Turin, May 17, 2007 - Now 80 years since the first running of the "world's most famous race," the Mille Miglia revival this year celebrates its 25th edition with a record number of non-Italian entries, 221 out of the 375 teams participating in the event that runs from May 17th to the 19th.
The line-up is clearly the "world's most prestigious traveling museum." This year spectators will see the participation of cars of inestimable value that have written some of the most memorable pages in international motoring history.
With over 700 applicants this year, the task of screening them by applying strict criteria in terms of quality and frequency of participation proved extremely difficult.
One entrant, the "Automobilismo Storico Alfa Romeo” team of five cars, made available by the Alfa Romeo Vintage Car Museum, represents the complete history of the fabled race.
Participating with the oldest car is the Viaro – Bergamaschi team with an Alfa 6C 1500 Super Sport (1928), the same model that won the 1928 Mille Miglia with Campari – Ramponi and went on to win the 2005 revival 77 years later.
Also taking to the road in this fascinating Mille Miglia 2007 is the duo of Marx – Verga in the 8C 2300 Le Mans (1931), the sports version of the 8C 2300 that made its debut in 1931, winning the Eireann Cup in Dublin driven by Birkin, before winning the Le Mans 24-hour event for four consecutive years from 1931 to 1934.
Two other Alfa Romeos participating in this revival of the legendary "Freccia Rossa" will arouse a great deal of curiosity: an Alfa 1900 Sport Spider (1954), with the team Arcieri – Di Mare, and the famous 1900 C52 Disco Volante Spider (1952) driven by Grimaldi – Labate.
These two cars are unusual because neither of them actually went into production: the first car is one of the prototypes prepared for Sports category events, which were then shelved to make room for production cars like the 1900 SS and Giulietta Sprint. The same fate befell the 1900 C52 Disco Volante Spider, even though it must be said that many of the technical and stylistic innovations adopted on this car were applied in later Alfa Romeos.
Last member in the “Automobilismo Storico Alfa Romeo” line-up is the crew Izquerdo – Azpilicueta on board the 750 Competizione produced in 1955 to participate in 1500 cc Sports category events. It is powered by a souped-up Giulietta engine with the capacity increased to 1488 cc.
Alfa Romeo’s unequaled 11 overall wins between 1928 and 1947 set a record that still stands. In later years Alfa Romeo cars were victorious in various categories with models like the Giulietta Sprint Veloce, 1900 TI, 1900 Super Sprint or the Matta, which came first in the military vehicle category. The 6C 3000 CM in 1953, with Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel, came very close to chalking up the 12th victory for Alfa Romeo.
This year certain changes have been introduced to the formula. For instance, there will be as many as 40 time trials, although these will continue to use the routes covered in the twenty-four editions held between 1927 and 1957.
The race will cover 1,600 kilometres, winding through the center of some of Italy's most fascinating towns, ancient villages and uncontaminated nature reserves. As is traditional, the Mille Miglia revival will get underway from Brescia on Thursday, May 17 at 8 p.m.
After passing through Peschiera del Garda and the historic centre of Verona, the first car is expected to arrive in Ferrara at midnight. Next morning the first car will start out at 9 a.m. One and a half hours later the cars will pass through Ravenna, at midday they will climb up towards San Marino and then on to Urbino, where they will begin to arrive at 2.15 p.m. At 5 p.m. the cars will make their way through Assisi and later, at around 8 p.m., they will get their first glimpse of Rome where, after passing through the center, the second leg comes to an end.
Saturday will be a really tough day, driving all the way from Rome back up to Brescia. The first car is scheduled to leave Rome at 6.30 a.m. then after a section passing through many places of historic interest, at 10 a.m. the race will continue on through Radicofani, the countryside around Siena, and arrive at around 2.30 p.m. in the centre of Florence. One hour later, the cars will reach the summit of the legendary Futa Pass and the caravan will then make its way to Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Cremona and finally reach Brescia.
The Mille Miglia is part race, part adventure, but no race is ever the same as the one before. This is the secret of this event, and keeps fans coming back every year. These cars still evoke strong emotions today, even among the younger members of the crowd who swarm the piazzas all along the route.
For More information: www.millemiglia.it
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