The third revival of the Coppa Milano-Sanremo – 1° Trofeo Alfa Romeo,
was a great success. Jointly organised by MAC Events and Meet
Communicazione this C.S.A.I. touristic and regularity rally was
promoted and funded by the Automobile Club of Milan. This year’s event
started from the Monza Autodrome, which again made its Tazio Nuvolari
Press Room available to the organizers for scrutineering, as well as its
track and its invaluable expertise.
On Friday, March 11, the Monza Paddock was bursting at the seams with
210 classic cars from all over the world. Once the check-in formalities
were completed and the cars had been inspected, the contestants
enjoyed a buffet lunch before entertaining themselves and the public with
a few trial laps around the circuit in the style of the great champions.
Having ended their stay in Monza with a spectacular parade, the cars (all
built between 1906 and 1973, the years of the original Coppa
Milano-Sanremo) proceeded to the Duomo Square in Milan, guided along
the way by a Police team, which cleared the traffic for them whenever
necessary. A large and attentive crowd of classic car enthusiasts watched
as the cars were introduced and described by Simon Kidston and Savina
Confaloni.
The rally started on Saturday at 08h30 a.m. from Piazza del Duomo. The
“museum in motion” left the center of Milan, and traveled through the town
of Corsico, via the stunning Piazza Ducale of Vigevano and then along
scenic roads through Lomellina. This was followed by regularity tests, the
first of which took place around Monterotondo before and after a lunch in
the romantic cellars at the Monterotondo Resort in the Gavi area. The route
offered spectacular scenery, particularly approaching the gulf of Tigullio,
after having crossed over the Scoffera Pass. The first stage ended in
Rapallo’s seafront promenade.
Sunday March 13: the rally started again from Rapallo at 09h00 and
proceeded along the splendid Via Aurelia with its panoramic views. The
participants arrived in Savona at 11h30 for a parade through the town
center. After lunch at the Fortezza Priamar, they proceeded via Pietra
Ligure, Albenga and Imperia to Sanremo for the final Time Check.
The Winners
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In total, the contestants covered a distance of approximately 400 km.
Alfa Romeo Title Sponsor of the event
To demonstrate its presence and to highlight its illustrious history, Alfa
Romeo entered a selection of 5 exceptional cars from its Museum in
Arese. These included the undisputed Queen of this 2005 Revival, a
priceless 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans. Other spectacular cars
included a 1930 6C 1750 GT “Faux Cabriolet”, which has never left the
museum since its restoration, a 1954 1900 Sport Spider and a 1954 Alfa
Romeo 2000 Sportiva, chosen as the symbol of the event.
Also attracting much spectator attention were several pre-war vehicles
including a 1922 Diatto Targa Florio, a 1925 Bugatti Type 35, a 1934 Alfa
Romeo 6C 2300 Pescara, a 1934 Aston Martin MkII (one of the two Ulster
Prototypes), a 1936 Bentley 4.25 L Supercharged, a 1933Lagonda M45, a
1937Jaguar SS100, a 1936 Auto Union Wanderer X25K, two splendid Alvis
Speed models and two Fiat 508 S Coppa d’Oro.
Sporting qualities, elegance and historic value characterized a list of cars
that included a 1948 FIAT 1100 Sport Stanguellini, a 1950 Alfa Romeo
2500 SS, a 1953 Maserati A6 GCS Pinin Farina, a 1953 Frazer Nash Targa
Florio, a 1954 Ferrari 250 Monza Barchetta Scaglietti, a 1956 Maserati 450
S and a 1961 Ferrari SWB 250 GT.
The Coppa Milano-Sanremo - 1° Alfa Romeo Trophy also focused on the
‘Gran Turismo of the 70’s’, such as the Bertone masterpiece, the1970
Lamborghini Miura P400 SV, the 1969 Maserati Ghibli Spider, the Porsche
911 Carrera RS 2700.
Many VIPs
Claudio Scajola (Ministry of Programme Actualization), Pietro Lunardi,
Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, actress Anna Valle, and RAI TG1
journalist, Francesca Grimaldi.
Various “museums in motion”
In addition to the Alfa Romeo Museum of Arese, the Volkswagen Museum
of Wolfsburg with a 1959 Rometsch Coupé, the Police Museum with a Alfa
Romeo 1900 and Porsche Italia, were represented by cars from their
collections.
Participants from all over the World
There was a high level of foreign participation with teams from 13 nations
including the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, the United
Kingdom, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Russia and Greece. Swiss teams
constituted 11.1%, Germans 7.6%, and English 6.6%. Thirty-five
automobile marques were represented.
Short history of the Coppa Milano-Sanremo
The Coppa Milano-Sanremo was first run in 1906 and organized by the
Automobile Club of Milano. In 1973 the shock of the oil market interrupted
the event. It was revived in 2003, thanks to the commitment of MAC Events
and Meet Comunicazione and the Automobile Club of Milano, that
supports and promotes it.
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The Ligurian Riviera has always been one of the most popular tourist
destinations for the Milanese. But, at the turn of the century this seashore,
relatively near to the Lombardy capital, was not easy to reach, as it
required crossing formidable mountain passes for cars of the time.
Precisely because of these hardships it was an ideal route for rally
regularity trials that symbolized competitive motoring, from the Thirties to
the beginning of the Seventies. The Coppa Milano-Sanremo was
organized by the Milan Automobile Club for the first time on 2 April 1906 as
a reliability trial and was won by Tamagni in a Marchand and Maffeis in a
De Dion, both also coming first in the kilometer record trials, tieing with
Vanetti in a Mercedes. The event was taken up again in 1929 and
continued, with only one interruption in 1936, until the war broke out. It
resumed in 1948, still organized by the Milan Automobile Club, as a
reliability trial without classification and with the addition of a hill-climb trial.
In the years up to 1973, the Coppa Milano-Sanremo kept to its traditional
routes with the addition of the Monza Autodromo Circuit, the Ospedaletti
Circuit, precision trials and hill-climbs. After thirty years of silence, the
engines were revved up again to bring back to life this famous event that
started as an adventurous “trip” made by the Milanese to the sunny coast
of the Riviera dei Fiori (coast of Flowers), after a long and grey winter on
the plains on the interior.
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