The Mille Miglia took place in Italy from May 14 to 17, 2015, this time without rain and in glorious sunshine. 464 teams from all over the world lined up to drive their classic cars in competition throughout Italy.
An event of superlatives
With 464 teams, including eight military vehicles, the starting field was once again around eighty participants larger than in previous years; in this respect too, the 1000-mile race is an event of superlatives.
In addition, a number of Ferraris and Mercedes competed in a separate class before the main field as part of a "Challenge".
International field of participants
As always, the largest teams of participants came from Italy, Germany and England. However, teams also traveled from Japan, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand; 24 teams from Switzerland also took part.
Mercedes anniversary
This year's Mille Miglia was all about celebrating the 60th anniversary of the double victory of two Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRs. The race was won in 1955 by Stirling Moss with co-driver Denis Jenkinson in a record time of 10 hours 7 minutes 48 seconds - with an average speed of just under 158 km/h - ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio.
The legendary Mercedes-Benz cars with the starting numbers 722, 658 and 704 were surprisingly driven by Sir Stirling Moss, Hans Herrmann and the grandson of Juan Manual Fangio, who was later replaced by Ralf Schumacher.
Start time brought forward
As the first stage from Brescia to Rimini was significantly longer this year, the start time on Thursday was brought forward to 14:30. As a result, technical scrutineering at the Fiera in Brescia and the sealing of the vehicles in Piazza delle Vittoria also had to be brought forward and took place on Wednesday afternoon.
New route
The route of the Mille Miglia had also changed again compared to the previous year, with the four stage destinations this time being Rimini, Rome, Parma and Brescia.
In addition to the spectacular San Marino, the arrival in Rome in front of the Castel Sant'Angelo and a drive across the legendary Campo in Siena, the time trial at the Autodromo di Monza was certainly another highlight.
Moss with the flag
During the finish in Brescia on Sunday afternoon, Sir Stirling Moss himself appeared on the grandstand and ended the race for some Mercedes teams with the "Chequered Flag" - certainly a special and unforgettable experience for these participants.
Head-to-head race
From the very first stage, there was a neck-and-neck race between the Argentinian team Tonconogy/Berisso in a 1927 Bugatti T40 and the Italian team Vesco/Guerini in a 1930 Fiat Siata 514 MM. In the end, the Argentinians won the race and took the victory.
Successful 2015
The Mille Miglia 2015 was excellently organized this time, as many of the participants confirmed. The event is and remains a major attraction for spectators and participants alike and it will be interesting to see what special features the organizers will come up with again next year.
The best 10
- 1st Tonconogy Juan / Berisso Guillermo (RA), Bugatti T 40 (1927)
- 2nd Vesco Andrea / Guerini Andrea (I), Fiat Siata 514 MM (1930)
- 3rd Salviato Ezio Martino / Moglia Maria Caterina (I), Bugatti T 40 (1928)
- 4th Ferrari Bruno / Ferrari Carlo (I), Bugatti T 37C (1927)
- 5th Moceri Giovanni / Galliani Lucia (I), Chrysler 72 (1927)
- 6th Mozzi Giordano / Biacca Stefania (I), O.M. 665 Sport Superba 2000 (1927)
- 7th Stalman Pablo (USA) / Sanchez Zinny Fernando (RA), Bugatti T 40 Gran Sport (1929)
- 8th Erejomovich Daniel Andre / Llanos Gustavo (RA), Aston Martin Le Mans (1933)
- 9th Cristina Riccardo / Baroli Sabrina (I), Bugatti T 40 Gran Sport (1927)
- 10th Cane Giuliano (I) / Reichle Klaus Peter (D), Bugatti T 37 Grand Prix (1927)
