To mark the 80th anniversary of Alfa Romeo winning the very first Grand Prix Championship in 1925, Alfa Romeo Australia has launched a limited edition of its high performance Alfa Romeo 147 GTA named after the race track where it secured its first world title: Monza.

That first World Championship title was secured for Alfa Romeo with the legendary Alfa Romeo P2 and it began its winning record at Monza in 1924 with no less than Antonio Ascari at the wheel. Another victory followed at the Cremona track and Giuseppe Campari took the P2 to the chequered flag at Lyon. But it was in 1925 that the Alfa Romeo P2 secured its place in history, with wins at Monza and Spa clinching the debut World Championship title for Alfa Romeo.

Despite its straight eight superchanged engine, the Alfa Romeo P2's engine output of 130 kW does not compare the 184 kW available to the driver of today's Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monza. The Alfa Romeo P2 set a record speed at Monza of 220 km/h, an astounding speed for the period, while today's 147 GTA Monza is capable, where the law permits, of a top speed of 246 km/h.

Ascari, Campari and Peri, would, though recognize the standard handcrafted leather interior of the 147 GTA Monza as being a distant relative of the leather racing seats of their P2, it is doubtful that the headlights fitted to one Alfa Romeo P2 to make it road legal could compare in any way to the standard bi-xenon headlights added to the 147 GTA Monza.

Both the Alfa Romeo P2 and the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA are race track bred, with the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monza's suspension tuned to match the requirements of race track performance and it's steering, at 1.7 turns lock to lock, is lightening quick.

The original Alfa Romeo P2, in the official Alfa Romeo Specification, lists its electrical system as "None". The 147 GTA Monza could not be more different. In addition to all the usual modern electrical features, the 147 GTA Monza has a plethora of modern electrical and computer technology including ABS with EBD, VDC and MSR, all designed to provide safety and securing without any dampening of the driving excitement expected of an Alfa Romeo.

Back in 1924, the Alfa Romeo P2 had manual four gears, today's Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monza has six gears and - another link to Alfa Romeo's motorsport heritage - the option of the Selespeed sequential manual gearbox, the same system used by today's Formula One drivers.

The Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monza has one additional extra because not everyone is born with the innate skill of an Ascari: A full race-track based high performance driving course to enable those lucky enough to own the a 147 GTA Monza to fully understand its capabilities and how exploit them in safety. "Alfa Romeo's history in motorsport is unique," says Kevin Wall, General Manager of Alfa Romeo in Australia. "Not only did the Alfa P2 secure the first ever world title, the Alfa Romeo 158 took the first title after the war and the GTA name has been secured to many winning touring cars, right up to the 156 GTA in the European Touring Car Championship. So it is entirely appropriate that GTA should come together with a name synonymous with Alfa Romeo success, Monza, to mark this historic anniversary."

The Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monza includes above the standard car the full handcrafted Momo leather interior, Xenon headlights and a high performance driving course. It has a recommended Australian retail price of AUS$59,990 for the six speed manual version and AUS$63,990 for the Selespeed variant. The total number of Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Monzas is limited to 100.


THE MONZA RACE TRACK

Opened in 1922, the Monza circuit (Autodromo Nazionale Monza) was built to mark the 25th anniversary of the Milan Automobile Club. It was designed both as a show-ground for motor sport and as a testing-ground for all kinds of motor vehicles.

Alfa Romeo immediately stamped its authority on the new circuit, winning the first two Grand Prix races and taking the 1925 world title. Many glorious Alfa Romeo successes were to follow.

Within a decade of being built, improvements to competition cars exceeded the limits of Monza's banked curves. But with increased speed, came great danger. The first of many Monza track upgrades began in 1933, following a fatal accident involving Borzacchini, Czaykowski and champion Alfa driver Giuseppe Campari, during a race that was supposed to be his last sporting outing.

From this point on, the Monza circuit continued to be updated and refined. War interrupted all sports activity for a time and the Autodrome was used for various administrative purposes, even hosting animals removed from the Milan zoo. After the war, Alfa Romeo continued to triumph at Monza, leading the way to ever-increasing speeds on the upgraded 6.3 km track.

With renewed facilities the Autodrome was host to numerous events between 1949 and 1954, witnessing many formula changes for Grand Prix cars. In 1955 the circuit was transformed once again, with a high-speed section developed to meet new competition requirements and accommodate record attempts.

The full-length 10km circuit was used for the Italian automobile Grand Prix races until 1961, when a fatal accident at the entrance to the 'parabolic' curve, killed Von Trips in a Ferrari and eleven spectators. This incident marked the end of the use of the high speed track for Grand Prix single-seaters and resulted in numerous safety upgrades at Monza.

Owing to the increasing performance of the cars, further safety measures continued to be introduced during the 1970s, including chicanes and variants to slow down the track.

Throughout the 1980s more changes were made to the circuit facilities, along with on-going track safety measures. In the 1990s a new pit complex and other enhancements make the Monza Autodrome one of the most modern in the world, with seating for approximately fifty one thousand spectators.

Today it features three tracks: the GP Track, the Junior Track, that can be lit up during night events and the Speed Track, which is used to set records and for technical tests.

The Monza circuit has a long history of hosting motor sport of all kinds, including motorcycles as well as touring cars, and remains one of the iconic motor racing circuits of Europe.

The first major event at Monza in 2005 takes place on 8-10 April, with the track playing host to the World Touring Car Championships and the FIA GT Championship, as well as the Alfa Cup. The Italian Grand Prix takes place on 2-4 September. For lovers of historic racing, the date to watch for is 27-29 May when the InterEurope Historic Race Festival takes place.

Subject to availability, it is possible on selected dates for visitors to Monza to take their own cars on the legendary race track for Euro 30.00 for 30 minutes, while no less then seven driving schools offer various driving courses on the track.