Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race's last decades was limited to the of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.
After 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since been run as a rallying event, and is part of the Italian Rally Championship.
History
The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, who had started the Coppa Florio race in Brescia, Lombardy in 1900. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and Leonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated, Rapiditas, which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed.One of the toughest competitions in Europe, the first Targa Florio covered 3 laps equalling through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred. Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour.
By the mid-1920s, the Targa Florio had become one of Europe's most important races, as neither the 24 Hours of Le Mans nor the Mille Miglia had been established yet. Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like today's F1.
The wins of Mercedes in the 1920s made a big impression in Germany, especially that of German Christian Werner in 1924, as he was the first non-Italian winner since 1920. Rudolf Caracciola repeated a similar upset win at the Mille Miglia a couple of years later. In 1926, Eliska Junkova, one of the great female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history, became the first woman to ever compete in the race.
In 1953, the FIA World Sportscar Championship was introduced. The Targa became part of it in 1955, when Mercedes had to win 1-2 with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR in order to beat Ferrari for the title. They had missed the first two of the 6 events, Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring, where Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati and Porsche scored. Mercedes appeared at and won in the Mille Miglia, then pulled out of Le Mans as a sign of respect for the victims of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, but won the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod. Stirling Moss/Peter Collins and Juan Manuel Fangio/Karl Kling finished minutes ahead of the best Ferrari and secured the title.
Course variants
Several versions of the track were used. It started with a single lap of a circuit from 1906-1911 and 1931. From 1912 to 1914 a tour around the perimeter of Sicily was used, with a single lap of, lengthened to from 1948 to 1950. The 146 km "Grande" circuit was then shortened twice, the first time to, the version used from 1919-1930, and then to the circuit used from 1932 to 1936 and 1951 to 1977. From 1951-1958, the long coastal island tour variant was used for a separate event called the Giro di Sicilia.The start and finish took place at Cerda. The counter-clockwise lap lead from Caltavuturo and Collesano from an altitude over down to sea level, where the cars raced from Campofelice di Roccella on the Buonfornello straight along the coast, a straight over longer than the Mulsanne Straight at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. The longest version of the circuit went south through Caltavuturo through an extended route through elevation changes, and swept through the nearby towns of Castellana and Sottana, twisting around mountains up to the town of Castelbuono and rejoined the most recent version of the track at Collesano. The second version of the track also went south through Caltavuturo and took a shortcut starting right before Castellana to Collesano via the town of Polizzi Generosa. There was a closed circuit called Favorita Park in the Sicilian capital of Palermo used from 1937-1940.
The challenge of the Targa was unprecedented in its difficulty and the driving experience of any of the course variants was unlike any other circuit in the world other than perhaps that of the Nurburgring in Germany. The original Grande circuit had in the realm of 2,000 corners per lap, the Medio had about 1,300-1,400 corners per lap and the final iteration of the course, the Piccolo circuit had about 800-900 corners per lap. To put that in perspective, most purpose built circuits have between 12 and 18 corners, and the longest purpose built circuit in the world, the 13-mile Nurburgring, has about 180 corners. So learning any of the Targa Florio courses was extremely difficult and required, like most long circuits, at least 60 laps to learn the course- and unlike the purpose-built Nurburgring, the course had to be learned properly in public traffic, and one lap of even the Piccolo course would take about an hour to do in a road car- if there was little to no traffic.
Lap speeds
Like a rally event, the race cars were started one by one every 15 seconds for a time trial, as a start from a full grid was not possible on the tight and twisty roads.Although the public road circuit used for the Targa was extremely challenging- it was a very different kind of circuit and race from any other race on the sportscar calendar. All of the circuit variations of the Targa were made up of mountain roads, so they were all very slow and twisty, and each had so many corners that lap speeds at the Targa never went higher than 80 mph. Helmut Marko set the lap record in 1972 in an Alfa Romeo 33TT3 at 33 min 41 s at an average of during an epic charge where he made up 2 minutes on Arturo Merzario and his Ferrari 312PB. The fastest ever was Leo Kinnunen in 1970, lapping in the Porsche 908/3 at or 33 min 36 seconds flat.
