Special Feature

Sebring 1955

Pete Lyons
Hawthorn at the wheel of the winning no. 19 Jaguar. Photo: Ozzie Lyons - www.petelyons.com

It was one of those good races spoiled by bad scoring. After taking the checkered flag at 10 pm, Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby had about 20 minutes to savor their “win” in a Ferrari. Then Jaguar drivers Mike Hawthorn and Phil Walters were called to replace them in the victory lane. The Ferrari’s owner protested. The Jaguar’s owner counter-protested. Officials impounded everybody’s lap charts, and took 10 days to reach a decision.

Pete Lyons

At the time this confusion merely seemed unsatisfactory, but looking back 50 years we can see that Sebring 1955 opened a season that so exposed racing’s deficiencies it became one of the most significant turning points in the sport.

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