Oliver Gavin and
Jan Magnussen
Sebring “A Special Place”
to Veteran Drivers
By Earl Fannin
Sebring International Raceway is one of the most challenging,
often frustrating and then rewarding race circuits in
the world. Its bumpy concrete surface – the never repaved
original thick concrete runways of Hendricks Field – has not
changed since the fi rst Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
presented by Advance Auto Parts in 1952.
Veteran drivers like Jan Magnussen (19 Sebring starts), Oliver
Gavin (17), and Johannes van Overbeek (16) understand
and appreciate the history of Sebring and the combination
of reliable, fast cars plus tremendous talent and luck it takes
to win the 12-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
race.
“The physicality of the track, speed of the circuit and how
the race unfolds is a big challenge,” says Gavin, driver of the
No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. “It’s the night, the lights, the
bumps into Turn 17 and Turn One, braking for Turn Three,
seeing where the sand comes on the track at turns Five and
Seven…”.
“Twelve hours around Sebring is so physical and so tough,”
says Magnussen, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette
C7.R. “It took me a long time to win Sebring - it wasn’t until
I joined Corvette Racing that I started to contend for race
wins there. I loved Sebring the race itself before that, but
I didn’t like racing there because I never had any luck. It’s
tough… it’s a tough race to win but it’s even a tougher race
to lose just because of what the track puts you through.”
The challenging race is viewed by a crowd of loyal, fun-loving
fans. Yes, the drivers notice them – and appreciate them
too. No race on the IMSA schedule has fans as devoted and
knowledgeable as Sebring.
“The Turn 10 crowd has a really wild time, and they’re all
great,” says Magnussen. “Plus there are all the other visitors
-- cows, monks and who knows what else! Usually in the
race, you’ll come down to the Hairpin and someone has set
something on fi re… that could be anything from a car to
a couch! You see all kinds of vehicles pulling all kinds of
trailers behind.”
“It’s such a cool event,” says Magnussen. “There is a great
party going on all around. The fi rst thing that comes to my
mind is the atmosphere of Sebring. It’s a cool place -- from
Wednesday when campers start coming in until the end of
the race. It’s great.
“We usually go out to Turn 10 every year during qualifying.
That’s the most ’Sebring’ thing I experience every year.
78 T h e 6 6 t h A n n u a l 1 2 H o u r s o f S e b r i n g