Due to the track's length, drivers practised in the week before the race in public traffic, often with their race cars fitted with license plates. Porsche factory drivers even had to watch onboard videos, a sickening experience for some. The lap record for the 146 km "Grande" circuit was 2 hours 3 min 54.8 seconds set by Achille Varzi in a Bugatti Type 51 at the 1931 race at an average speed of. The lap record for the 108 km "Medio" circuit was 1 hour 21 min 21.6 seconds set by Varzi in an Alfa Romeo P2 at an average speed of at the 1930 race. The fastest completion around the short version of the island tour was done by Giovanni "Ernesto" Ceirano in a SCAT at the 1914 race, completed in 16 hours, 51 minutes and 31.6 seconds from May 24–25, 1914. The fastest completion of the long version of the island tour was by Mario and Franco Bornigia in an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione, completed in 12 hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds flat at the 1950 race at an average speed of.
1970s, safety and demise
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, race cars with up to 600 hp such as Nino Vaccarella's Ferrari 512S raced through small mountain villages while spectators sat or stood right next to, or even on, the road. Porsche, on the other hand, did not race its big Porsche 917, but rather the nimble Porsche 908/03 Spyders.Due to safety concerns, especially by Helmut Marko, who called the race "totally insane", the last Targa Florio as a World Sportscar Championship race was run in 1973; when it had become impossible to retain its international status after a number of horrendous and two fatal accidents; one which privateer Charles Blyth crashed his Lancia Fulvia HF into a trailer at the end of the Buonfornello straight and was killed; and another where an Italian driver crashed his Alpine-Renault into a group of spectators, killing one. There were several other accidents during practice for the 1973 event in which a total of seven spectators sustained injuries. The event was won by a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR as the prototypes such as Jacky Ickx's Ferrari suffered crashes or other troubles. The Targa's international demise was compounded because of widespread concern about the organizers' ability to properly maintain the race on such a massive circuit, and there were not enough marshals - most spectators sat too close the roads; and also the international automotive governing body, the FIA, mandated safety walls on all circuits that were going to hold FIA-mandated events from 1974 onwards, and the length of combined public roads made this simply impossible and totally impractical, especially from a financial standpoint. The Targa was continued as a national event for some years, before a crash in 1977 which killed 2 spectators and seriously injured 5 others sealed its fate. The 1977 race was forcibly taken over by local police and was stopped on the 4th lap, and it also saw 2 other drivers having serious accidents; one of them was critically injured, but survived.
Although the Targa Florio was a rally-type race that took place on closed-off Sicilian public mountain roads with practically no safety features, only 9 people – including spectators –died at the event over the 71 year and 61 race history using a total of 6 circuit configurations. This amount is relatively small compared to other open road races, like the Mille Miglia, where over a period of 30 years and 24 races, 56 people lost their lives and the Carrera Panamericana, where over a period of 5 years and 5 races, 25 people were killed. This is probably due to the fact that the mountain roads used were extremely slow and twisty, and average lap speeds never reached even even up to the final years of the race's history, even with the very long straight at the northernmost of the track, whereas most road circuits had average speeds anywhere between and even.
Legacy
After winning the race several times, Porsche named the hardtop convertible version of the 911 after the Targa. The name targa means plaque or plate, see targa top.The Australian-made Leyland P76 had a special version named Targa Florio to commemorate victory by journalist-rallyist Evan Green on a Special Stage of the 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally which was held on the Targa Florio course.
Since 1992 the event has lent its name to a modern recreation, staged half-a-world away in the form of the famous road rally Targa Tasmania held on the island state of Tasmania, off the Southern coast of Australia. There are also the Targa New Zealand since 1995, the Targa Newfoundland since 2002 and Targa Great Barrier Reef since 2018 where it is held in the Far North section of Queensland.
2017 will celebrate the 101st Anniversary of the Targa Florio and the first time the event has left Italy. This is an amazing attraction for Victoria, Australia and all car enthusiasts. The event, tours Victoria’s coast and countryside from November 29 to December 3 and features over 150 of the world’s most admirable cars and is expected to attract fans, celebrities and media from across the globe.
The Targa Florio Australian Tribute is a regularity event for classic cars produced in the years between 1906 and 1976. Cars competed over 4 days on Victoria’s open roads at regulated speed. As part of the event there were 56 trials across the 4 days. The inaugural event was a huge success and was repeated in 2018. The 3rd Targa Florio Australian Tribute 2019 will be held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 27 November to 1 December 2019.
