Mugello Circuit

History

The Mugello Circuit's origins lie in road races held on public roads beginning in the 1920s. The starting point was Scarperia, a village less than half a kilometer from where the permanent track now sits. Racers headed north on the SP503, winding through mountainous terrain and several villages to reach Firenzuola. From there, the route continued west on the SP503 toward Pagliana, then turned left onto the SR65, heading south through Covigliaio, Selva, and Traversa, where the course became faster.

After passing a German military cemetery (present since 1946), it entered the Futa Pass, a section famous from the Mille Miglia. The SR65 then led through short straights and fast curves past Le Maschere and Colle Barucci. A bridge crossed a narrow part of Bilancino Lake, followed by an ultra-fast left-hand curve and two long straights. A left turn onto the SP129 pointed toward San Piero a Sieve, and the lap ended by heading north on the SP503 back to Scarperia.

Early winners included Giuseppe Campari in 1920 and 1921, and Emilio Materassi in 1925, 1926, and 1928. The Mugello Grand Prix was revived in 1955 and ran from 1964 to 1969 as an eight-lap road race covering 66.2 kilometers per lap, including the Passo della Futa, similar to the Targa Florio. This anticlockwise circuit passed San Piero a Sieve, Scarperia, Violla, Firenzuola, Sëlva, and San Lucia, and counted toward the World Sportscar Championship in 1965, 1966, and 1967.

The final championship race was won by Udo Schütz and Gerhard Mitter in a Porsche 910. In 1968, after two Porsche victories, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 driven by Luciano Bianchi, Nanni Galli, and Nino Vaccarella beat the Porsche of Rico Steinemann and Jo Siffert. Arturo Merzario won in 1969 and again in 1970 with an Abarth 2000, leading a 1-2-3 finish ahead of Leo Kinnunen and Gijs van Lennep.