48 Hour Volunteers

Die Porsche Kassette asked four of our Gold Coast Region 48 Hours at Sebring attendees to contribute to an article about this fantastic racing event held each year in late January-early February. Here are their insights.

I have never been to the city of Sebring let alone the 48 Hours of Sebring. Checking in at the Sebring racetrack Hall of Legends and the volunteer table on Friday evening, I received my assignment for the following morning. From then on, I was immediately immersed in Porsche racing.

I spent time walking around the Sebring track facility and was able to talk to some of the owners and drivers about their thoughts for the upcoming races. On Friday morning, I began my first assignment at Turn 10 as a Spotter. As a Volunteer Spotter, I served as an extra set of eyes to assist the SCCA Corner Workers, watching for any hazards. There is a tremendous amount of action on this stretch of the racetrack! I was able to observe all classes of Porsches and the substantial driver skill levels. Everything was up close. Following the four-hour shift at Turn 10, I participated in the Track Touring for Charity event where I was able to run my own Boxster for four laps on this historic racetrack. What a thrill that was!

On Saturday, I volunteered to work “The Grid.” This is the area where all the cars are aligned in their appropriate starting order for each race. As a Grid Marshall you also perform a walk-around of each car to conduct a visual inspection. To me, this was an amazing volunteer position because you are on the tarmac with the cars and drivers at the start of the race. Talk about up close and personal! Unless you are a driver, you can’t get much closer to the racing.

Before arriving at Sebring for the 48 Hour event I had no idea what to expect. Volunteering for the weekend at 48 Hours of Sebring was a tremendous experience and it will be on the top of my priority list of things to do next year.

Ken Hills

accidental vehicle contact) that happen during practice, qualifying and race events. PCA Club Racing is strictly “no-contact” racing, gentlemen & lady drivers only! It is necessary and essential to avoid vehicleto-vehicle contact if possible. However, accidents will occur.

This was my second year volunteering for the 48 Hours at Sebring. For the 2021 event I had the opportunity to volunteer for almost every position around the track. This year, I was assigned to a single, unique position as Steward’s Assistant. The Steward’s Assistant works in the scoring tower, four stories above the start-finish line, along the main straight.

This team of folks is entitled Race Control, and the responsibility is as described. The Steward Assistant positions are usually held by two Suncoast Region volunteers, Denise Remus and Christal Smithyman. Christal was unable to stay for the entire weekend, so I was asked if I could fill in for her. Upon arriving in Sebring on Thursday I went to check in with the volunteer desk with Ms. Sherry Fabel. Note: Sherry is a mainstay at the 48 Hours event and keeps tabs on everything! Obtaining my credentials, Christal and I went up to the top of the Sebring tower to the 4th floor Race Control. Once in the Race Control room, Christal educated me with a crash course on what my duties would be for the weekend before she headed home.

The Stewards are PCA National volunteers who are in charge. Race Stewards run the racing sessions, keeping close tabs on the drivers. They also make decisions about the incidents (race infractions and There are three PCA Stewards who coordinate with track personnel, and all are in the tower. The Race Stewards make the decisions, and the track personnel coordinate the communications with the corner workers, the safety vehicles and emergency responders. Decisions might include positioning of the Race Safety Pace vehicle or the need to bring a driver into the pit for an infraction or car issue. The list of decisions is immense and each essential to fair and safe racing.

While sessions are underway the Stewards and the track personnel were 100% focused on what was happening at any individual moment. They made the calls for

Mark Johnson

everything including when the grid could be released, when to wave a certain flag, when it was clear for the safety vehicles to clean the track, and when to bring out the checkered flag. While they were busy with the session, it was up to Denise and me to manage other things that were going on in Race Control without distracting them. During the sessions, the environment was intense. There are an incredible number of things that happen during a sports car race.

