Al Holbert




Al Holbert's championship-winning Löwenbräu Special Porsche 962.


Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 – September 30, 1988) was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series.[1]




Contents





  • 1 Life and career


  • 2 Death and afterwards


  • 3 Awards


  • 4 Gallery


  • 5 Racing record

    • 5.1 SCCA National Championship Runoffs


    • 5.2 Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results


    • 5.3 American open–wheel racing results

      • 5.3.1 CART




  • 6 References


  • 7 External links




Life and career




Al Holbert's 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 on static display at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV.


Holbert was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. He was the son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, who also ran a Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA, near Philadelphia (one of the first Porsche dealerships in the USA). Holbert worked for Roger Penske while studying at Lehigh University, where he graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1968.[2] Holbert began racing Porsches in the northeast division of the SCCA, racing a C-production Porsche 914/6 against, among others, Bob Tullius (Triumph TR6) and Bob Sharp (Datsun 240Z). In 1971, Holbert scored his first race win in a Porsche and would turn professional in 1974. He would score his first of his two IMSA titles in 1976 and 1977 in a Dekon Monza. Being a Porsche supporter, Holbert allowed Porsche technicians to inspect his Monza, which would eventually lead to Porsche entering the series with turbocharged cars such as the 934 that led to a Porsche dominance for the following years. During that time Holbert jumped ship to the Stuttgart marque.


From 1976-1979 Holbert raced 19 career races in NASCAR. In those 19 races, in which he drove primarily for James Hylton, Holbert scored 4 top ten finishes.


He also added an IMSA GTP title in a Porsche powered March 83G when Porsche were unable to make their 956 eligible for competition that year. February 27, 1983, he won the Grand Prix of Miami. Holbert finished fourth in the 1984 Indianapolis 500, and led the Porsche IndyCar effort in 1987-1988. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1983, 1986, and 1987, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1986 and 1987 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1976 and 1981. Holbert was the head of the Porsche North America's Motorsports Division and ran his own racing team, Holbert Racing. In 1988, Holbert realised that the Porsche 962 that had brought him success in his earlier years was becoming outmoded by the newer generation of racers from the likes of the Jaguar XJR-9 and the Electramotive's Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo. His plan was to build an open top Porsche-engined racer for customer teams. Porsche eventually built such a car nearly a decade later, although the WSC-95 would never be built for customer teams as Holbert and Porsche intended.



Death and afterwards


On September 30, 1988, Holbert was at the IMSA Columbus Ford Dealers 500. That evening, Holbert was fatally injured when his privately owned propeller driven Piper PA-60 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near Columbus, Ohio, when a clamshell door was not closed. Holbert successfully diverted his aircraft away from a group of houses it was heading toward.[3][4] At the end of the season, the team was disbanded and IMSA would retire his race number 14.


Former Holbert Racing chief mechanic Kevin Doran later became a noted team owner. Son, Todd Holbert was also a mechanic, and is currently with Toyota developing their NASCAR Tundra and Camry vehicles.



Awards


Holbert was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.[1]



Gallery



Racing record



SCCA National Championship Runoffs


























YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
1971Road AtlantaPorsche 914/6PorscheC Production166Retired
1972Road AtlantaPorsche 914/6PorscheC Production44Running


Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results










































































Year
Class
Tyres
Car
Team
Co-Drivers
Laps
Pos.
Class
Pos.

1977
S
+2.0

G
Inaltera LM77
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8

France Inaltera

France Jean-Pierre Beltoise
275
13th
5th

1980
GTP

D

Porsche 924 Carrera GT
Porsche 2.0L Turbo I4

Germany Porsche System

United Kingdom Derek Bell
305
13th
6th

1982
C

D

Porsche 956
Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6

Germany Rothmans Porsche System

United States Hurley Haywood
Germany Jürgen Barth
340

3rd

3rd

1983
C

D

Porsche 956
Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6

Germany Rothmans Porsche

Australia Vern Schuppan
United States Hurley Haywood
370

1st

1st

1985
C1

D

Porsche 962C
Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6

Germany Rothmans Porsche

Australia Vern Schuppan
United Kingdom John Watson
299
DNF
DNF

1986
C1

D

Porsche 962C
Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6

Germany Rothmans Porsche

United Kingdom Derek Bell
Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
368

1st

1st

1987
C1

D

Porsche 962C
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6

Germany Rothmans Porsche AG

Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
United Kingdom Derek Bell
355

1st

1st


American open–wheel racing results


(key)



CART






























































Year
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Rank
Points

1984

Alex Morales Motorsports
LBH
Ret
PHX1
Ret

INDY
4
MIL
Ret
POR
Ret
MEA
5
CLE
7
MIS1
Ret
ROA
Ret
POC
Ret
MDO
Ret
SAN
MIS2
13
PHX2
Ret
LS
Ret
LVG
DNS

18th

28

1987

Porsche Motorsports
LBH
PHX

INDY
MIL
POR
MEA
CLE
TOR
MIS
POC
ROA
MDO
NAZ
LS
MIA
DNQ

NC
-


References




  1. ^ ab "Al Holbert - 1946-1988". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 April 2017. 


  2. ^ "Distinguished Alumni - Al Holbert". Lehigh University. Retrieved 23 April 2017. 


  3. ^ Aircraft Accidents and Incidents - COLUMBUS, OHIO 43235 OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AIRPORT Friday, September 30, 1988 9:24 PM EDT Archived July 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.


  4. ^ Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents 1980s




External links




  • "Al Holbert". Find a Grave. Retrieved September 3, 2010. 

  • NTSB accident report










Preceded by
Jacky Ickx
Derek Bell


Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1983 with:
Vern Schuppan
Hurley Haywood
Succeeded by
Klaus Ludwig
Henri Pescarolo

Preceded by
Klaus Ludwig
Paolo Barilla
Louis Krages


Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1986 with:
Derek Bell
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Succeeded by
Derek Bell
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Al Holbert

Preceded by
Derek Bell
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Al Holbert


Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1987 with:
Derek Bell
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Succeeded by
Jan Lammers
Johnny Dumfries
Andy Wallace









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