Sebring How To

We have an ailing friend that we are going to visit in Florida so I talked my wife into scheduling the trip so my boys and I can go to Sebring. Impart your knowledge reguarding spectating there and such.. Thanks.

Prepare yourself for drunks. Nice pair of walking shoes, sunblock, water. If you can try and get a viewing spot for Turn 1, that is an awesome spot to watch the beginning of the race. Turn 7 is another good spot, has a big TV to watch. Turn 10 guys are crazy at night with boobies shown (warning for your sons). You can camp there, get in kinda early to find a spot.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: Turn 10 guys are crazy at night with boobies shown (warning for your sons).

Yes, warn them to get there in time!

Edit: Wait, you're talking girl boobies right?

Show up early on the day of - you can get close to the cars before the start. Wish I'd known that last year...

It's pretty tough to actually follow the race when you're there unless you camp out by one of the screens. Otherwise, we basically walked the circuit to see the cars from various angles. LOTS of drunks.

As mentioned, lots of drunks. And not to put too fine a point on it, if you find that you wandered into the confederate flag decorated section of the infield late at night with a lot of drunk guys with beer BOTTLES, back away quietly but quickly. Sure wish I had. On a brighter note, the parking lot and car corrals the year I went had some truly awesome cars. Minis, Duetto Spiders, 280sl, etc., that sort of cool stuff.

It's easily twice as good as Rolex, even with the GRM tent.

You can get on the starting grid prior to the race. This lets you get up close and personal with every car & every driver.

Don't want to go on the grid? You get to wander around all the pits and there is no telling who you'll be talking to. I got up close and personal with virtually every car on the grid. As long as you don't interrupt them during crucial periods they will talk to you about anything. You will have access to much more info and background stories than you'll ever hear on the TV or radio.

Keep in mind there are a lot of races going on prior to the big race so you will find a huge variety of cars. I got to stroke some pretty historic cars and hear some amazing stories

Get there early so as to get a good parking space. Expect to walk 20 miles or more every day. Ditto the sunblock, good shoes and plenty of liquids.

I never found enough drunks to be a problem.

I have found that most of the guys in the RVs will invite you in for a drink, a meal and to spectate on top so be friendly and talk to people.

It's true they don't do a good job of allowing you to keep up with the race very well, but you get access to just about everywhere so that makes up for a lot. It's easy to watch the races inside the race and root for your favorites.

Hotels are the biggest issue. Look south of Sebring rather than north.

Have I mentioned that Sebring is several orders of cooler than Rolex?

Thanks for the tips. We have been going to the ALMS race at Mid Ohio for the last 8 years or so so the walking thing we have at least an inkling of.

It is cool that ALMS will let get up and personal with the cars, we do that whenever we can.

Thanks for the info on the Hotels, I can't wait.

When are you going?

Most likely Friday morning.

All hotels in the area have been booked for months in advance--- unless you can find a cancellation.

Renting a house for the weekend, or an RV would be a possibility....if not, bring a tent!

Sebring is a blast, but it isn't "family" friendly for lots of folks. If you stay out of "Green Park" you'll avoid most of the drunks, Spring Breakers and bafooonery.....of course you'll miss alot of the fun too!

I love Sebring and have gone many times. I wouldn't say it's better than the Rolex though as the 24 Hour race has ......well, 12 more hours of racing, a real town with accommodations nearby, our GRM tent..... and at Daytona is a much easier place to follow the race. Sebring is a better party though, but much, much more redneck.

Both great events, but depending on the ages of your kids---- beware of Green Park!

I can tell you that Janel is a huge Flying Lizard fan now thanks to a late-night encounter at Sebring. We were hanging behind the pits checking things out during the race and got talking with one of the mechanics. He took a shine to Janel and passed her a set of mechanics gloves that had been signed by all the drivers on the team. He'd set them aside to give to someone just because.

We stayed in Orlando and drove in each day. Janel was staying in Orlando for work, so that was an easy decision.

I asked about this race last year on the GRM forum, nobody mentioned the pre-grid access. So we decided to miss the traffic and show up about an hour after the race started. It's the biggest regret I've got from the weekend. So - SHOW UP EARLY ON RACE DAY.

My boys are 5 and 9, no Green Park.

Keith - I will say that FLM is one of the nicest and most approachable group of pro racers we have met. One of the mechanics let my 9 year old when he was 5 sit in one of the cars and Jeorg gave him a hat, Ian was wearing a FLM t shirt and had a Ferrari hat on. Jeorg said he should match and gave Ian the hat he was wearing.

Rent an enterprise cargo van and you have a perfect condo , bring everything you need as getting back out of camp spot to the store is a hassle . I like to camp over by turn 15 ish by the vintage guys .

When Speedvision was running on Friday, the support races made it a great two-day adventure.

-Sunscreen and large floppy hats. Can't be mentioned enough. -Light foldable camp chairs, or at least the small stool type, make the low berms much more viewer friendly. -Bring more ice for your cooler than you think you need. Can be bought on-site but expensive.

There are a good number of fun viewing areas, the RVs take up much of the 1-5 and 15 area, but you can sometimes sneak in-between.

You can also get right behind the hot pits area and watch them through the fence.

Been going on and off since I was your kids' age. My dad hitch-hiked his way there in the 60s in his early teens. These days I just drive over in the morning and back that evening, its about 2hrs away. One trick if you are leaving that night is to stage your car near the exit by around 8pm, so you can watch the finish and then get out quick. At the finish you can walk across the track and be right in the middle of the victory celebration.

Like Keith mentione, you can commute each day from the Orlando area. it is about a 2hr drive. You will not find any hotel rooms available any where near Sebring, they have been booked for over a year in advance, mostly corporate bookings (Teams, Mfgs, Sponsors etc). I live in Orlando and usually commute down Thu, Fri & Sat.

There are a few car corrals ticket packages you can purchase, this will guarantee you an infield parking space. Always nice to have your car close as a sort of base camp you can always go back to when you need to recharge. Many of the car corrals also have some simple hospitality tent. Much of Sebring is a bit of a free-for-all, but do not let that scare you. Show up early, visit the paddock often. Enjoy the experience that is the Sebring 12hr

I need to learn more about this, sounds awesome.