Bassano 16th - 19th of June 2011
The Dolomites are the location for several classic car rallies
during the season but the most important ones should be the
Coppa d´Oro delle Dolomiti in September and the Mitiche Sport a
Bassano in June. Since 1995 the ASSI Club (Auto sportive
storiche italiane) organizes this fantastic event for open sport cars
built prior 1960 and what started with a small selection of 36 cars
back then became a well known event among the owners of these
“barchettas”.
The scrutineering starts on Thursday afternoon in the small village
Romano d´Ezzelino near the name giving Bassano del Grappa
and when arriving on Friday morning at the small yard behind
historic buildings several cars are already parked there over the
night, the others come in during the morning hours. 105 cars
where entered this year varying from small Erminis, Morettis,
OSCAs to very sportive Ferraris and Maseratis on the Italian side
and ACs, Lotus and Healeys on the British side. As many of
these cars were seen in the past at the Mille Miglia it is obvious
that some owners go for these more familiar events as the MM
became to commercial.
On the pre-war side a few Alfa Romeo 6Cs showed up, Amilcars,
MG and Aston Martin and traditionally this event is visited by the
Benjafield Racing Club so some huge Bentleys could be seen
between all the tiny two-seaters. What they all have in common is
the lack of a hard top as mentioned above and so it was no
surprise that some entered cars where missing due to the not
very positive weather forecast for the following days.
Just after the lunch buffet and the typical Italian espresso under
the trees the entrants were waived off by Maria Teresa de Fillippis
for the first leg of 150 km north to Alleghe. As Bassano del
Grappa is in the south of the Dolomites in the region of Venezia
the first leg is very much a liaison to the playground of the next
day: the mountain passes. The route leads through the vineyards
of the region constantly going up as about 900 meters of altitude
have to be done from the level of the start to the finish. When
entering the Dolomites the scenery became more steep, an
impression that was also enhanced as the rain set in. The last
miles over the Passo Staulanza gave a good idea what to expect
the next day. With most of the cars having no weather protection
at all the general outfit was a rain suit and helmet, the Bentley
Boys lived up to their reputation keeping the hood down even in
heaviest rain. The cars arrived in the early evening at Alleghe
where the last time trial had to be done before the cars were
parked in the nearby underground parking lot of the hotel.
The next morning started in the dry but a view on the surrounding
mountains in the clouds already showed that this should not last
for long. The first section was a very narrow canyon that usually is
just visited by hiker but that is a superb location for the classic
cars as nothing modern distracts the sight. After a timed trial at
Alba the tour led over the Passes of Sella and Gardena to the
Passo Falzarego with its harsh rocks on the side of the road.
On time for the lunch at San Vigilio di Marebbe the rain set in and
with no prospect of improvement it was a challenge to leave the
warm restaurant to do another 100 miles in the pouring rain in an
open sports car. When arriving at the lake Misurina the other side
of the lake was barely visible due to the deep clouds and at the
following Passo Tre Croci the surrounding mountains were not
either. After passing Cortina d´Ampezzo the cars drove through
the famous tunnel that is on many historic pictures of the original
Coppa d´Oro delle Dolomiti, on the following Passo Giau it
clouded up even more and the visibility was reduced to several
meters. The cars passed again the lake of Alleghe with another
timed trial before heading south again for the final miles for the
finish in San Martino di Castrozza. On their way down they had to
go over the Passo Rolle in heaviest rain and when asked in the
hotel on of the participants commented this as “Passo Rolle was
inferno”.
Weather can change very fast in the mountains and so at the
next morning the sun was out again and a blue sky without any
clouds made the impressions of the last day even more unreal.
The third stage again is more a way back to Bassano with not
many highlights beside the road and after the coffee break the
cars were displayed at the Piazza in front of the church San
Giovanni Battista at Bassano del Grappa after passing the old
town through a wooden bridge. Being an inherent part of the event
year by year this display is admired by many visitors making it
once more obvious that Italy is car fanatic but the rest of the event
is much more private than others. Compared to the MM just few
people are beside the road and not many cars are driving with the
convoy except a few cars of the organization and service. So this
is a event to join if you are more into driving your car than showing
off. The final is the lunch and the prize giving at the restaurant in
the Castello Superiore where the cars are parked within the old
walls overseeing the region.
As this is a regularity event with the old fashioned pressure tubes
there surely has to be a winner, this year the Team Riboldi/Riboldi
did a better job than anyone else on their Moretti 508S taking first
overall. But at the end all the participants who braved the rain on
Saturday could be satisfied with the event and most of them will
be back the next year to meet up in a hopefully better weather.
Text&images: Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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