The Bernina Gran Turismo mountain race on the Bernina Pass will take place for the third time this year from September 22 to 24. Racing and sports cars built between 1920 and the early 1980s are eligible to take part.
Going back to the "St. Moritz Automobile Weeks" of 1929 and 1930, the Bernina Grand Prix for historic racing and sports cars revives memories of the pioneering days of motor racing.
For the first time, the document check and technical inspection of the participating vehicles will take place on Friday from 09:00 to 14:00 in St. Moritz Bad at the Forum Paracelsus. There, as well as at the Kempinski Grand Hotel de Bains, where the vehicles will be on public display until 14:00 after scrutineering, the interested public will have the opportunity to view the racing cars up close and talk to the owners, who will be happy to provide information about their vehicles. From 14:00, the participants are then symbolically started at one-minute intervals by the mayor and drive via Pontresina up to the paddock on the Bernina Pass, where the Bernina Grand Prix takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
5.7 km and many, many bends
The magnificent race route is 5.7 km long, follows the historic route from La Rösa (1,871 m) up to the top of the pass (2,320 m) and offers numerous opportunities to watch the racing cars in action, not only at the start and finish but also along the way.
The track closure times are from 07:40 to 11:20 on Saturday and Sunday, and from 13:20 to 17:00 on Saturday afternoon. Two runs will be completed per block.
With the historic train to the event
A special highlight is the new cooperation with the Rhaetian Railway, which will be operating two historic trains between St. Moritz/Pontresina and Bernina Hospizio during the BGT weekend. The special thing about this is that anyone can embark on this journey through time simply by purchasing a regular ticket. The exact departure and arrival times can be found at www.bernina-granturismo.com.
Visitors can either drive to Pontresina and take one of the historic trains to Hospizio Bernina, or park at the Diavolezza parking lot. From there, you can either take the Rhaetian Railway or one of our four historic buses, which offer a shuttle service to the paddock at the top of the pass near Hospizio Bernina.
The Bernina Gran Turismo is rounded off by other events on the theme of the "automobile as a cultural asset" and this year already provides a small foretaste of the new St. Moritz Automobile Weeks, which will enrich the autumn calendar of events in the Engadin from now on and in the coming years.
Car film days
The St. Moritz Car Film Days pilot project is already taking place this year. On three evenings, legendary films relating to the automobile will be shown in the historic hall of the Hotel Reine Victoria. Starting on Wednesday, 20.09.17, 20:30 with "Le Mans", the legendary cult film with Steve McQueen, followed on Friday, 22.09.2017, 17:00, the near-documentary of the enduring duel Niki Lauda/James Hunt "RUSH - Alles für den Sieg" and on Saturday, 23.09.17, also at 17:00, the current French action film "Overdrive".
Unofficial opening at the Dracula Club
The Bernina Gran Turismo begins unofficially on Thursday evening with the BGT Kick-Off Party at the famous Dracula Club, which was founded by Gunter Sachs in 1974. His son, the artist, designer and photographer Rolf Sachs, who now runs the Dracula Club, which has lost none of its exclusivity, has given Bernina Gran Turismo permission to use the club for the BGT Kick-Off Party.
