Alfa Romeo Historical Museum official driver, Luciano Viaro, achieved his dream with superbly judged victory on the 23rd Mille Miglia, at the wheel of a 1928 Alfa 6C 1500 Super Sport.

The 63-year-old Triestine, partnered by 52-year-old Maurizio De Marco, only made sure of victory went he went on the attack during the final day's time trials in Modena, opening up enough of a points gap over his closest rivals to ensure a famous win.

FROM THE LAKES OF LATIUM TO THE SENESE CLAYS: THE THIRD LAP OF THE 23RD EDITION OF THE MILLE MIGLIA IS WELL UNDERWAY

The Argentineans are leading: After the six time trials in Ronciglione, Lake Vico and the Cimino Pass, the fierce onslaught to the top of the leaderboard by the South American drivers, long time members of the refined time-trial-school of racing, goes on. Carlos Sielecki and Juan Hervas, in the cockpit of the Bugatti T23 Brescia 1923 n.5 (7620 scores), are top of the table and hold in a vicelike grip, the crew from Trieste, Luciano Viaro and Maurizio De Marco (6922 scores) in the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS 1928, who, as official standard-bearers of the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum, never give up and, during the short lunch-break in Buonconvento, declare hemselves to be ready to attack again during the last four trials in Modena. Fernando Sanchez-Zinny, from Argentina, is lying third followed by his compatriot Claudio Scalise, both in Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS's (distanced only by 481 scores).
 
Juan Carlos Colombetti from Buenos Aires (Aston Martin 2-litre, 5645 scores) is sixth overall and is the fourth Argentinean driver among the first ten. Ezio Perletti and Fabio Salvinelli, tenth overall in Rome, in the cockpit of their Fiat 514 Coppa Alpi 1930 with 5743 scores, have climbed the table and are now in fifth position. Sergio Sisti, the winner of the 2001 Mille Miglia, is seventh with 5536 scores in his Healey Silverstone 1950, having climbed one position into the overall table and he promises to do battle in few hours before the final rush take place between Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. Gino and Andrea Perbellini (Jaguar Biondetti S 1950, 5535 scores), having gained five position thanks to their good performances in the time trials in Latium, are now in eighth place overall. The financier from Milan, Federico Imbert, with his son Andrea, driving a wonderful Ferrari 250 MM Vignale (5462 scores), consolidates ninth position. Unfortunately, Valerio Accerenzi and Giuseppe Bettoncelli in a Riley 12/4 1936, third in Rome, are in free fall; something went wrong with their timing near the Lake Vico and they are down to tenth overall now. They have only gained 938 scores in today’s six trials in Latium against the 2319 scores gained by the Argentinian Sielecki, in perfect physical fitness this year.

The official Porsche driver Mauro Giansante is 11th with 5408 scores, Franca Boni (BMW) is 12th with 5261 scores. Senator Luciano Magnalbo (Alfa Romeo 2000 S 1954) is in the 39th position, financier Chicco Gnutti (3170 scores) is 42th, after a spectacular nip and tuck with the German industrialist Erich K.G. Von Baumbach (Porsche 550 RS). Giacomo Bontempi and Franco Lucchesi (Triumph TR3, 2454 scores) are in the 56th position, while the pair Marco Saltalamacchia and Alex Zanardi (BMW 507, 1290 scores) are 130th. Alberto Bombassei, Vice-president of Confindustria, and also President of the multinational Brembo, has performed a remarkable leap forward together with his son-in-law Matteo Tiraboschi (Lancia Aurelia B20 1952): in Rome they were 159th but they succeeded in overtaking no fewer than fifty one opponents in the six time trials in Latium.

Francesca Grimaldi’s pace has been slackened by noises from the engine of her 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C GTC n.58. Nevertheless, she shows a brilliant smile. “I have found my passion and I am not going to abandon it; you will surely see me attending the MM in the next years! I have always admired veteran car since I was a child. I am driving an Alfa Romeo, the same marque my father had when I was born. Oldtimers are charming, especially those belonging to the period before the Second World War, whose colours cannot be replicated anymore.”

In every historical centre people offer a special welcome to the Mercedes 300 SLR, owner of the overall record set in 1955. Jochen Mass, former F1 driver and well-known in Italy because of its participation in the MM, masters now the 310 horsepower engine. He signs autographs everywhere, from small villages to centre of cities of arts.

VIARO REACTS TO SIELECKI’S ATTACK: THE TRIESTINE IS LEADING THE 23RD EDITION OF THE MM AGAIN

The Mille Miglia was about to go through its final agonistic battles with the leaderboard finely poised. The challenge was very delicate, just like the final sprint at the most famous bicycle racing event in Italy, the “Giro d’Italia”. The Red Arrow experts in final rush are not the Lombardy riders Ivan Basso or Paolo Savoldelli, but the Triestine, Luciano Viaro, and the Argentinean, Carlos Sielecki. The changes in the leadership has created see-saw emotions, which make the final moments of the race more vivid than they have been in the last years.

After the Senese trials, and the four time trials in Modena, Viaro (Alfa Romeo, 10997 scores), the former Italian Champion, takes possession of the top position again, thanks to his excellent performance in Tuscany. Sielecky (Bugatti, 10972 scores) is following by just 25 scores. A pressing nip and tuck is waiting.
 

Between the second, Sielecki, and the third, Fernando Sanchez Zinny (Alfa Romeo, 9570 scores), there are no fewer than 1402 scores, while in fourth place, Scalise (Alfa Romeo, 9467 scores), hotly pursues him as he is only 103 scores behind. The podium is thus still to be delineated, even if the Argentinean presence at the top of the table is a certainty: the drivers coming from South America will be among the first four positions.

