Al Holbert
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Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 at Abington, Pennsylvania – September 30, 1988) was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series.
The son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, who also ran a Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA, near Philadelphia, Holbert worked for Roger Penske whilst studying at Lehigh University. 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 Chevrolet 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 jumping 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. Holbert and his Porsche teammate Hurley Haywood are the only Americans to capture more than one win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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 succussfully diverted his aircraft away from a group of houses it was heading toward. [1][2] 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.
[edit] Awards
- In 1993, Holbert was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
| 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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