By RaceScene Publisher on Thursday, 03 October 2024
Category: The Checkered Flag

1000 Miglia revives pre-war figure 8 route for 2025

In 2025, the 1000 Miglia will throw back to the days before the Second World War by racing on a figure 8-style course inspired by the routes used in its early history.

Since its revival in 1977, the race primarily ran a single loop, though the orientation varied each year. For example, the 2023 edition ran clockwise before going counter-clockwise in 2024.

The 2025 race will start in Brescia, from which the route goes clockwise through San Lazzaro di Savena. After that, the route breaks through the Apennines mountains and crosses the Raticosa and Futa passes into Prato. From Prato, the race travels southwards before arriving in Rome to mark the end of the second leg.

The third leg brings the event back north on the way to Cervia and Milano Marittima in Emilia-Romagna. Leg #4 turns competitors southwest where they will cross Prato once again-thereby completing the figure 8’s “overpass” en route to Empoli; a run along the coast takes everyone to Parma. The fifth and final leg concludes the race from Parma back to Brescia.

Credit: 1000 Miglia S.r.l.

A figure 8 format was used by the original Mille Miglia from the inaugural edition in 1927 to 1938. World War II halted the race afterwards save for a one-off in 1940, which adopted a traditional loop course that became the norm following the war. The Mille Miglia continued with this layout until its cancellation after 1957, and it remained upon being revived as a vintage race twenty years later.

The 1000 Miglia in its current form is reserved for vehicles whose models, if not the cars themselves, ran the original Mille Miglia from 1927 to 1957. Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli are the defending winners, having won every edition since 2021 in their 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Spider Zagato.

The 2025 race is scheduled for 17–21 June.

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