The Milanese financier Federico Imbert, after dropping down to the ninth position during the stop in Rome, has found his form again, like he had demonstrated to be at the beginning of the competition, when he was the second overall after the time trials in Bussolengo. The trials in Pienza and San Quirico d’Orcia have been enough for Imbert and his son to remain in the top ten with their Ferrari 250 MM Vignale, achieving an excellent fifth position with 9104 scores. Mauro Giansante, official driver for Porsche Italia, is in sixth position. Also the lawyer from Pescara has moved up, from the fifteenth position to the sixth overall in few trials. Juan Carlos Colombetti (Aston Martin 2 Litre 1937) loses two positions due to a loss in performance and now he is seventh overall with 8639 scores. Sergio Sisti (Healey Silverstone 1950), winner of the 2001 Mille Miglia, steps back from the eleventh to the thirteenth position. Another skilled Argentinean driver is on his way up: Martin Sucari (Maserati 4 CS 1100 n. 85 1934), seventeenth before the grand finale in Modena, is now eighth overall with 8630 scores. Few scores, only 32, separates Gino Perbellini (Jaguar Biondetti S 1950) in the ninth position and Roberto Gaburri (OM 665TT) the tenth overall.

KRISTIAN GHEDINA: ENGINES WILL BE HIS FUTURE

Skiing star Kristian Ghedina is really radiant as he travels the beautiful roads of the third leg which join Rome to Brescia. During the lunch break in Bonconvento, a medieval hamlet, the athlete from Cortina d’Ampezzo reveals: “I seriously think that after skiing, steering-wheels and engines will be part of my sports and professional life. Every day I drive an Alfa Romeo Cross Wagon 4x4, but when I want to have fun I drive veteran cars and, to learn the secrets of chronometers and manostats, I sit at the cockpit of the Fiat 1100 TV, a myth of the Fifties. I think that I will deal with high-speed cars, Formula 3000 and Supertourism, in the future. I will decide in 2007."

Federica Balestrieri, a journalist from Brescia who specialises in Formula 1 and anchorwoman of Pole Position on RAI television, echoes him: “I’m driving the Fiat 1100 TV with great passion and satisfaction, this car brings back to light some memorable parts of the past’s cars, among other things, the steering column gear change. Fun is ensured during this event that encourages thousands of enthusiasts from city centres and old small villages”.

Luciano Viaro and ALFA ROMEO SWEEP TO VICTORY

The Triestine Luciano Viaro (63 years old) and Maurizio De Marco (52 years old) triumph on the stage in Viale Venezia in Brescia, applauded by thousands of fans. With the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport n.34 of 1928, the two Friulians conquer the 23rd edition of the Mille Miglia. The official driver for the Alfa Historical Museum, also a maker of time measurers, a former Italian champion of regularity in a Lancia Fulvia HF, performs an exciting final dash and wins this edition of the Red Arrow, which will surely go down in history for its agonistic duels and for the large participation of the audience.
 
The outcome of the race was indefinite untill the trials in Modena, but Viaro launched the decisive attack on the direct opponents, the Argentinian Carlos Sielecki and Juan Hervas (Bugatti T23 1923 n.5). After 32 time trials, Viaro had achieved 12.801 scores, thus leaving his opponent 61 scores behind. The Argentinean Fernando Sanchez-Zinny driving solo on Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS 1930 n.48 comes third (11.293 scores) followed by Claudio Scalise from Buenos Aires in the cockpit of an Alfa with 11.017 scores. Five Argentinean crews enter the top ten, confirming the escalation of the South American time-trials-school.

Twenty eight years after Hepp-Bauer’s victory in the first edition of the historical retrospective in 1977, Alfa Romeo wins again the Mille Miglia. It is an expected and much awaited win for Luciano Viaro: after success in the Mil Millas in Argentina (1999 and 2001) and victory in the Japanese Edition of the Mille Miglia (2004), the 63-year-old Alfa driver adds to his quiver the most prestigious arrow, the Red Arrow. “I want to dedicate my success to the whole Alfa Romeo Team and to the extraordinary cars produced by Alfa Romeo in the Thirties. I dedicate a tender and warm thanks to my wife Maria Giovanna, who has always supported my passion for this sport with patience and with whom I have run for years, and also to Mimmo Magro, manager of the Alfa Romeo Museum, and to Maurizio Monti, my personal mechanic."

The final comeback of the financier Federico Imbert and his son Andrea, champion among the young co-drivers, has been formidable: they have reached the finish line in fifth position with 10.499 scores driving their Ferrari 250 MM Vignale 1955. The rankings of some other skilled drivers who have entered the top ten, the 'Olympus' of the world's best time-trial racers, are interesting: Martin Sucari (Maserati), Gino Perbellini (Jaguar), Jauan Carlos Colombetti (Aston Martin), Roberto Gaburri (OM) and Mauro Giansante (Porsche).
 

23RD HISTORICAL RECOLLECTION MILLE MIGLIA 2005: OVERALL RESULT
 
1. Viaro-De Marco (Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS 1928) 12.801;
2. Sielecki-Hervas (Bugatti T23 Brescia 1923) 12.740;
3. Sanchez-Zinny (Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS 1930) 11.293;
4. Scalise-Scalise (Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS 1931) 11.017;
5. Imbert-Imbert (Ferrari 250 MM Vignale1955) 10.499;
6. Sucari-Celada (Maserati 4CS 1100, 1934) 10.307;
7. Perbellini-Perbellini (Jaguar Biondetti S 1950) 10.014;
8. Colombetti-Sanchez (Aston Martin 2 Litre 1937) 9.733;
9. Gaburri-Gaburri (OM 665 TT 1928) 9.715;
10. Giansante-Ferracin (Porsche 550 A RS 1957) 9.712.