The Mille Miglia 2015 will be held 14-17 May on the secondary roads of Italy, running from Brescia to Rome and then back again. The 33rd retrospective edition will see a great field of 430 historical automobiles celebrate the legendary Mille Miglia endurance road race.
Marco Makaus, Managing Director of 1000 Miglia Srl, commented, “This year’s edition will be another step on a long journey that continues to hold fascination, and to which some modifications are made every year, always with the utmost respect for tradition. In 2015, after the positive experience of the previous year, Mille Miglia will continue to be held in four stages over four days.”
At the 2014 edition, the course underwent changes in order to allow the Mille Miglia to pass through places where it had been absent for years. This year’s start – moved up to 2:30 PM on Thursday, 14 May – will take place as always from Viale Venezia delle Mille Miglia: the first stage will end in Rimini. The next day, stage two, in accordance with tradition, will bring the competitors to Rome.
The programme on day two, Friday, 15 May, does not hold much new in store: after San Marino, the participants will continue towards Senigallia, where they will have lunch on the coastal road, Pesaro and Ancona; they will then continue south, along the coastline, to Loreto, Recanati and Macerata and on to Ascoli and Teramo.
From here, the long caravan of cars will turn inland towards Rieti. The arrival in the capital will be moved up from last year, with the first car reaching Rome, at Castel Sant’Angelo at 8:30 PM.
On Saturday 16 May, the course will remain virtually unchanged from Rome to Tuscany, with the usual transits through Ronciglione, Viterbo, Radicofani, and Siena. The rest stop will take place for the first time in Cascina; after Pisa and Lucca, the competing cars will cross the Abetone Pass, returning to flat ground all the way to Reggio Emilia.
Stage three will end in Parma, with the final control in front of its renowned Teatro Regio at 9:00 PM. On Sunday morning, from the ducal city, the competitors will return to Brescia.
Stage four, on Sunday, 17 May, offers two entirely new elements for the Red Arrow course: Mille Miglia will be paying tribute with a passage control at Villa Reale in Monza, the seat of Expo Milano 2015.
Moreover, to the great joy of the drivers of the cars in competition and the spectators on hand, the Red Arrow will be entering the Autodromo di Monza, thanks to an agreement between the owners of these two car racing icons: Automobile Club d’Italia of Brescia, and of Milano.
In the Brianza circuit, including the recently restored “high-speed” section, competitors will be contending in some time trials: the winner will be awarded an Automobile Club di Milano trophy named for the great Alberto Ascari who lost his life in Monza in May 1955, exactly sixty years ago.
Then, passing through Bergamo and Franciacorta, the remaining cars in the race will return to Brescia, some 1,760 kilometres (1093 miles) later.
Of the 430 entrants at the Mille Miglia 2015, a total of 67 took part in at least one original Mille Miglia racing edition, from 1927 to 1957. The cars taking the field at the Viale Venezia start include 61 different marques, with the lion’s share goes to Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo with 38 cars, followed by Jaguar with 36, Fiat with 34, Lancia with 30 and Porsche with 22 entries.
For additional information, visit Mille Miglia.
[Source: Mille Miglia; photos: Julien Mahiels]
