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The Prettiest Race
Mille Miglia 2017

Described as “the most beautiful race in the world” by Enzo Ferrari, the Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in the Italian countryside this weekend past.

First run in 1927, the Mille Miglia is perhaps the most famous of all Grand Touring races, and spent its early years playing a large part in turning motorsport into what it is today, hosting great names like Tazio Nuvolari, Sterling Moss, Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio. After two fatal crashes in the 1957 running – one of which killed 11 people alone – the Mille Miglia was banned, having claimed 56 lives in 30 years. It wasn’t until 1977 that the race was revived, this time as the Mille Miglia Storica, a much safer time trial style race, spread out across multiple days and travelling through 200 northern and central Italian municipalities with the goal of finishing each leg in the correct time window – meaning speed is needed, but not too much speed or you’ll overshoot.

For 2017, the tradition continued with the race starting and finishing in Brescia as it always has, crossing over 200 municipalities of northern and central Italy, before and after the ‘turn of the buoy’ in Rome. With over 450 cars entered it’s tough to identify any standouts, however the machines generating the most buzz seem to have been pulled from manufacturer museums all over Europe; three from Alfa Romeo, six from BMW and an amazing ten from Mercedes Benz.  This year’s event was divided into four legs. The first leg, starting in Brescia in the early afternoon of Thursday 18 May, finished in Padua. On the next evening, the second leg took competitors to Rome for the usual city parade in accordance with tradition established in 1927. On Saturday, the route from the capital ran through Tuscany and finished in Parma, a city which over the last few years has given a warm welcome to the participants. On the last day, the competitors set off from Parma to return to Brescia just after lunch time, an aspect much-appreciated by the crowds that gather each and every year.

As we’ve seen in previous years, Ferrari also held its Mille Miglia Tribute rally, which follows the exact same route and race format as the classic event, but allows for modern vehicles post 1957… Providing it’s a Ferrari of course. Though there’s always plenty of beautiful 1927-57 machinery on display in the main event, seeing a huge train of Dinos, 512BBs, F40s, F50s, La Ferraris and everything in between ripping through the stunning Italian countryside certainly makes for a nice refresher.

2018 Mille Miglia dates have yet to be set, but expect the race to kick off around this time next year.