In just a few years, the Modena Cento Ore Classic has established itself as one of the most successful events in the already packed Italian vintage racing season.

Covering a full four days (hence the name 'Cento Ore', which means 100 hours), the 6th edition was held from Saturday 7 May to Tuesday 10 May with a good number of competitive stages on road and track.

The race is actually organised as a tour of the Emilia Romagna region and is open to a maximum of 100 teams in classic cars ranging from the late 1930s to the early 1970s. For the most recent cars in particular, priority is given to vehicles with proven competition history, and no less than two thirds of the entrants actually take part in the speed trials while the remaining third do the less demanding regularity tests.

The competition revolves around special timed stages and track heats at Mugello and Misano, and there is an additional implicit endurance test as well, since the distance racked up along the way adds up to a good 1000 km.

The 2005 edition was brought forward in the calendar to early May, a move made necessary to avoid a clash with the Mille Miglia and a flood of other top Italian events. As it turned out, the weather was excellent and thus made the race that much more enjoyable, but perhaps some of the most interesting potential entries were lost to the Tour Auto, which ended just a week earlier. Still, some teams did not refrain from taking part in both events, which must say something for the appeal of the Cento Ore.

Starting from Modena in the heartland of the Italian sports car manufacturing area, the teams first headed out in the Motor Valley for the inauguration lunch at Matteo Panini's museum, home of a splendid Maserati collection.

The first timed session took place on Saturday afternoon on Ferrari's private Fiorano track, after which the participants returned to Modena's Parco Novi Sad where a gymkhana track was devised for the occasion. On Sunday morning the rally set off south towards Tuscany and the Mugello track, with three hillclimb stages scattered along the way.
 

The overnight stay in Arezzo served to enhance the touristic qualities of the Cento Ore which, in spite of being very demanding of both men and machines, is also very rewarding due to wonderfully driveable backroads and breathtaking scenery. The Monday leg was particularly challenging, with two special stages and three track sessions at Misano and on the Magione circuit, which the Cento Ore visited for the first time. The day ended late with an evening session at Misano on the Adriatic coast. The final stage took the participants back to Modena after another go at the Misano track and four more special stages.

Overall victory went to English driver Ray Bellm in a 1965 Ford GT40. Together with his team-mate Lanzante, Bellm had missed victory in 2003 by just 8 seconds and had prepared this edition very well. His was also the most spectacular driving style in the event as, despite a commanding lead over 2nd place finisher David Franklin, he did not hesitate to slide the tail out of corners up until the very last stage.

On the Maserati front, three open sports racers from the mid-1950s appeared in the Cento Ore and were undoubtedly among the star attractions. Two of them were A6GCS roadsters of the post-1953 type, and both completed the event without missing a beat, but alas the third car was involved in a severe and very unfortunate crash which ended up against the guardrail. The car - a 300S - might be beyond repair, but at least the occupants suffered no major harm, aside from a very big fright.

Still somewhat underrated but now a stable fixture on the classic car calendar, the Modena Cento Ore Classic deserves to continue to attract the attention and the top rate entries it has seen in recent years. What is certain is that for a city like Modena - which has contributed so much to motor sport history, and continues to do so - an event of this class is a fitting celebration.