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<\/a>The Levegh Mercedes became airborne at great speed and struck an earthen embankment across the narrow track that was the only protection for thousands of spectators watching the race. The car struck with tremendous force, killing Levegh outright, and large parts of the car, including the engine, separated from the car flying through a packed group of spectators killing 83 and injuring 120. Today it is considered the most catastrophic accident in the history of motorsports.<\/p>\n
Throughout Europe the reaction to this disaster was very strong. The countries of France, Germany and Switzerland immediately instituted a moratorium on all motor sports events until all tracks were studied for safety flaws and improvements were made. The press at home and abroad \u201cdecried it (automobile racing) as a sensational, useless sport that was akin to murder.\u201d<\/p>\n
The United States was not immune to the fallout from the disaster in France and mindful of the spreading public outcry against motor racing the American Automobile Association or \u201cTriple-A\u201d (AAA) decided to withdraw from all participation in racing events.<\/p>\n
Most Americans know AAA as those friendly folks who show up with a wrecker when their jalopy leaves them stranded on the side of the road. However, from 1902 to 1955 the AAA, through their contest board, was the premier sanctioning body in the United States for such motorsports events as the Indianapolis 500, The Vanderbilt Cup, Sebring 12 Hour GP, stock cars, midgets and sprint cars. Mindful of their public image the AAA was well aware of the hue and cry coming from the public and press following the Le Mans disaster. Fearing an impact on their \u201cbottom line\u201d the AAA elected to abandon its 53 years of involvement in motorsports and thus leave American racing promoters in the lurch.<\/p>\n
One of those promoters was Sebring founder, Alec Ulmann, and he was in a particularly bad position because in order for his event to receive international recognition he had to find a U.S. sanctioning body for the Sebring race that could be approved by the Federation International de l\u2019Automobile (FIA) headquartered in Paris, France. This approval by the FIA would also give the U.S. sanctioning body the authority to issue FIA racing licenses to American drivers wishing to compete at Sebring. It was very simple; no FIA approved sanctioning body, no international race.<\/p>\n When Ulmann got the news about the withdrawal of AAA from racing he knew he had to quickly find such an organization so he contacted Jim Kimberly who was the newly elected president of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Kimberly was the grandson of one of the four founders of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the makers of Kleenex. In racing circles he was a wealthy \u201cgentleman racer\u201d and a strong proponent of amateur road racing.<\/p>\n Since its creation in 1944 SCCA had a policy of amateurism and non-involvement in professional contests and Kimberly continued this policy by declining to help Ulmann. However, he did announce to the membership in February of 1956 that they could compete in the March 24 Sebring classic, provided they sign agreements not to accept cash prizes. In that way SCCA members could maintain their amateur status.<\/p>\n When asked what a SCCA member was to do if he did win a cash prize at Sebring Kimberly suggested that the driver donate the money to the hospital in Le Mans that was still treating the many who were injured in the catastrophic accident the previous June. This was the first time in the history of Sebring that a cash purse was offered. In previous years trophies were the only prizes awarded to winning drivers, now the prize was a share of $10,000. Sebring was now officially a professional racing event.<\/p>\n With SCCA out of the picture Ulmann was not about to throw in the towel and cancel Sebring. He called on his wealth of contacts at home and abroad to get \u201cspecial permission\u201d from the FIA to allow him to process and issue international licenses for the Sebring event as well as approval to run the event through Ulmann\u2019s creation, the Automobile Racing Club of Florida (ARCF). Ulmann appointed himself as president and his good friend, Reggie Smith, as vice president.<\/p>\n While much of the hullabaloo surrounding the Le Mans tragedy had subsided by January of 1956 those in the international racing business were still contending with the fallout. The Le Mans 24-hour race had been removed from the FIA World Sportscar Championship (WSC) series which was in its fourth year. Le Mans would return to the schedule after the required safety improvements to the track were made.<\/p>\n Although it did run as a non-championship event the Targa Florio was removed from the 1956 WSC calendar amid concerns over safety. This would leave only five events for the \u201956 season: Buenos Aires, Sebring, the Mille Miglia, Nurburgring and the Swedish Grand Prix. It would be the shortest season in the history of the World Sportscar Championship.<\/p>\n American interest in automotive racing began to recover over the winter of \u201955-\u201956 and some were looking for a return to normalcy. Stimulating that interest was the fact that both General Motors Chevrolet division and Ford were developing and building two-seat sports cars. Chevrolet got a head start by introducing their Corvette in 1953. Ford countered this with the Thunderbird in 1955 and a private entry T-Bird<\/a> was raced at Sebring that year finishing 37th.<\/p>\n Adding to the build-up to the \u201956 Sebring race was the announcement that for the very first time in Sebring history five European factory teams were planning an assault on Sebring. Those teams included Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Jaguar and Maserati.<\/p>\n Ulmann and U.S. racing fans were overjoyed that Scuderia Ferrari was making its first factory team appearance at Sebring. Ferrari was determined to recapture the manufacturer\u2019s championship they lost to Mercedes-Benz in 1955. The fact that Mercedes-Benz had withdrawn from the series following the tragedy at Le Mans just might make it easier for Ferrari to accomplish that goal.<\/p>\n Accompanying those teams from Europe were some of the best drivers in the world. They included three-time and reigning world champion, Juan Manuel Fangio, also Eugenio Castellotti, Luigi Musso, Harry Schell, Alfonso de Portago and Oliver Gendebien all driving for factory Ferrari.<\/p>\n England\u2019s Mike Hawthorn won Sebring in 1955 and he would return driving a new factory D-type Jaguar along with Desmond Titterington, Duncan Hamilton, Ivor Bueb, Bill Spear, Briggs Cunningham and Indy 500 winner Bob Sweikert who was making his first appearance at Sebring. A total of nine D-Jaguars would start the race with the newer ones equipped with an experimental fuel injection that emitted a much clearer sound as compared to the normally aspirated older Jags.<\/p>\n The top driver for Aston Martin would be British ace, Stirling Moss. He and Aston Martin co-driver Carlos Menditeguy won the first race of the 1956 WSC series in Argentina in January. Moss\u2019s team mates at Sebring included Peter Collins, Roy Salvadori, Texan Carroll Shelby, Tony Brooks, and Reg Parnell with John Wyer managing the team.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>