There is one person who logs all the calls from corner workers to fully document any on-track incidents among single or multiple race vehicles. My duties entailed assisting the Stewards in gathering requested information about the drivers, as well as tracking the rookie and novice drivers. I also assisted with incident reports and then met drivers and others who were called up to “report to the tower” for incident/ contact fault evaluations. One smaller and fun job involved tallying votes from the corner workers for their favorite car that ran during the sessions.

Being a Steward’s Assistant was a challenging, interesting and yet a fun position. From Race Control, we saw 100% of the track and what was happening. I could also hear everything that was going on. I gained a whole new appreciation regarding the running of a Porsche Club Race and the time and dedication of the volunteers who make it happen.

Located one floor below us on the third floor of the race tower, GCR member Jake Kooser was seated with another racecritical group. These are the Timing & Scoring folks. Timing/Scoring collects lap times, which are available to the drivers and their teams to help assist in car performance. On Friday, each vehicle runs through a qualifying session where lap times are recorded, and resultant best lap times are used to determine the starting order of each car for the coming races. On every lap, Timing/ Scoring collects elapsed time for every car on the track, accumulates total race time, and determines finish position for each race. There are both Region members and PCA National Club Racing officials who work on the third floor. I volunteered with this team during the 2021 48 Hours and it was equally fun and just as intense. They are great jobs.

We are fortunate to have such an iconic raceway of worldwide fame and recognition so close to our Gold Coast membership. Sebring International Raceway is only a couple hours from south Florida, an easy drive north through pastureland and orange groves. Being able to volunteer and participate at this track through our 48 Hours of Sebring is a huge bonus.

My wife, Patricia, and I attended the 48 Hours of Sebring on Saturday to see friends, racecars, and incredible highquality Porsche racing. I confess I’m a bit of a gear head. So, time in the paddock walking among the race teams and their cars is Nirvana for me. On occasion the PCar driver or race team member will strike up a conversation with you if you gaze at their car and offer a smile, or even a question like, “How’s she running?” It’s always nice to find out what the current “hot set-up” is and who is running what, or what they are doing to get a few more tenths of speed from the car. Meanwhile Patricia is snapping photos of all that is the paddock.

Soon we pick up the sound of freebreathing Porsche engines filling the air, and then it’s time to head to the starting grid. Both Patricia and I have been given “Press” passes, and we enter photography mode. We frame both car and driver, snapping away for that special pre-race photo of driver concentration and readiness.

Once the cars have left the starting grid, we head to turn 15, “Gendebien Bend,, named after Belgian Olivier Gendebien, the first master driver at Sebring, having won the 12 Hour race three times between 1959 and 1961. It is a great vantage point. As the race progresses, we move to the Alan Jay bridge overlooking turn 5, then on to the infield of turn 5. The cars snake their way through turns 3-4-5, “the esses”. Exiting turn 5 to an easy right bend, turn 6, they pick up pace on the intermediate straight towards turn 7, the Hotel Turn or Hairpin. We take some nice photos in each location. Because the track is accessible to spectators and photographers, there are a ton of opportunities to take great photos. When the race is over it is back to the paddock and the opportunity to congratulate the winners.

We really enjoyed our time at the 48. Sebring is a crown jewel of the racing world. This PCA event is a treasure for any Porsche aficionado.

The Advanced Solo drivers’ group in the 29th annual 48 Hours at Sebring recently concluded at the world-famous Sebring International Raceway (SIR). In two simple yet important words, it translates to “safe fun.” The context of having fun while being safe is paramount. The actual Solo driving, at high speed – pass anywhere—is strategically sandwiched between the massive PCA test/tune, practice, Sprint, and endurance races.

PCA’s Advanced Solo racing requires that each driver must have obtained the skills, etiquette, and experience to drive a high-speed track without instruction in a high traffic environment. A full year of documented experience at an instructor or “Advanced Solo” level is a mandatory requirement. Drivers operate their own vehicles. These Porsche autos are generally street worthy but can be high performance or modified cars. PCA verifies every participant to ensure the requirements are fully met. In the past, there have been as many as 80 (76 this

year, ed.) very experienced drivers from all over the world on the track at this annual event.

