Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti 2014 – Report and Photos
Coppa d\'Oro delle Dolomiti 2014
The Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti 2014 was held 17-20 July at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Northern Italy. This year’s Coppa d’Oro saw a select field of more than fifty pre-1961 classic cars undertake the two-day, 300-kilometer route that tackled the famed Dolomite Mountains.
As in previous years, the 53rd Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti brought together man, machine and nature for an adventure over the 14 Dolomite passes and its 10% gradients. The first car left the start line in Cortina on Friday morning in sunny conditions and, with one-minute intervals separating them, the field began to make its way up through the Dolomite Mountains to Merano.
The 2014 running of the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti saw the Triumph TR2 team of Giordano Mozzi and Stefania Biacca bring home first place, followed by the Lancia Aprilia of Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani. Mozzi and Biacca, winner of this year’s Mille Miglia, admirably held the lead against the vintage car veteran team of Cané and Galliani, winners of ten Mille Miglias and seven Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomitis. Third place went to the Brescia entrepreneur Domenico Battagliola and his co-driver Giacomo Salvalaggio in a 1955 Austin-Healey 100 BN1.
Giordano Mozzi commented, “Winning the Mille Miglia and the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti in the same year is an immense joy. What these two regularity races have in common is undoubtedly the beauty of the landscape you drive through. Both competitions are very difficult technically. I will continue to race with my wife and co-driver.”
JD Classics sent a 1950 Jaguar XK120 to Italy for this year’s rally. Rubbing shoulders with cars such as a 1927 Bugatti T37, a 1934 Lagonda M45 and a 1956 Lancia Aurelia, driver Keith Roberts and co-driver Barney Yarnold were backed up by the on-event support of two of JD Classics’ in-house technicians.
The 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione of Rob Kauffman was a fan-favorite at Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti 2014. One of only two built, this numbers-matching Alfa was entered in four consecutive editions of the Mille Miglia, three Targa Florio races, a 2005 Pebble Beach Concours Class Award Winner and it was a fixture in the “Sleeping Beauties” Collection for 40 years.
Alessandro Casali, Chairman of the race committee, said, “The decision to bring the race forward from September to July, as in the early years, was a success: we had splendid weather, which helped the drivers on mountain roads that are far from easy and produced splendid views. The roadside participation was fabulous too, with crowds of fans photographing their favourite drivers.”
Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti 2014 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)