Winners
| Year | Winner | Car | Time | Distance | Speed | Laps | Course Variant |
| 1906 |  Alessandro Cagno | Itala 35/40 HP | 9:32:22.0 | 446.469 | 46.80 | 3 | Grande Circuit |
| 1907 | Felice Nazzaro | Fiat 28/40 HP | 8:17:36.4 | 446.469 | 53.83 | 3 | Grande Circuit |
| 1908 | Vincenzo Trucco | Isotta Fraschini 50 HP | 7:49:26.0 | 446.469 | 57.06 | 3 | Grande Circuit |
| 1909 | Francesco Ciuppa | S.P.A. 28/40 HP | 2:43:19.2 | 148.823 | 54.67 | 1 | Grande Circuit |
| 1910 | Franco Tullio Cariolato | Franco Automobili 35/50 HP | 6:20:47.4 | 297.646 | 46.90 | 2 | Grande Circuit |
| 1911 | Giovanni "Ernesto" Ceirano | SCAT 22/32 HP | 9:32:22.4 | 446.469 | 46.80 | 3 | Grande Circuit |
| 1912 |  Cyril Snipe | SCAT 25/35 HP | 24:37:19.8 | 979.000 | 41.44 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1913 | Felice Nazzaro | Nazzaro Tipo 2 | 19:18:40.6 | 979.000 | 50.70 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1914 | Giovanni "Ernesto" Ceirano | SCAT 22/32 | 16:51:31.6 | 979.000 | 58.07 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1919 |  André Boillot | Peugeot EXS | 7:51:01.8 | 432 | 55 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1920 | Guido Meregalli | Nazzaro GP | 8:27:23.8 | 432 | 50.924 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1921 | Giulio Masetti | Fiat 451 | 7:25:05.2 | 432 | 58.236 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1922 | Giulio Masetti | Mercedes GP/14 | 6:50:50.2 | 432 | 63.091 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1923 | Ugo Sivocci | Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio | 7:18:00.2 | 432 | 59.177 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1924 |  Christian Werner | Mercedes Tipo Indy 2,0 | 6:32:37.4 | 432 | 66.010 | 4 | Media Circuit |
| 1925 | Bartolomeo Costantini | Bugatti T35 | 7:32:27.2 | 540 | 71.609 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1926 | Bartolomeo Costantini | Bugatti T35T | 7:20:45.0 | 540 | 73.507 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1927 | Emilio Materassi | Bugatti T35C | 7:35:55.4 | 540 | 71.065 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1928 | Albert Divo | Bugatti T35B | 7:20:56.6 | 540 | 73.478 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1929 | Albert Divo | Bugatti T35C | 7:15:41.7 | 540 | 74.366 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1930 | Achille Varzi | Alfa Romeo P2 | 6:55:16.6 | 540 | 78.010 | 5 | Media Circuit |
| 1931 | Tazio Nuvolari | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza | 9:00:27.0 | 584 | 64.834 | 4 | Grande Circuit |
| 1932 | Tazio Nuvolari | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza | 7:15:50.6 | 574 | 79.296 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1933 | Antonio Brivio | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza | 6:35:03.0 | 504 | 76.729 | 7 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1934 | Achille Varzi | Alfa Romeo Tipo-B P3 | 6:14:26.8 | 432 | 69.222 | 6 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1935 | Antonio Brivio | Alfa Romeo Tipo-B P3 | 5:27:29.0 | 432 | 80.010 | 6 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1936 | Constantino Magistri | Lancia Augusta | 2:08:47.2 | 144 | 67.088 | 2 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1937 | Giulio Severi | Maserati 6CM | 2:55'49.0 | 315.6 | 107.704 | 60 | Favorita Park |
| 1938 | Giovanni Rocco | Maserati 6CM | 1:30'04.6 | 171.6 | 114.303 | 30 | Favorita Park |
| 1939 | Luigi Villoresi | Maserati 6CM | 1:40.15.4 | 228 | 136.445 | 40 | Favorita Park |
| 1940 | Luigi Villoresi | Maserati 4CL | 1:36.08.6 | 228 | 142.288 | 40 | Favorita Park |
| 1948 |  Clemente Biondetti Igor Troubetzkoy | Ferrari 166 S | 12:12'00.0 | 1080 | 88.866 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1949 | Clemente Biondetti Aldo Benedetti | Ferrari 166 SC | 13:15.09.4 | 1080 | 81.494 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1950 | Mario Bornigia Giancarlo Bornigia | Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione | 12:26.33.0 | 1080 | 86.794 | 1 | Island Tour |
| 1951 | Franco Cortese | Frazer Nash | 7:31.04.8 | 576 | 76.631 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1952 | Felice Bonetto | Lancia Aurelia B20 | 7:11.58.0 | 576 | 76.631 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1953 | Umberto Maglioli | Lancia D20 3000 | 7:08.35.8 | 576 | 80.635 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1954 | Piero Taruffi | Lancia D24 | 6:24.18.0 | 576 | 89.930 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1955 |  Stirling Moss Peter Collins | Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR | 9:43.14.0 | 936 | 96.290 | 13 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1956 | Umberto Maglioli Huschke von Hanstein | Porsche 550 | 7:54.52.6 | 720 | 90.770 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1957 | Fabio Colona | Fiat 600 | - | 359 | - | 5 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1958 | Luigi Musso Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari 