Eco Targa Florio 2012 – Report and Photos

The Eco Targa Florio 2012 was staged 10-14 October in Sicily, Italy, with the 2nd annual event again challenging the renowned Circuito delle Madonie.

This year’s Eco Targa Florio contained two races and one manufacturer tribute: a Classic for historic cars, a Grand Prix for eco-friendly vehicles, and the Ferrari Tribute.After three days of competition, challenging bends, and taking in Sicily’s most stunning panoramas, the curtain finally fell on the Eco Tara Florio 2012.

The Targa Florio Classic witnessed the return of vintage cars built from the early twentieth-century, right up to the last year that the Targa di Velocità (Speed Trophy) was run (1977), to the roads of Sicily, as well as the Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio, where both spectators and enthusiasts alike were able to admire Ferrari models dating from 1948 to the present day. The reliability contests consisted of 51 time trials, 14 time checks, two average time trials with three reading points, and five checkpoint stages, covering a total distance of 900 km. During selection process for competing vehicles, priority was given to those models that once raced the Targa Florio.

The starting line saw cars that represented no fewer than 28 different makes and 200 hundred competitors, running the legs of Grandstands of Cerda to Castello di Donna Fugata; Marina Di Ragusa to Taormina; and Taormina to Castelbuono in three days. Alongside the Italians, almost 70% of drivers and co-drivers were from abroad. Large numbers of enthusiasts hailed from Argentina, Saudi Arabia, USA, South Africa, and Japan, while some also came from nearby Latvia, Russia, and Germany to experience the competition.

The event began on Tuesday, October 9th, with The International Forum on Sustainable Mobility, and was followed by the race reserved for eco-vehicles. The accreditation of competitors and the technical-sporting inspections of vehicles took place the following day in the grounds of Palermo University. Races began in the early afternoon of Thursday, October 11th, from the historic venue of the Grandstands of Cerda (Floriopoli), immediately following the parade of the sporting and sporting-prototype models that raced the Targa di Velocità (Speed Trophy).

Then came three intense days of competition along part of the challenging bends of the Small Circuit of the Madonie. The finish of the first stage from Cerda to Ragusa was in the magnificent Donnafugata Castle.

During the Ragusa to Taormina stage, the race passed through the splendid alleyways of Ortigia, allowing competitors to take in the thousand-year history of the town and its countless monuments. Competitors then had the opportunity of seeing the Greek Theatre in Siracusa as it has never been seen before, with a ‘checkpoint’ trial right at the foot of the ruins. The stage had a backdrop of a coastline dominated by the black lava masses and scattered with the Cyclops Stacks.

The last day included the climb towards the Parco Fluviale dell’Alcantara, right up to the 1000 metres of Mount Etna, followed by the descent to lower altitudes and the roads of the Nebrodi National Park, and finally on to Cefalù and the Large Madonie Circuit to Castelbuono, where the competitors finished their race. A parade through Palermo’s city center followed the ending. The award ceremony on Sunday, 14th October, took place in the Politeama Garibaldi Theatre.

The Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio crowned three winners – one for the Classic Ferraris class, one for Modern Ferraris, and the last for women entrants. The outright winner of the Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio Classics was Antonio Ghini, along with his teammate Cristina Valenza in a 1970 365 GTB/4 Coupe, also known as the Ferrari Daytona. The team of Gino Verghini and Lamberto Fuso, competing in a 1992 Ferrari 512 TR, won for the second year running from the vehicles built by the manufacturer between 1981 to the present. The ‘Coppa delle Dame’ (Women’s Trophy) once again went to a mother and daughter team, Nazarena Di Franco and Soraya Indelicato, who competed in their 1972 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior.

In addition to the winners, five famous names from the past returned to race once again on the Madonie Circuit. After almost forty-five years, Nanni Galli and Vic Elford recalled the race in which Elford took the podium place from Galli right at the end of the race by a whisker. Alongside them were Arturo Merzario (winner of two speed trials in 1972 and 1975), Gijs van Lennep, who was added to the Targa Florio golden roll of honour after his 1973 victory in a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, and Hans Herrmann, who in 1960 raced in a Porsche 718 RS60 Spyder alongside his teammate Joakim Bonnier. Nino Vaccarella, winner of three Targa Florios was also on the starting line.

Targa Florio Classic 2012 – Photo Gallery

(click image for larger picture and description)

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Eco Targa Florio 2012 – Race Results

Targa Florio Classic 2012 – Race Results
1. 1957 Fiat 1100/103 E, Giordano Mozzi and Irene Guarnieri
2. 1953 Jaguar XK 120 OTS, Marco Gatta and Mara Pelizzari
3. 1954 Triumph TR2, Eugenio Piccinelli and Ottorino Pellini
4. 1934 Fiat 508 S, Massimo Bettinsoli and Emanuele Peli
5. 1975 BMW 2002 Tii, Alessandro Aiello and Roberto Aiello
(See Targa Florio Classic 2012 – Complete Results)

Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio 2012 – Race Results
1. 1992 Ferrari 512 TR, Gino Verghini and Lamberto Fuso
2. 2009 Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M, Enrico Zobele and Ivana Trentinaglia Zobele
3. 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS, Christian Mehl and Friederike Mehl
4. 2010 Ferrari California, Francesco Guilla and Felicia Crisafulli
5. 009 Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M, Michael Aronovsky and Myles Tyler
(See Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio 2012 – Complete Results)

Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio 2012 – Video Recap

[Source: MAC Group; Ferrari SpA; photo: Renè Photocollection Italy]