Targa Florio

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Lore & Background

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 world 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 of a 92-mile (148 km) circuit, totaling 276 miles (444 km), traversing through winding bends and multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, with around 2,000 corners per lap and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of elevation change, at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred. Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour (50 km/h). By 1919, the Targa Florio course had been shortened to 67 miles (108 km) and 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 (not yet merged with Benz) 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 1927, 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 addition to the automobile event, a Targa Florio motociclistica was held from 1920 to 1930. Ernst Jakob Henne (1904-2005) won in 1928 on a BMW before moving to four wheel BMWs. The 1931 race saw a one-off return to the Grande course after roads and bridges specifically unique to the Medio course near Polizzi Generosa had been destroyed by landslides during severe rainstorms; the 1932 event saw the first use of the Piccolo course after a road connecting Caltavuturo and Collesano was constructed on the direct orders of Benito Mussolini himself by request of Florio. That road leads down into the valley, crosses the river on a small bridge, and climbs the hillside

In Their Own Story

In 1955, Sicily returned to the international racing focus as the Targa Florio joined the World Sportscar Championship. With the Carrera Panamericana cancelled, it took over its mid-October slot. To meet the championship's 1000 km requirement, a compromise was reached for 13 laps totaling 936 km. This race became critical for Daimler-Benz; after missing the first two rounds and withdrawing from the fatal 1955 Le Mans 24h, they needed a victory to secure the title. Stirling Moss with Peter Collins, and Juan Manuel Fangio with Karl Kling, drove the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRs to a 1–2 finish after more than nine hours, beating Ferrari and other rivals by mere minutes. The following year in 1956, safety concerns grew as Count Florio insisted on 10 laps while officials demanded fewer; the race was held as a non-championship event where Porsche achieved its first of many wins. Disaster struck in 1957 at the Mille Miglia, leading to a ban on public road racing in Italy that cancelled the Targa Florio for that year, though a regularity contest was held in November.

Reader's Guide

Several versions of the track were used. It started with a single lap of a 148 km (92 mi) circuit from 1906 to 1911 and 1931. From 1912 to 1914 a tour around the perimeter of Sicily was used, with a single lap of 975 km (606 mi), lengthened to 1,082 km (672 mi) from 1948 to 1950. The 146 km 'Grande' circuit was then shortened twice, the first time to 108 km (67 mi), the version used from 1919 to 1930, and then to the 72 km (45 mi) circuit used from 1932 to 1936 and 1951 to 1977. From 1951 to 1958, the long coastal island tour variant was used for a separate event called the Giro di Sicilia (Lap of Sicily). The start and finish took place at Cerda. The counter-clockwise lap lead from Caltavuturo and C

Did You Know?

• Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 Targa Florio in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour (50 km/h).
• Eliska Junkova became the first woman to compete in the Targa Florio in 1927.
• The 1932 event saw the first use of the Piccolo course after a road was built on the direct orders of Benito Mussolini.
• Vincenzo Florio was ousted from organizing the race in 1933 due to politics.