work

You're looking at Lakeland? PM sent.

Anti-stance wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: Yeah, and if Aussie pulls it together, we're taking a party bus! The entry fee is gas money and a bottle of scotch.

Any preferred Scotch? Would Johnny Walker Black be sufficient?

Single malts are the preferred, our requirement on the bus is a $100 bottle of Scotch.

There are hotels in Avon Park, and even a little south of there, that would suit you much better.

Avon is definitely not far away.

aussiesmg wrote:

Anti-stance wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: Yeah, and if Aussie pulls it together, we're taking a party bus! The entry fee is gas money and a bottle of scotch.

Any preferred Scotch? Would Johnny Walker Black be sufficient?

Single malts are the preferred, our requirement on the bus is a $100 bottle of Scotch.

Im good with that.

Flight reservations made! We'll probably be there on Friday and Saturday.

This actually works out really well. We're going to Le Mans this year, but decided to go to the Le Mans Classic instead of the modern race. Thanks to Sebring, we'll get to see the modern cars as well. Perfect.