1953 Mille Miglia


The 1953 Mille Miglia, was the second round of the 1953 F.I.A. World Sportscar Championship and was held on the open-road of Italy, on 26 April 1953. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish, in Brescia.
A total of 577 cars were entered 1953 running of the Mille Miglia, across eight classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0 litre, for both Touring Cars and Sport Cars. Of these, 490 cars started the event. Although this not strictly a race against each other, this is race against the clock, as the cars are released at one-minute intervals with the larger professional class cars going before the slower cars, in the Mille Miglia, however the smaller displacement, slower cars started first. Each car number related to their allocated start time. For example Juan-Manuel Fangio’s car had the number 602, he left Brescia at 6:02am, while the first cars had started late in the evening on the previous day.

Report

Entry

The works S. P. A. Alfa Romeo entered in force with three new cars, the Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 Competizione Maggiorata to be driven by Fangio, Karl Kling, and Consalvo Sanesi. Scuderia Lancia had assembled a veteran team, consisting of Piero Taruffi, four-time winner Clemente Biondetti, Umberto Maglioli, Felice Bonetto and Franco Bornigia with the first four driving their D20 2900. Ferrari for their part arrived with four 300 bhp 4.1 litre, Ferrari 340 MM spider Vignale for Luigi Villoresi, Giuseppe Farina, Giannino Marzotto and the American racer Tom Cole. For 1953, the Mille Miglia was a round of the new World Sports Car Championship, the home teams faced strong challengers. From Great Britain, came Aston Martin and Jaguar, and France sent Gordini.

Race

The race started at 22:01 on 25 April, when P.J. Darquier departed Brescia in his Renault 4CV/1063. The faster car would leave the following morning, when conditions were warm and dry. After nine and half hours, all the cars were on their way to Rome.
The Alfas took the early lead, with Sanesi controlling the pace, averaging 113 mph, on the leg to Verona, but his drive ended with an accident on the road to Rome. The Ferrari of Farina had crashed out, and Kling assumed the lead, only to retire from an accident himself.
, pictured in the Enzo Ferrari Museum
Just past Siena, Marzotto remembered that the Ferrari mechanics did not change his engine oil at the last control point, as they were unable to open the bonnet. After making a U-turn, he raced back to Siena, where his mechanics cut a hole in the bonnet, directly over the engines oil filler cap, and topped the oil up accordingly. Meanwhile, Fangio’s Alfa was now leading, but surrender to the chasing Marzotto when his steering started to play up along with fading brakes. Although Marzotto suffered two minor crashes, he took it all the way to Brescia, to win his second Mille Miglia, repeating his success of 1950. In second place with a remarkable drive was Fangio. For most of the return leg, his Alfa had effective steering on one front wheel.
Marzotto, partner by his navigator, Marco Crosara, won in a time of 10hr 37:19mins., averaging a speed of 88.96 mph. 11:44mins adrift in second place was Alfa-Romeo 6C 3000CM of Fangio. The third different car on the podium was the Lancia of Bonetto. Another Ferrari came home in fourth, driven by Cole. The top Aston Martin was fifth in the hands of Reg Parnell. Apart from Aston Martin’s fifth place, the other foreign challenges faded away. Belgian journalist, Paul Frère won the unlimited touring class in an unlikely 5.3-litre Chrysler Saratoga saloon.
The race had dramatic farce. Film director, Roberto Rossellini drove a Ferrari. Having recently married film star Ingrid Bergman, he raced against her wishes. At Rome, she flung herself across the car and refused to move until he agreed to withdraw.
The event was marred by the fatal accident, which cost the French navigator, Pierre-Gilbert Ugnon his life when Luc Descollanges crashed his Jaguar C-Type.

