It is unlikely that readers of this publication would not be familiar with the Mille Miglia (aka 1000 Miglia), but some might like a refresher on the history of this famous race. Here is the link to the first of our 3-part history of this most historic race https://sportscardigest.com//life-and-times-of-the-mille-miglia/.
Familiarity with the 1000 Miglia Warmup, though, is not as certain. The Warmup was first held in 2018. This year is the second time cars eligible for the May race in Italy competed in the United States. It was held from October 23rd to October 26th around Washington, DC, and was sponsored by the Italian Embassy, Alfa Romeo, Chopard, Alitalia, Competizione & Sports Cars, Creighton Farms, Fairmont Washington DC Georgetown and the town of Middleburg.
The event organizers describes the event:
“After the success of the 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA 2018, this year the event expanded regarding both the number of participating cars and the number of days for the race. The event featured one day of regularity rally training followed by a three-day race in the true 1000 Miglia style and format. The competitive race was staged in full 1000 Miglia style, finishing on Italian soil at Villa Firenze, the Italian Ambassador’s residence in Washington D.C.
“The event featured 22 cars in two classes: the 1000 Miglia Era Class which was represented by 1000 Miglia eligible cars, built between 1927 and 1957 and the Post-1000 Era Class represented by sports cars, grand touring and supercars built from 1958 to present. The crews have been divided into two categories: novice and veterans, based on the number of participations in the last seven editions of the 1000 Miglia. Veteran competitors were the crews with at least one driver with experience in two or more 1000 Miglia between 2013 and 2019 and novice competitors were those with less or no experience in the 1000 Miglia.”
The cars were delicious. The 1000 Miglia Era Class included a 1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport, 1929 Chrysler Model 75 Roadster, 1937 Aston Martin 15/98, 1947 Healey Westland, several Jaguar XK 120s, 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Boano, 1957 Maserati 300S, and 1957 Alfa Romeo 1900 C Super Sprint Zagato. The Post-1000 Miglia Era class included six very interesting automobiles – Alfa Romeo 2000 Touring, Lancia Flaminia Spider Touring, Ferrari 512 TR and 575, SLR McLaren, and BMW M4 GTS. They would all be competing in three days of “regularity rallying” in the Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania countryside before finishing at the Italian Ambassador’s residence.
Before setting off on the three days of rallying, the novices were required to attend a day of training at the Shenandoah Circuit Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia. Veterans had the option of taking the training, and all six did. The morning was spent on sections of the skid pad, which can be seen in the left center of the map of the circuit below.
There are two connector roads that divide the skid pad approximately into thirds. Timing strips were placed on the curved sections of the skid pad, and cars entered on the connector roads then tripped the timers on the curved portions of the pad. The goal was to cover the distance between the timing strips in 12 seconds. Each car ran each of the sections of the skid pad four times and received their times for each attempt. The afternoon involved the entire race circuit. Again, each team had four chances to run the track in a pre-determined time – not as fast as possible, but trying to drive exactly to the time. The next three days involved following rally instructions called “tulips,” (example on right) making checkpoints, with scoring by being as accurate as possible in the “time trial” sections of the routes. These time trials were sections where the teams were challenged to cover the distance in the set time. The results from the rally would decide which team won the first “Coppa USA” (USA Cup).
Tulip rallies consist of a series of drawings. In each tulip, the driver is entering the instruction from the direction of the circle. The tulip shows where the driver should go next – in the direction of the arrow. The mileage shown with the tulip is the distance from the last tulip instruction to the intersection shown. Typically, the tulips are stark representations of the intersection. The organizers were nice in their road book and provided landmarks to help the teams.
Each rally day began at the Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, Virginia – horse country. The first day included a stop and time trial at Summit Point Motorsports Park, then lunch at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The afternoon included visits to Antietam National Battlefield and Gettysburg, as well as a stop at Camp David. Click here to view the first day route.
Day two took the teams to Washington, Virginia, aka “Little Washington,” a delightful community in the Virginia countryside. Lunch was near President Madison’s Montpelier home. The return took the cars on Skyline Drive and among the very colorful trees. It also mixed them in with tourists looking at those same colorful trees. It was rare for one of the 1000 Miglia teams to have much open road. Too often they caught slower passenger cars and became part of a slow-moving line. Click here to view the second day route.
The final day included a visit to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, then across the Potomac River into Maryland. They paralleled the river then crossed it again to take the George Washington Parkway, crossed one final time using Memorial Bridge, then did a lap of the National Mall. Finally, they headed back through the city to Villa Firenze and the end of the rally. Click here to view the final day’s route.
In all, the teams traveled 945.80 km, or just a hair over 590 miles. With the exception of their times at Summit Point Motorsports Park, these miles were over public roads often crowded with traffic. To keep on time overall and during the time trials was quite a challenge, one that was rewarded with the Coppa USA and invitations to the 1000 Miglia in Italy. It was the veteran team of John and Julie Herlihy, driving their 1953 Jaguar XK120 OTS Roadster, who took home the Coppa USA. They, and five other teams, received a guaranteed entry in the 1000 Mille Miglia in Italy from May 13-16, 2020. Second among the cars in the 1000 Miglia Era class were the novice team of Eric Oberlander and Scott Laroque in their Ferrari 250 GT Coupé Boano followed by another novice crew of Josh and David Simpson in their 1956 Jaguar XK120. Randy Simon and Sharon Swart, in a 1963 Lancia Flaminia Touring Spider, were the winners of the Post-1000 Miglia Era class followed by Phelim Kavanagh and Victor Cappelletti driving a 2016 BMW M4 GTS and Jude Alexander with Charles Cloutier in a 1992 Ferrari 512 TR.
Alberto Piantoni, CEO of 1000 Miglia, summarized the event: “The 2019 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA featured competitive teams, beautiful roads and enthusiastic fans, just like the race in Italy. Introducing the 1000 Miglia to a U.S. audience is an important step towards our goal of broadening awareness outside of Italy.”
Hopefully, we can look forward to more Warmup events in the future. They certainly caused a lot of “head turn” in the countryside outside DC.
