Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 at Abington, Pennsylvania

Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Abington Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 55,310 in as of the 2010 census.Abington Township is one of Montgomery County's oldest communities dating back to before 1700 and being incorporated in 1704. It is home to some of the county's...

 – September 30, 1988) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA

International Motor Sports Association

The International Motor Sports Association is an American sports car auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...

 Camel GT

IMSA GT Championship

IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...

 series.

Life and career

The son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, who also ran a Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA, near Philadelphia

Warrington Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Warrington Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 23,418 at the 2010 census.-History:Warrington Township was founded in October 1734, and is named after a town in Lancashire, England...

, Holbert worked for Roger Penske

Roger Penske

Roger S. Penske is the owner of the automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. A winning racer in the late 1950s, Penske was named 1961's Sports Car Club of America Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated...

 while studying at Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

. 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

Chevrolet Monza

The Chevrolet Monza is a subcompact, four-passenger automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1975–1980 model years. The Monza is based on the Chevrolet Vega, sharing its wheelbase, width and 140 CID inline-4 engine...

. 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

Porsche 934

The Porsche 934 was a racing version of the Porsche 911 Turbo, prepared to FIA Group 4 rules, similar to the Porsche 935 which was prepared to FIA Group 5 rules.-History:...

 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

James Hylton

James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...

, Holbert scored 4 top ten finishes.

He also added an IMSA GTP title in a Porsche powered March 83G

March Engineering

March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

 when Porsche were unable to make their 956

Porsche 956

The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship...

 eligible for competition that year. February 27, 1983 he won the Grand Prix of Miami. Holbert finished fourth in the 1984 Indianapolis 500

1984 Indianapolis 500

Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,...

, and led the Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

 IndyCar

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 effort in 1987-1988. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 in 1983, 1986, and 1987, the 24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona

The 24 Hours of Daytona, currently known as the Rolex 24 Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield...

 in 1986 and 1987 and the 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring

The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...

 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

Porsche 962

The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had...

 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

Jaguar XJR-9

The Jaguar XJR-9 is a sports-prototype race car built by Jaguar for both Group C and IMSA Camel GTP, debuting in at the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona....

 and the Electramotive's Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo

The Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo was a series of racing cars developed for Nissan Motors by Electramotive Engineering to compete in the IMSA GT Championship. Running from 1985 to 1990, they were known for being the first car to defeat the Porsche 962 which had dominated IMSA's premiere GTP category...

. 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

Porsche WSC-95

The Porsche WSC-95 was a Le Mans Prototype built for Porsche by Tom Walkinshaw Racing and run by Joest Racing, yet can trace its origin to a Jaguar sports car designed in 1991...

 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

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 when a clamshell door was not closed. Holbert successfully diverted his aircraft away from a group of houses it was heading toward. 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.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

1977 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 45th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 11 and 12 1977.-Race:The Porsche 936 turbo won again in 1977 against the Renault and Mirage Renault, with extraordinary driving efforts by Jacky Ickx...	S +2.0	1		Inaltera LM77 Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...  Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...  3.0L V8	Inaltera	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. François Cevert was his brother-in-law ....	275	13th	5th
1980 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 48th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15 1980. It was the seventh round of the 1980 World Championship for Makes.-Pre-race:...	GTP	3		Porsche 924 Porsche 924 The Porsche 924 is an automobile produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. A two-door, 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. In production terms, the 924 was the first Porsche model powered by a...  Carrera GT Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  2.0L Turbo I4	Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  System	Derek Bell Derek Bell (auto racer) Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...	305	13th	6th
1982 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 50th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 19 and 20 1982. It was also the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship.-Race:For 1982, the new FIA Group C rules were in effect...	C	3		Porsche 956 Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship... Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Rothmans Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  System	Hurley Haywood Hurley Haywood Hurley Haywood is an American race-car driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977 , 1983 and 1994 and is the most successful driver at the 24 Hours of Daytona with 5 wins . He won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1973 and 1981...  Germany Jürgen Barth Jürgen Barth Jürgen Barth is a German engineer and a former racecar driver. He is the son of Formula One driver and sports car racer Edgar Barth....	340	3rd	3rd
1983 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 51st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 18 and 19 1983. It was also the fourth round of both the World Endurance Championship and European Endurance Championship. The win was fought right down to the line between the Rothmans Porsche 956s of Al...	C	3		Porsche 956 Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship... Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Rothmans Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....	Vern Schuppan Vern Schuppan Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:...   Hurley Haywood Hurley Haywood Hurley Haywood is an American race-car driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977 , 1983 and 1994 and is the most successful driver at the 24 Hours of Daytona with 5 wins . He won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1973 and 1981...	370	1st	1st
1985 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the fourth round of the 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on June 15 and 16 1985....	C1	3		Porsche 962 Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had... C Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Rothmans Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....	Vern Schuppan Vern Schuppan Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:... John Watson	299	DNF	DNF
1986 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 54th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the third round of the 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place on May 31 and June 1, 1986.-Pre-race:...	C1	1		Porsche 962 Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had... C Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Rothmans Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....	Derek Bell Derek Bell (auto racer) Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...   Hans-Joachim Stuck	368	1st	1st
1987 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 55th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 13 and 14 1987. It was also the fifth round of the 1987 World Sports-Prototype Championship.-Track alterations:...	C1	17		Porsche 962 Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had... C Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	Rothmans Porsche AG Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....	Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell Derek Bell (auto racer) Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...	355	1st	1st

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 1984 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,... 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 Porsche in motorsport Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races.Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted...	LBH	PHX	INDY 1987 Indianapolis 500 The 71st Indianapolis 500 was held Sunday May 24, 1987 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During the month of May, an unusually high 25 crashes occurred during practice and qualifying. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical...	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LS	MIA DNQ		NC	-

External links

• NTSB accident report