Classification

Mille Miglia

Of the 490 starters, 283 were classified as finishers. Therefore, only a selection of notably racers has been listed below.
Class Winners are in Bold text.
Pos.No.ClassDriverNavigatorEntrantCar - EngineTimeReason Out
1st547S+2.0 Giannino Marzotto Marco CrosaraFerrari 340 MM Vignale10hr 37:19
2nd602S+2.0 Juan Manuel Fangio Giulio SalaS. P. A. Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM10hr 49:03
3rd606S+2.0 Felice Bonetto U PeruzziScuderia LanciaLancia D20 Pininfarina11hr 07:40
4th608S+2.0 Tom Cole Mario VandelliFerrari 340 MM Vignale11hr 20:39
5th611S+2.0 Reg Parnell Louis KlemantaskiAston Martin LagondaAston Martin DB311hr 32:43
6th525S2.0 Emilio Giletti Guerino BertocchiMaserati A6GCS/53 Fantuzzi 11hr 38:42
7th546S+2.0 Enrico Anselmi Luigi MaggioScuderia LanciaLancia Aurelia B2011hr 41:07
8th616S+2.0 Clemente Biondetti E. BaroveroScuderia LanciaLancia D20 Pininfarina11hr 49:49
9th633S+2.0 Giulio Cabianca Gianfranco RoghiFerrari 250 MM Vignale11hr 51:39
10th512S2.0 Sergio Mantovani R PalazziMaserati A6GCS/53 Fantuzzi11hr 51:56
11th541S+2.0 Roberto Piodi B. MilitelloLancia Aurelia B2012hr 01:39
12th340S1.1 Bruno Venezian Achille AlbarelliO.S.C.A. MT4 110012hr 04:50
13th518S2.0 Salvatore Casella Vinicio PucciniFranco BordoniGordini T15S12hr 05:39
14th504S2.0 Franco Cortese P. FeroldiFiat 8V12hr 09:19
15th446S2.0 Enrico Sterzi O. RossiFerrari 166MM Vignale12hr 15:49
16th551S+2.0 Peter Collins Mike KeenAston Martin LagondaAston Martin DB312hr 22:20
17th337S1.1 Gaetano Sani Adone BianchiO.S.C.A. MT4 110012hr 26:35
18th506S2.0 Franco Mosters G. VitaliFiat 8V12hr 29:18
19th526S2.0 Salvatore Leto di Prioli Massimo Leto di PrioliFiat 8V Zagato12hr 30:36
20th444S2.0 Ovidio Capelli Orlando GerliFiat 8V12hr 30:49
21st550S+2.0 Umberto Marzotto Gino BronzoniScuderia LanciaLancia Aurelia B2012hr 32:16
22nd255T2.0 Luciano Pagliai Vasco ParducciAlfa Romeo 1900TI 12hr 34:05
23rd457S2.0 Sante Montanari A. BombardiniFiat 8V12hr 34:20
24th447S2.0 Luigi Piotti Bruno FranzoniFerrari 166MM Vignale12hr 36:21
25th230T2.0 Antonio Stagnoli Mario de GiuseppeAlfa Romeo 1900TI12hr 37:33
26th358S1.1 Giuseppe Coriasco L. GamerroO.S.C.A. MT4 110012hr 37:53
27th249T2.0 Ugo Bormioli O. MarchioriAlfa Romeo 1900TI12hr 40:46
28th252T2.0 Mario Pareschi Paolo MilaneseAlfa Romeo 1900TI12hr 46:49
29th237T2.0 Elio Zagato Franco MartinegoAlfa Romeo 190012hr 47:16
30th438S2.0 Hans Herrmann Erwin BauerPorsche KGPorsche 356 1500 Super12hr 47:37
31st222T2.0 Alberto Della Beffa Olga Della BeffaAlfa Romeo 1900TI12hr 50:49
41st428S2.0 Heinz Schulthess Peter KaiserPorsche 356 1500 Super13hr 09:25
58th407T+2.0 Paul Frère André Milhoux Chrysler Saratoga 13hr 38:03
78th2349T1.3 Guido Mancini Carlo Mancini Fiat 1100/10314hr 05:16
84th2221S750 R. Touzot A. PersillonDB HBR Panhard14hr 15:36
100th425S2.0 J. Brons Melvin H. StickneyPorsche 35614hr 35:54
141st005T1.3 Roberto Lippi P. UngarelliFiat 110015hr 04:35
151st2229S750 Jean Rédélé Louis PonsRenault 4CV/106315hr 14:51
170th82T750 Adriano Angelelli Mario RecchiRenault 4CV 15hr 46:12
250th2201S750 P. J. Darquier “Bargary”Renault 4CV/106318hr 04:29
DNF603S+2.0 Karl Kling Hans KlenkS. P. A. Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM5hr 38:38Accident
