Brescia-Rom-Brescia, 14th - 17th of May, 2015
Almost sixty years ago the historic Mille Miglia, the toughest and
most spectacular road race of it era saw its final edition in 1957
when the fast sportscars of the World Sportscar Championship
set new record times at about 100 mph average proving the public
roads unsuitable to keep up with the development of the cars.
Several accidents did not just end the era of road racing but also
limited the capacity of the sportscars for the years to follow.
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20 years later in 1977 enthusiasts came together for the first
revival and over the following years the Mille Miglia Storico for
classic cars established itself as the most glamorous and
spectacular driving event in the world being on the to-do list of
every owner of a suitable car from the original years 1927-1957.
Not actually a race anymore but a regularity event the modern
interpretation still has a lot in common with the race, be it the
start and turning point in Brescia and Rome, the drive through the
spectacular landscape of Italy and the enthusiasm of the Italians
of “la bella macchina”.
After a long time organisation of Costantino Franchi in the
heydays of the Mille Miglia the organizer changed twice since
introducing a few changes over the last 10 years. Most notable
change in the first edition of the MAC Group was the move of the
scrutineering to the Fiera di Brescia (the exhibition centre) near
the motorway with enough space for the trailers and support cars
on Wednesday rather than the chaotic activities in the Brescia
city centre on Thursday. So already on Tuesday evening the first
cars arrived in Brescia to be lined up in the main exhibition hall
whereas the owners could get into the mood at the pre-MM party
at the Museo Mille Miglia.
Wednesday the cars were inspected both technically but also for
authenticity and originality to get the highly sought after race
numbers. Despite a high entrance fee of 7000 Euros plus VAR
every year the organizers have the agony of choice from several
hundred applications to give the go to the crews and an ever
increasing number of cars running the actual events show the
ongoing hype of the Mille Miglia. Together with the Ferrari and
Mercedes-Benz tribute upfront, the hundreds of supporting and
media cars, guests and the actual 450 entrants at least 1500
cars are chasing through Italy the days to follow making this a
mammoth task to organize. As the scrutineering itself is now out
of the public focus the cars are brought to the city centre (the
Piazza Vittoria to be more precise) the following day to be
presented to the crowd and with Ascension Day on Thursday 14th
even more visitors from Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland
travelled to the Lago di Garda to enjoy cars and lifestyle of the
early summer.
Certainly the classic car community changed a lot over the last
30 years and the Mille Miglia had to adopt to the new ownership
of the cars it attracts. In 1977 the cars were purely owned by
enthusiasts and drivers so the tough schedule with the 1000
miles at just over two days was never in question as the long and
exhausting driving days were part of the fun and an reminiscence
to the original times when Stirling Moss did the entire trip in just
over ten hours. Today many of the entrants of the first editions are
long gone and gentlemen drivers, guests of the supporting
companies and more investment type of owners fulfil their dream
of the driving the Mille Miglia and therefore the event was
prolonged to cut down the daily driving time. Already in recent
year the Mille Miglia added the Sunday arriving to Brescia in the
afternoon rather than on Saturday evening to cut the longest leg
all the way up from Rome into two part but this year for the first
time the event also started earlier on Thursday after lunch rather
than in the evening to shorten the Friday as well. Traditionally the
Mille Miglia had its first stop in Ferrara for many years but as the
last years went further south many people complained last year
about arriving at 2am at the first overnight stop so now the first
day is started earlier to get to the first stop in time.
Although the cars could also be sealed on Wednesday afternoon
most of the drivers have chosen to come into Brescia on
Thursday as before and the village just open in the morning kept
the guys from the sealing very busy with 450 cars. The cars then
parked as usually at the surrounding Piazzas to be admired by
the public before going to the Museo Mille Miglia for the lunch
before the start.
