57° Coppa Intereuropa

5-7 june 2009

Young like old cars

There were racing cars which were old by birth, but certainly not by spirit, as the roar on the track of their engines and enthralling fights can testify. We could see many young people around these cars who were interested and expert in that field. Many families, with fathers who were intent on telling their sons the old stories related to the cars, and mothers ready with a digital camera to immortalize their kids beside a famous racing car. That’s the key to understand the success of the 57th Intereuropa Cup that has celebrated sixty years from its first edition in 1949.

Notwithstanding the crisis and general escape from Italy of the great international championships, very often due to the absence of spectators, this Monza event has proved to be in good health showing that the passion for sports motor racing didn’t fade away, even if it has to be enlivened and stimulated.

On the basis of that winning formula there was the variety of the offer, with the wide small market of spare parts and automobilia, the presence of meetings (among them also the Gilera historic registry) that permitted many collectors to show their “jewels” on track. And then, above all the numerous races run by more than 300 cars, divided into a good nine series, which alternated on the course of the race. The “Scuderia del Portello” Trophy saw a lively fight among the most famous models of “Biscione” like the 1900 TI, different versions of Giulietta and Giulia, up to the plucky 1750 GTAM and 2000 GTV. Such as it has been a great spectacle the one offered by Formula Junior cars in the “Fia Lurani” Trophy: as slippery as bars of soap, these small single-seaters, built between the 70’s and 60’s, easily mislead also the most expert drivers, offering an unexpected turn of events and continuous changing position.

Besides Formula 2, this year we could also count on the presence of the Trophée F3 Classic that lined up a good 44 single-seaters among Ralt, March, Martini and other minor constructors like Alba, Sala, Ensign and Argo, marking an epoch, the period of time between the 70’s and 80’s when Formula 3 was an unavoidable choice for every driver who nourished a hope to arrive at Formula One. The young’s dreams were made by the streamline and the livery of these single-seaters, which re-echoed the wing cars of the top series on a minor scale. Thus, for example, the single-seaters built by Tico Martini for Renault Turbo Formula, often reminded us of the official Regie models.

It’s always exciting to be present at the trophy “Dino Morazzoni” that has proposed another chapter on the endless challenge between the cars Ford Cortina Lotus and Giulia Sprint GT. In theory, the Cortina Lotus with Voyazides-Hadfield had got his way, but later on the car was excluded by the race direction and the win was gained by the white Giulia Sprint with Anton, the most competitive one in the Alfa cars which had been fighting for a long time in the middle of the agile English sedans and taking the lead for a few laps.

There was the refined starting car pool of the GT& Sports Car Cup, with the presence of different AC Cobras, among them the winner of Rick and Rob Hall, Jaguar E Type, Lotus 11 and Elite, as well as a precious Aston Martin DP214 and a rare Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

As far as the historical value is concerned, the line-up of Arbuthnot Latham Race for Grand Prix Cars, that gathers cars like the ones of Grand Prix, Formula 1 and Indianapolis over a period from 30’s up to 1965, wasn’t certainly less than it, with two precious ERA from 1935 and 1936 as well as different Coopers, the terrible “spiders” with rear engine that changed the way of thinking and constructing the cars at the end of the Fifties. Among the cars taking part in the race were also the Lister Jaguar Monzanopolis, with the body in unpainted aluminium, a memory of that awful race 500 Miles of Monza in 1958, when European cars and drivers had to defy the experts of Indianapolis on the speed ring, where vibrations caused by the roadbed cut up suspensions, to the advantage of more powerful American cars.

By tradition, this year there were also the cars of Fia Historic Formula One Championship, where Rowland Kinch easily dominated in its Arrows A4/2. That was a result not at all taken it for granted, considering that on the eave the favoured was Joaquin Folch with Brabham BT49 of 1982. In fact, during tests the Spaniard had gained pole before Kinch at 1:44:186, against 1:45:189 of the English driver. On Sunday afternoon, at start, six cars, among them the Folch’s one, stopped on the line-up. As a consequence of it the complete procedure was repeated and in the second lap of the line-up the Brabham driven by the Spanish driver met a problem which obliged him to start from the end of the line. Thus Folck had to perform a prodigious recovery, also gaining the fastest lap at 1:45:670, at the end of which he crossed the finishing line third behind the March 761/6 driven by Kubota.

The presence of the C Group cars, in particular the mythical figures of two Porsche cars 962 and one refined Mercedes have added a further interest to the event. Powerful and striking for their stage performance, these magnificent prototypes livened up two races. In the first one the win was gained by Bob Berridge with Nissan who, started as a shell from the fifth row, took the lead immediately, fighting a long duel with the Spice of Haddon. In the second race, Berridge took the wheel of the Aston Martin of Paul Whigth and once again he proved himself to be a protagonist, taking the lead and then struggling against the Porsche 962 with Wayne Park, the pole holder car which seemed to prevail in the end of the race. It was a pity that the English driver, put under the strong pressure of an unrestrained Aston Martin, made a bad error, ending in the sand on the parabolic bend during the second-last lap and again favouring Berridge’s win.

That was the spectacle that permitted the attendance of a large audience. These were the cars the spectators could admire and have a closer look at them during two fantastic days. It was a success for AC Milano and Autodromo’s organization that showed the way beyond the events related to historic cars. Today, if we want to take spectators back to the circuits, it’s no longer sufficient to have a good place in tribune and make the cars run, but it’s necessary to create a context where people may act as protagonists, to find a space and different spurs, being in a position to live closer to the cars, their favourite drivers and fully enjoy the great event of a motor race.

Stefano Costantino

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