Piazza Vittoria colored red, the sidewalks of Viale Venezia full of people, Brescians and tourists, the umbrella in one hand and the flag with the red arrow in the other. This morning, in a bustling Brescia, the 2024 edition of the 1000 Miglia got underway. Car 1000 – the first of the convoy, with the singer Blanco on board – moved into gear at 12.30, under an uncertain sky and after a wait soaked in pouring rain. Around 450 other cars follow it, all built between 1927 and 1957: they will race for 2,200 kilometres, tackling a new route, in five stages and counterclockwise, which this year will also touch the cities of Turin and Genoa.
The route and the stages
The Savoy capital, a symbolic city of Italian motoring culture, is the arrival point of this first stage: to reach it, the cars will pass through Bergamo, Novara and Vercelli. The second stage will descend along the Tyrrhenian coast to Viareggio, passing through Acqui Terme and, for the first time, Genoa. The third will be the turn of Rome, where the cars will pass through the Via Veneto walkway, after having encountered Lucca, Castiglione della Pescaia, Viterbo and Ronciglione, while with the fifth they will return to proceed north passing through Orvieto, Solomeo, Siena and Prato, the Futa and Raticosa passes: the arrival is expected in San Lazzaro di Savena, near Bologna. Saturday 15 June the return to Brescia, crossing Ferrara, Bovolone and Villafranca, passing through Valtenesi and Salò, up to Viale Venezia again. The awards ceremony, for the first time in years, will return to the center: it will be held in Piazza Loggia at 7.30 pm, at the opening of the Notte Bianca.
Also this year, the Ferraris of the Tribute 1000 Miglia and the totally electric cars of the 1000 Miglia Green are anticipating the convoy of historic cars. In the queue, however, the convoy of supercars and hypercars registered for the 1000 Miglia. The small “green” convoy, reserved for electric cars, will travel in parallel with the 1000 Miglia 2024, with an alternative route of around 1,800 kilometres, a thousand of which will constitute the race route: the drivers will be faced with 15 time checks, 83 timed tests, 2 average tests and 18 stamp checks.
VIPs and well-known faces of the race
Like every year, even in this edition there is no shortage of well-known faces: in addition to Blanco, there is the presence of Matteo Marzotto, once again on board the self-driving car of the Polytechnic University of Milan. Instead, it will be the first time for the mayor of Brescia Laura Castelletti, who will run the stretch from Viareggio to Rome aboard the car of the “ambassadors of culture” alongside Maria Bussolati, director of the 1000 Miglia Museum.
Alongside the historic race, the 1000 Miglia Charity for Research also runs, which sees the participation of the special pink car of the Ieo-Monzino Foundation – a completely pink Lamborghini Urus S – to involve an ever-increasing number of people in the common mission of rendering cancer more treatable females. Here special drivers will alternate: Giulia Salemi, Aurora Ramazzotti with Goffredo Cerza, Carmela Generali with Marco Cartasegna, Nilufar Addati.