DNF609S+2.0 Giovanni Bracco Alfonso RolfoFerrari SpaFerrari 250 MM Pinin Farina5hr 50:20Differential
DNF619S+2.0 Umberto Maglioli “Carnio”Scuderia LanciaLancia D20 Pininfarina5hr 58:30DNF
DNF511S2.0 Luigi Musso O. DonatelliOfficine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati A6GCS/53 Fantuzzi6hr 08:45Accident
DNF617S+2.0 Gerino Gerini Luciano DonazzoloFerrari 212 Export6hr 15:23DNF
DNF612S+2.0 George Abecassis Pat GriffithAston Martin LagondaAston Martin DB36hr 18:28Steering, Accident
DNF322T2.0 Piero Palmieri Giorgio PiantaAlfa Romeo 1900 TI6hr 27:50DNF
DNF544S+2.0 Roberto Rossellini Aldo TontiRoberto RosselliniFerrari 250 MM Vignale7hr 28:26Differential
DNF532S2.0 Goffredo Zehender A. de GiuseppeAlfa Romeo 1900 C527hr 53:25DNF
DNF552S+2.0 John Lockett Mike ReadAustin-Healey 1008hr 19:54DNF
DNF2241S750 Rinaldo Pravettoni Dioscoride LanzaMoretti 7509hr 21:54DNF
DNF2249S750 Ilario Bandini Giovanni SintoniBandini-CrosleyDNF
DNF2334T1.3 Alfonso Thiele Aldo StorziniFiat 1100/103DNF
DNF101T1.3 Nello Pagani “Albis”Fiat 1100DNF
DNF141T2.0 Lamberto Dalla Costa “Velardi”Fiat 1400DNF
DNF220T2.0 Piero Carini A. Artesiani Alfa Romeo 1900TIDNF
DNF318T2.0 Bruno Ruffo E. Mantegazza Alfa Romeo 1900TIDNF
DNF320T2.0 Onofre Marimón Gianfranco Maroni Alfa Romeo 1900TIDNF
DNF527S2.0 Michelangelo Leonardi Roberto ValloneFerrari 166MM/53DNF
DNF540S+2.0 John Fitch Raymond WilldayNash MotorsNash-HealeyBrakes
DNF542S+2.0 Stirling Moss Mortimer Morris-GoodallJaguars Cars Ltd.Jaguar C-TypeRear Axle
DNF555S+2.0 Leslie Johnson W. A. McKenzieL. H. JohnsonJaguar C-TypeSplit fuel tank
DNF556S+2.0 Jacques Swaters Charles de TornacoEcurie FrancorchampsFerrari 255S VignaleDNF
DNF559S+2.0 Gino Valenzano “Margutti”Lancia Aurelia B20Ignition
DNF601S+2.0 Luc Descollanges Pierre-Gilbert UgnonJaguar C-TypeFatal accident
DNF607S+2.0 Franco Bordoni Cetti SerbelloniFranco BordoniGordini T15SEngine
DNF613S+2.0 Luigi Villoresi Piero CassaniFerrari SpaFerrari 340 MM TouringDifferential
DNF615S+2.0 Giuseppe Farina Luigi ParentiFerrari SpaFerrari 340 MM TouringAccident
DNF618S+2.0 Tommy Wisdom Dave HalliwellAston Martin LagondaAston Martin DB2Rear Axle
DNF624S+2.0 Olivier Gendebien Charles FraikinJaguar XK120DNF
DNF625S+2.0 Mike Hawthorn Azelio CappiFerrari SpaFerrari 250 MM VignaleBrakes
DNF631S+2.0 Consalvo Sanesi Giuseppe CagnaS. P. A. Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 6C 3000 Competizione MaggiorataAccident
DNF635S+2.0 Piero Taruffi “Gobbetti”Scuderia LanciaLancia D20 PininfarinaEngine
DNF636S+2.0 Piero Scotti Giulio ContiniPiero ScottiFerrari 250 MM VignaleDNF
DNF637S+2.0 Eugenio Castellotti Ivo RegosaFerrari 340 Mexico VignaleClutch
DNF638S+2.0 Tony Rolt Len HaydenBill Cannell / Jaguar Cars Ltd.Jaguar C-TypeEngine

Class Winners

ClassWinners
Sport oltre 2000547Ferrari 340 MM VignaleMarzotto / Crosara
Sports 2000525Maserati A6GCS/53 FantuzziGiletti /Bertocchi
Sports 1100340Osca MT4 1100Venezian / Albarelli
Sports 7502221DB HBR PanhardTouzot / Persillon
Turismo internazionale +2000407Chrysler SaratogaFrère / Milhoux
Turismo internazionale 2000255Alfa Romeo 1900 TIPagliai / Parducci
Turismo internazionale 13002349Fiat 1100/103Mancini / Mancini
Turismo internazionale 75082Renault 4CVAngelelli / Recchi

Standings after the race

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.