USGP Memories: Sebring
- James Hoglund: Sebring, 1959
- My recollections of the 1959 Grand Prix are pretty sketchy, since that
was more than 40 years ago. I was 14 at the time, and had never attended an automobile race before. My
father and I stood on the inside of the first turn, and if I remember correctly it was a bright red
Ferrari in the lead at the start (either Von Trips or Tony Brooks because Phil Hill's Ferrari was
painted blue that day). I remember that there were very few people in attendance (which is why the
race never returned to Sebring), so it was easy to find plenty of good vantage points.
Sometime towards the middle of the race, we were standing along the main straight when Roy Salvadori's Cooper-Maserati expired. He parked right next to where we were standing so, not only was I seeing my first race, I was seeing a Formula One car right up close.
My other lasting impression of the race was how tiny (and fragile!) those cars looked out on the race track. I had been reading car magazines for years and the photos always made them seem more or less regular size. Anyone who's seen some of those late 50s, early 60s Coopers up close knows it must have taken a lot of nerve to drive one to the limit.
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