250 TR 58 | 10:37.58.1 | 1008 | 94.801 | 14 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1959 |  Edgar Barth Wolfgang Seidel | Porsche 718 RSK | 11:02.21.8 | 1008 | 91.309 | 14 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1960 |  Jo Bonnier Hans Herrmann | Porsche 718 RS 60 | 7:33.08.2 | 720 | 95.320 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1961 | Wolfgang von Trips Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari 246 SP | 6:57.39.4 | 720 | 103.433 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1962 | Willy Mairesse Ricardo Rodriguez Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari 246 SP | 7:02'56.3 | 720 | 102.143 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1963 | Jo Bonnier Carlo Maria Abate | Porsche 718 GTR | 6:55.45.1 | 720 | 109.908 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1964 | Colin Davis Antonio Pucci | Porsche 904 GTS | 7:10.53.3 | 720 | 100.258 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1965 | Nino Vaccarella Lorenzo Bandini | Ferrari 275 P2 | 7:01:12.4 | 720 | 102.563 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1966 | Willy Mairesse Herbert Müller | Porsche Carrera 6 | 7:16:32.6 | 720 | 98.910 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1967 |  Paul Hawkins Rolf Stommelen | Porsche 910 | 6:37.01.0 | 720 | 108.812 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1968 | Vic Elford Umberto Maglioli | Porsche 907 | 6:28:47.9 | 720 | 111.112 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1969 | Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz | Porsche 908/2 | 6:07:45.3 | 720 | 117.469 | 10 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1970 | Jo Siffert Brian Redman | Porsche 908/3 | 6:35.30.0 | 792 | 120.152 | 11 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1971 | Nino Vaccarella Toine Hezemans | Alfa Romeo 33/3 | 6:35:46.2 | 792 | 120.070 | 11 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1972 | Arturo Merzario Sandro Munari | Ferrari 312PB | 6:27:48.0 | 792 | 122.537 | 11 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1973 | Herbert Müller Gijs van Lennep | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 6:54:20.1 | 792 | 114.691 | 11 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1974 | Gérard Larrousse Amilcare Ballestrieri | Lancia Stratos | 4:35:02.6 | 576 | 114.883 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1975 | Nino Vaccarella Arturo Merzario | Alfa Romeo 33TT12 | 4:59:16.7 | 576 | 120.895 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1976 | "Amphicar"* Armando Floridia | Osella PA4-BMW | 5:43:46.0 | 576 | 99.090 | 8 | Piccolo Circuit |
| 1977 | Raffaele Restivo Alfonso Merendino | Chevron B36-BMW | 2:41:17.0 | 288 | 107.140 | 4 | Piccolo Circuit |
- "Amphicar"'s actual name was Eugenio Renna.
Wins by make
The list below includes all car manufacturers who have attained a podium. The table does not include the results of the 1957 edition, which was held as a regularity race.| Pos. | Brand | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | Fastest laps |
| 1 | Porsche | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 |
| 2 | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 13 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Lancia | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Bugatti | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Maserati | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | SCAT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Fiat | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | Nazzaro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Itala | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Osella | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Peugeot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Chevron | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Società Piemontese Automobili S.P.A. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Franco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Isotta Fraschini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Frazer-Nash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Ballot | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Cisitalia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | De Vecchi | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Osca | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Aquila Italiana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Sigma | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Lola | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Abarth | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Alfa-Maserati-Prete | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Berliet | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Darracq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Diatto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 |  Steyr | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Aston Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |