Happy 85th Birthday

In 2012, Mille Miglia turned 85 and has been reenacted for the thirtieth time.
ACI Brescia’s Tribute to the four founders

The legend of the Red Arrow is brought to life at eight in the morning on 26 March 1927 with the departure of Aymo Maggi and Bindo Maserati in their Isotta Fraschin

The winners are Nando Minoja and Giuseppe Morandi, pilots of the Brescia based factory “Officine Meccaniche” (O.M.). Gastone Brilli Peri, who was a favorite with his Alfa Romeo RLSS, had pulled out of the race in Perugia. In second and third places there were two other O.M. pilots, which made all of Brescia jubilant. The race carried on in the midst of sporadic rain showers, fog banks and clouds of dust surfacing from the unpaved roads.
At 6:02 in the morning of March 27, the arrival time of the winners, in Viale Venezia there were only insiders: as it was not thought possible to travel 1600 km in twenty-one hours.

The headlines spoke of us being in a new era: we now have a freedom hitherto unknown. Ada Negri, writing for the newspaper Il Secolo XX, added: “… inside our vehicle, obedient solely to us, we are led exactly where our fancies take us, and the need for freedom in us becomes a certainty of freedom, a sense of fullness, escape, possession of space and time, which transcends human limitations.”
In 2012, Mille Miglia turned eighty-five years old and was commemorated for the thirtieth time. A few days before the last edition, Aldo Bonomi, President of Brescia Automobile Club, recognized Mille Miglia’s 85th birthday at Mille Miglia Club Franco Mazzotti’s last board meeting. Bonomi has served as honorary president of law of this club since 1949.

“Perhaps no one in 1927 would have supposed that, even with a different formula, the creation of “four romantics” would have been able to defy time, trends and traditions, re-emerge and rise to new glory.
It’s amazing – said Bonomi – seeing that fate has given us such a priceless heritage and, at the same time, considers all of us responsible for continuing to live a legend.
Eighty-five years later, our thoughts go out to the men, who in 1927 were first empowered with an idea and then had the strength to come up with a way to make it work.”
We give profound recognition to Franco Mazzotti, Aymo Maggi, Renzo Castagneto, and Giovanni Canestrini, those who created our race. We give the same gratitude towards those who have helped the Red Arrow re-emerge, and those who have led it up to today. Each and every one of them, through their ideas and dedication, has contributed to making Red Arrow what it is today.”
At the end of the meeting, the participants moved to Viale Venezia to pay tribute to the founders. A wreath of flowers was laid in front of the marble bust of Renzo Castagneto standing in the gardens of Viale Venezia. The sculpture is positioned in the very spot where Castagneto had the stands mounted for the departure and arrival of the Mille Miglia.
The Brescia Automobile Club and the Mille Miglia Club Franco Mazzotti paid homage through a symbolic gesture to the four founders of the Mille Miglia.
“It is thanks to them that we have what has been called the” most beautiful race in the world “- said Roberto Gaburri, current chairman of the 1000 Miglia SrL -: We have to keep making Mille Miglia more and more beautiful and important for Brescia and for the rest of the world. “