- Title: ITALY: MILLE MIGLIA RALLY IS 70 YEARS OLD.
- Date: 2nd May 1997
- Summary: COUNTRYSIDE NEAR TOWN OF GUBBIO, ITALY (MAY 2, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF COMPETITORS DRIVING MERCEDES, ALFA ROMEOS, BENTLEYS AND ASTON MARTINS ON ROAD TO GUBBIO FROM TOWN OF FERRARA 2. VARIOUS TRACKING SHOTS OF RACE IN PROGRESS/CARS PASSING THROUGH TUNNELS IN MOUNTAINOUS REGION GUBBIO, ITALY (MAY 2, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 3.
- Embargoed: 17th May 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GUBBIO AND SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE, ITALY
- City:
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVA79SEB6FXMGI5ALNBVF2WKJN4Z
- Story Text: The Mille Miglia rally, the world's most romantic and prestigious sports car race, celebrates its 70th birthday this weekend.
Some 350 competitors started out on the legendary 1,000 mile (1,600 km) dash up and down Italy from the northern city of Brescia on Thursday (May 1).
On Friday (May 2), some of the fastest cars were pulling in to the medieval town of Gubbio for a pit stop. Their drivers tinkered with motors, chatted with the locals and then departed for Rome, the next destination 130 miles (200 km) away.
The cars that take part in the Mille Miglia, which means "thousand mile", are from a very exclusive club. They have to be of a type which competed in the original race, which ran from 1927-57, and have to be manufactured in that era.
The original race was founded in 1927 as a test of endurance.
But the event ended in 1957 when Spanish aristocrat Count de Partago crashed during the race, killing himself, his co-pilot and nine spectators.
It was said the cars had become too fast to race on public roads. Ten years ago, the annual event was revived and now competitors re-live the days when racing legends like Enzo Ferrari and Manuel Fangio were as much a part of the Mille Miglia as the cars themselves.
Among the greats in this year's classic are six-cylinder Bentleys, Mercedes and Alfa Romeos.
Cars and drivers from 21 countries are competing in the 1997 race, including Argentine competitor Luis Alberto Gold, who had his 1927 Bentley shipped from Buenos Aires to take part in what he said was the best of the classic car races.
However, with just one quarter of the race completed, Gold and his Bentley were stuck in Gubbio because of mechanical failure.
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