Report and photos by Ian McLeod
The Bergamo Historic Grand Prix 2012 was held May 27th in the northern Italian city of Bergamo. The seventh annual Historic Grand Prix Bergamo was, as always, technically a “parade”, not a race, of classic and vintage road and race cars and motor bikes to commemorate the original “Cup City of Bergamo” which was run in the 1930’s.
The 2012 Bergamo Historic event was run in perfect weather conditions and included over fifty cars. The track runs around the Venetian walls of the historic Bergamo Alta.
The organizers included GP racing bikes for the first time, one of them, most notably, ridden by Carlo Ubbiali, nine-time world champion who was born in 1929!
There were some notable cars, in particular, an ex-Nuvolari, Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 8C GP car driven by Bruno Giacomelli. Other later Grand Prix cars included an ex-Jim Clark Lotus, an ex-Francois Cevert F2 Techno and an, ex-Jochen Rindt / Jackie Ickx F1 Cooper. Road and race sports cars included “D” types, “E” types, XK’s, Cobra’s, Ferrari 246GTS, Daimler SP250, Healey Silverstone, Austin-Healey 3000, Mercedes 300SLR and many others.
The “parade” was led by a police car but notwithstanding the organisers declaration that this is not a “race”, anyone watching could be forgiven for thinking otherwise! The pace of the cars was quite alarming in some places given the very narrow roads, stone walls and tunnels and whilst the event was on the whole very well organised there was an air of “organised chaos” at times. The only concession to health and safety was a thin plastic tape behind which the spectators are supposed to stand: a few of them did.
Around 35,000 were reported to have watched the event – free of charge. The Bergamo Historic Grand Prix is an event well worth attending, the old city is a fantastic place to vast and there are lots of good hotels and restaurants within a few minutes walk of the event.
Bergamo Historic Grand Prix 2012 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
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[Source: Ian McLeod]