Most notable was the display of Mercedes-Benz celebrating the
60th anniversary of Sir Stirling Moss record run at the Mille Miglia
1955 in the most successful year of motorsport of the company
with the three-pointed star winning not only the F1 championship
but also the Wold Sportscar Championship with the legendary
300 SLR. No less than three of the straight-eight SLR from the
factory museum were lined up in the streets of Brescia wearing
the Mille Miglia race numbers of Moss, Fangio and Herrmann
(although just one of them actually drove the original MM) and the
two remaining works drivers Moss and Herrmann even opened
this year’s race from the ramp joined by Susie Wolff in the third
car. At about 3pm the first cars, traditionally from the first winning
marque OM were sent off for the 1000 miles in the next three
days. Due to the sheer amount of cars there was not much time
apart from a few empty phrases to introduce the cars and their
drivers but most of the cars did not need an introduction anyway
being regular entrants of the race.
Certainly the times of high value did also change the face of the
entry list over the last years but compared to other driving events
this is still an impressive list and one only remarks the difference
when directly comparing to the past. Critics certainly see the
amount of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing exceeding the total of
20 Ferrari but this is not only because of the German sponsorship
as some might suppose but mainly due to the fact that the
eligible Ferrari are well in the million euros today and are seen
rarer on every driving event. And furthermore one has to remember
that the original Mille Miglia might have been dominated by the
marque with the prancing horse but even back in the glory days
just a fraction of the cars were of this calibre. The MM was and
will always be known for the many superb small Etceterini like the
Giaur, Stanguellini or Ermini mainly based on Fiat drivetrains and
small barchetta style bodies and lovers of this style of cars still
get a lot to admire although one does wonder from time to time
how much fun a full team of two could have in a car with less than
a litre capacity and barely room for two people on a long distance
race.
After about 2 ½ hours of cars leaving in short intervals the final
cars entered the stage and within the last numbers was one of
this year’s stars, the Ferrari 250 TR. Although the 250 TR was
introduced after the Mille Miglia for the 1958 season with the
restriction of 3 litre capacity in the early years a few of them were
running the MM Storico due to their presentation in 1957 and
therefore accepted for the race. As the last organization was a bit
stricter with the eligibility of the car entered in the original race it
took until this year for a 250 TR to show up again. The famous
Testa Rossa is not just one of the most exciting and most
valuable of all the Ferrari today and therefore a star on every event
anyway but the Ferraristi from all over Europe were particularly
interested in seeing this example known as “Lucybelle II” as the
car is rarely seen outside its Swiss garage. Chassis 0732TR was
entered in the American racing colours in the 1958 24h of Le
Mans were it finished 7th overall and although its further race
history is not spectacular it is known by its original livery. To
make things short, the car was perfectly prepared and unlike
many other Ferrari this year it made all the 1000 miles in its first
attempt.
Some might read the last paragraphs and will insist that we are
talking about a race rather than a regularity event but a race is
what most of the entrants see and what soon becomes the
impression when following the convoy on its way through Italy.
After passing the first small villages on Thursday afternoon at the
Lago di Garda on the way to Rimini one soon becomes aware
that the normal traffic signs and regulation seems to vanish for the
classic cars when groups of cars escorted by the police are
blasting through small villages at sometimes over 100 km/h,
ignoring red lights and opening lanes that did not exist before The
more traffic the rush hour on the way south gets the more chaotic
becomes the drive on the road and one is surprised that not much
more crashes occur these days most likely because the Italian
enthusiasm about all thing cars as the local traffic seems to
accept this madness and the visitors rather encourage them to
dive faster.
After the first afternoon the cars arrived in Rimini for the first
nights and being more south than ever after the first day the
highlight of the morning with the passage through the historic city
centre of San Marino was earlier than ever on the second day.