In every session, we are literally embedded in a smorgasbord of amazing Porsches ranging from air-cooled to water-cooled and street-driven Porsches, to fully trackprepped machines. The colorful or eclectic liveries present on some of the participants Porsches elevates the euphoric feeling of being in a race-type environment. The glorious mechanical sounds of flat sixes emanating from various 911 generations are music to the soul, whether it’s from an air-cooled long hood 911 all the way to a genuine GT3 Cup Car. I pilot a Graphite Blue 991.2 GT3, and I am always humbled and delighted to see other types of Porsches alongside in the grid and screaming by on the track.

This is my second consecutive year participating in PCA’s 48 Hours at Sebring. I greatly enjoy driving fast among a highly skilled group of Porsche drivers. We all value conversing with seasoned track veterans and other newbies at Sebring’s paddock. The cost-to-benefit portion of this event easily trumps all the other track day events. For a cost of less than four Benjamins ($400), I was able to experience four days’ worth of track sessions. There are ten individual sessions and nearly ten hours of total track time.

This year I attended from my home in south Florida each day. It is 150 miles one-way from home to track, which allows for plenty of driving on the highway and the racetrack. Basically, you drive 2.5 hours to Sebring from south Florida, track all day, and then drive 2.5 hours back! The Porsche GT3 happily purred along, whether on my commute or on the track. The GT3 was “Born in Flacht,” home of Porsche’s Motorsport-derived GT cars in Weissach. That’s Porsche engineering to the nth degree. There really is no substitute. Validated.

Priceless smiles and the camaraderie are available both on and off the tarmac. The PCA’s focus on “safety, safety, safety” is unparalleled. We witnessed this from the moment we arrived at SIR, as each vehicle received a detailed tech inspection, followed by a drivers meeting on the grid led by Amy Riches. Everyone driving shows their situational awareness and consistent track etiquette. Summed up, it equates to miles of fun, great speed, and enjoyment on track. I would absolutely recommend the 48 Hours at Sebring event to anyone who has achieved Advanced Solo level drivers’ classification.

It’s arguably the most fun in a safe environment that you’ll ever experience in your beloved Porsche. In short, the 48 Hours at Sebring is a fabulous event I certainly look forward to every year!

Mark Johnson

The 48 Hours at Sebring was held this year February 3-6, 2022 in Sebring, FL at the world-famous birthplace of American Endurance Racing, SIR! With 180 Porsche race vehicles and an additional 76 Advanced Solo participants, it was an amazing weekend of racing, offering deep immersion into the allure of Porsche automobiles.

This 48 Hours at Sebring had two very special “guests.” The first was a special display vehicle; the 2021 Champion Motorsports Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Time Attack 1 Champion. This specially-prepared 911 GT2 took top Porsche vehicle and the number two overall place in the 2021 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The second guest was even more special, Mr. David Schnorr. David is a graphic artist and has designed racecar MotorImages livery for over 35 years. David has been the exclusive car livery designer for Champion Porsche since they entered the racing forums and has placed graphic designs on vehicles entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 24 Hours race, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. All told, he estimates that he has designed livery for well over 5000 vehicles in his career and has over 100 wins with various teams in the major road course race events.

There were 150 volunteers from both the Gold Coast and Suncoast Regions of PCA, the PCA National Race Committee officials, racers, and support teams, and multiple vendors. A solid estimate would suggest that 1000 total folks participated in this incredible 4-day happening.

The 48 Hours at Sebring is the premier Porsche Club Racing event which kicks off each race season. This was the 29th year of the event and it draws participants from all over the USA. Both Gold Coast and Suncoast Regions are fortunate to hold and host the event, in our respective back yard. If you enjoy Porsche and sports car racing, this event is a “must do”!