Friday afternoon's deluge must have caused a great deal of anxiety for those particpating in the 5th 'Trofeo Moving History'. Saturday morning, however, greeted participants from all over Italy with warm sunshine and a clear, but for the occasional cloud, blue sky; a perfect day. Organised for the third year running by the mh-team from Sassuolo, this event continues to go from strength to strength.
Following the departure at Imola the competing cars met up again at Riolo Terme, where in front of a warm and enthusiastic crowd, the first driving test, timed to one hundreth of a second, was fought out amongst the usual two suspects, Panari and Bossi. Bossi from Bergamo, the reigning champion, overcame the Modenese artist with his agile Abarth A-112 also thanks to an error at the target cup (the driver must squash a plastic cup by driving over it), that Bossi would repeat later that day. Right on the heels of the two favourites the competition was intense and comprised of a group from Modena, preceded in this test by Silvestri with his Triumph TR4A and Dalleolle in his Alfa Romeo, they were followed by Lissoni, Ferrari and one noisy Luppi in his Porsche.
In the second test Bosssi re-established his lead, ahead of an inspired Dissoni, he was followed by Dalleolle and Danilo Maccaferri from San Cesario, also driving an Alfa Romeo, while Panari finished in fifth place losing contact with the leader, who went on to win the third test staged under FIVA regulations, a useful rehearsal for the Scuderia Modena Historica team's forthcoming international rally, with Bossi sure to be one of its stars. In the third test the wonderful competition 1954 Lancia Aurelia B20GT driven by Vespa from Ancona, followed by Silvestri-Albertoni in their Triumph TR4A and Reffo from Vincenza with his Jaguar.
After a brief pause for lunch, again up to its usual high standard, and we continued on the second stage of the rally, longer and more demanding than the morning's events. Bossi continued his drive alone, as at the last moment he had to abandon his navigator. This time trial under FIVA rules saw Ferrari with his Lotus Elan Sprint in second position ahead of Panari, Silvestri and Dalleolle. Dissoni made a mistake in the first sector and fell back in the classification meanwhile Marchesini with the Siata Spring and the all-female crew of Carnevali-Paderno with the wonderful Maserati 3500GT continued to impress.
At Castrocaro it was the Maseratista Piergallini who toyed with Bossi and won the fifth special test. Maccaferri coming an excellent third ahead of Panari, Vespa and Dalleolle, whilst Tironi, decidedly suffering from the loss of his usual navigator, remained rooted at the centre of the classification. Panari, won the sixth test with an impressive average, but Bossi followed close behind with victory firmly in his pocket. Tironi was third with his best result of the day. Fourth came Ferrari ahead of Silvestri and Dalleolle with the powerful Volvo P544 of Orlandini, driven in spectacular fashion, in close attention. Once again Piergallini, who had only come for the ride, brought up the rear but surprisingly performed very well in the big, none to easy to handle, Maserati Quattroporte Evoluzione. The final stage to our destination, Santarcangelo, although very demanding from a driving point of view, was most rewarding taking us through the wonderful and panoramic countryside, repaying all our hard work.
In the splendid Piazza Manganelli the cars gathered once again in front of a curious and enthusiastic crowd who came to admire this fine collection of classic cars. whilst awaiting the final results, the mh-team offered welcome refreshments which went down very well with the hard working teams. The trophies were then presented to the winners who were greeted with generous applause from the gathering crowd.
Victory went to Bossi followed by Panari. In third place was Umberto Ferrari in his fabulous Lotus. In the two other categories Bossi captured the Newtimers class and Ferrari-Franchini the Historic classahead of Silvestri Albertoni
in his Triumph TR4A and Dalleolle-Righi Grimaldi in an Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider, whilst victory in the third category, right on the heels of Panari and Ferrari with their Abarth A-112, were to the two young debutates, the skilful Tosi and Boschetti from San Marino, in their Audi TT.
In the general classification of the Scuderia Modena Historica, Bossi goes into the lead with 97.5 points followed by Panari with 90.7, third is Umberto Ferrari, then Dalleolle, Formilan and Maccaferri in that order.
Our next appointment is the fifth staging of the Trofeo Città di Sassuolo, Gran Premio delle Argille, on the 29th and 30th of May. |