But the first night stop was not the only change along the route
as the annual route changes very much depending on the villages
spending money having the MM. For many years the route led
through Assisi and Spoleto with the crossing of the Monte
Terminillo but this year the passage from the coast to Rome was
far more south from Teramo to Rieti whereas the last part to
Rome was more familiar with the drive through the Vatican City
State and the arrival in the eternal city. Thanks to the shorter leg
the last cars arrived earlier leaving a few hours of rest for the most
spectacular part of the Mille Miglia, the third leg though Tuscany
on the way from Rome to Siena.
After a very early start at 6 am the cars drove the morning
towards one of people’s favourites, the climb up to Radicofani.
Normally this is the most beautiful part of the day as it separates
the convoy from the normal traffic when the roads are closed
purely for the classic cars for one of their special stages. Last
year the passing of the small church was blocked due to work on
the gas pipes but this year the entire main road at the bottom of
the hill was closed for construction so all the traffic including the
lorries had to take the climb over the hill. One could imagine the
chaos down from Radicofani when the racing classics met the
commercial traffic on the twisty roads producing a huge mess
when some impatient drivers again opened lanes where was no
room for them. But finally all the cars made it to their special
stage before Buonconvento.
After passing Siena the road changed dramatically from the
previous years. Again the next destination was Pisa that was
already on the schedule last year but for the first time in the last
20 years the MM did not pass the Passo Futa and Radicosa, very
much to the dislike of many of the entrants and certainly even
more to the dislike of the spectators. One could have very
different opinions about the chase over the Passo together with
hundreds “supporting cars” and motorcycles but it was always a
highlight when thousands of people were sitting in the serpentines
cheering at the cars and the drivers seemed to enjoy that despite
the stress driving in between all the self-explorer with their fake
race numbers. Spectators were arriving in their caravans days
before securing the best spot and most likely some of them were
still there by tradition just to realize on Saturday that the MM will
not pass this year. Instead the convoy passed through the Passo
Abertone that might have been a pleasure to drive but leaving not
much room to visit in between the guardrails and in the forest.
Sunday morning was the final stage of this years Mille Miglia and
although the MM was dry this years this was the first day with a
proper sunrise and sun on the first miles. Leading from Parma
though Monza, Bergamo and Brescia this was not the most
exciting leg in an area almost flat and populous. Just the last
miles before Brescia the roads led through small villages on
narrow roads.
This is also one of the downsides of the Mille Miglia when
comparing with smaller event. Due to the amount of cars and the
total mileage the organization cannot always choose the most
idyllic small roads as the race still has to keep up the average to
arrive in time on days with 600 km to drive. Smaller events in
Bassano or the Coppa d´Oro delle Dollomiti for example are freer
in choosing the best route whereas the MM is also depending on
the communes and paying cities willing to host the spectacle.
But the Mille Miglia is not just a blast but also a very competitive
regularity event. Every year particular the Italian and Argentinian
crews challenge for the tenths of a second for the trial over the
pressure tubes and this year it was the team Tonconogy /
Berisso in their Bugatti T40 taking the crown on the Viale Venezia
in front of a Fiat 514MM of Veso / Guerini and another Bugatti T40
of Salviato / Moglia.
So what is the conclusion of this year’s Mille Miglia? It was again
a blast for all those interested in cars of this period and for some
entrants it was the once-in-a-lifetime experience, for others
another enjoyable edition. One has to know what to expect when
entering a car in the 4 days event. If one wants to experience Italy
on a relaxed cruise through the countryside with extensive coffee
and lunch stops one might want to do this on one of the other 51
weekends of the year but if one wants to be driven by adrenalin
and carried by the enthusiasm of the locals one is exactly at the
right spot. This also puts the entry fee into another perspective as
one might have to pay as much as penalty in addition of losing its
driving licence driving like this on any other event or any other day
of the year. One is also rewarded with crossing of historical town
centres like Siena that are unique to the Mille Miglia. Maybe the
MM might have lost the purity of the first Storico editions and
became an “event” in many aspects but this is just a natural
evolution and it does not look like it will lose its fascination in near
future.
Report & Images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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