Day 4: From Forte dei Marmi to Modena
The departure from Forte dei Marmi got off to a slower start than usual. The previous, long day of driving and
the evening event that stretched on meant that the alarm clocks went off far too early for everyone this
morning. The service crews had worked late into the night to fix engines and body work, and most of the
cars were ready to get back on the road by the morning.
The drive up to the first special stage on a spectacular, winding road and pleasantly cool weather gave the
engines time to warm up and the espressos consumed by the drivers time to kick in. So everyone was
perfectly ready when the marshals started the countdown for the start of the uphill special stage.
San Rocco and Passo delle Radici were quite complex special stages: long, steep and narrow, offsetting
the advantage that the bigger and more powerful cars had enjoyed on the fast tracks at Mugello and Imola.
After the lunch break at Pavullo and the time stamp at Vignola, the crews entered Modena Race Track for
the Super Special Test on the circuit, their last chance to make an impression on the rankings. Modena
Circuit was celebrating its 10th anniversary on the actual day, and the Modena Cento Ore 2021 was an
integral part of the celebrations.
From there, the crews drove in convoy into the centre of Modena, for a time stamp in Piazza Roma opposite
the famous Military Academy and the passage on the stage in Piazza Grande, where Luigi Orlandini waved
the chequered flag in the shadow of the Ghirlandina tower.
After the chequered flag, the crews waited with poorly disguised indifference for the final rankings to be
announced to see who would step up onto the podium.
Epilogue
Canossa Events once again reaffirmed its environmentally-friendly approach as it continues to apply the
CarbonZero protocol at its events, and will fully offset the residual CO2 emissions produced by the Modena
Cento Ore 2021 by planting new trees in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The Modena Cento Ore remains
the only “zero emissions” event of its kind.
The success of the Modena Cento Ore was made possible by than 600 personnel involved, including the
organisers, staff, sports personnel, timekeepers, photographers, cameramen. Of equally great importance
were of course superb partners like Blackfin, who designed an exclusive model of eye-wear for the crews;
RM-Sotheby’s, the world-leading auction house for classic cars; Brose, Brandoli, and I Greppi.
As the event drew to a close, Luigi Orlandini, President and CEO of Canossa Events, had this to
say: “I’m so happy that we were able to run the event with not too many restrictions, just a little sad for all
the friends from the UK and other countries that could not join us, but we’ll be waiting for them next year.
The grids were full of exceptional cars. Behind the wheel or reading out the pacenotes, so many nice and
determined ladies and gentlemen who helped our team creating the unique atmosphere of challenge and
camaraderie that the Modena Cento Ore is all about.
Thank you to all the competitors and mechanics, all our collaborators, ACI Sport, the circuits of Misano,
Imola, Mugello and Modena, all the cities involved and in particular Rimini, Florence, Forte dei Marmi and
Modena.
I really hope that this has been the last edition in Covid times, and that next year we’ll be allowed to hug
and party again!”.
|