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Motor Racing

Man's passion with racing seems to be as old as his quest for speed and power. Pushing himself to the limits of this quest, he seeks glory. The greatest marques of today have at one time or other been a part of it. Its a fight where man is pitted against man and machine against machine or sometimes man and machine are pitted against nature.

The circuits around the world have proven to be a happy breeding ground for these exotic racing machines from Alfa Romeo to Porsche 917, each car holds a saga of passion , obsession and triumph. A story of these exotic machines and men behind them. Its a battle field , the stakes are high and every racing machine sitting there is seen as Morpheus - The God of dreams.

Mille Migilia

The Route

Bugatti

The atmosphere is highly festive. Thousands of people line up along the road to catch a glimpse of the finest breed of automobilia. Then far down the corner, a blood red Ferrari 250 TR is seen carefully negotiating a curve while its Good Year's work overtime to hold the car on the tarmac.

The driver, so cautions not to hurt the beautiful animal corners with precise steering feed. You can see him occasionally wiping his goggles with his near frozen leather gloves. Children clap and adults cheer as the prancing horse rolls down the road with an intoxicating rasp that only a Ferrari can produce . The atrocious weather further adds excitement to an already charged atmosphere and hardly you have overcome the Ferrari intoxication, a 1936 Lagonda rumbles across and now you have already started to feel the Mille heat.

'Mille Miglia' or a thousand miles is a race that starts from Brescia. It is an event that simply mesmerizes you. It is the place where the largest number of most sought after and exotic cars can be seen at one place, at one time. The cars are classics and these people Italian. There cannot be a more better love affair. Its pouring, your road book is now a lump of wet paper , you can hardly see the road, for the goggles have become foggy and you have to slow down occasionally, to wipe them. These events, not a hindrance but add spice to an already exciting race.

1936 Lagonda

Porsche RSK

On a nasty curve, a glaring silver Mercedes seems to be in a horrible hurry while pitching behind a 250 TR but TR is in no mood to give way. It was a Mercedes that won the last Mille Miglia race in 1957 before Mussolini decided to draw curtains on the race, because it was simply killing too many spectators and drivers.
If you thought driving a vintage while braving the circumstances is an already great effort, then getting an entry into the race is even more difficult. The rules laid down by the organizers double check that nothing goes wrong to dampen the excitement and nostalgia, the very purpose of the race.

Mercedes Benz 300

Though the revival hardly pretend to be a race, yet, watching these million dollars classics rumbling across the old cities of Italy brings back nostalgic moments of the days when the automobile was built with great pain, patience and love. The days when technology was at its least minimum and racing was a war. Ever try driving one of those old Lancia Aurelia B20 or Bugatti 35B down the curve at high speed cornering with the precise skill with your feet dancing between the pedals and unaided by any of these modern day computer controlled systems, you are bound to feel great satisfaction as you watch the road disappearing in the mirrors leaving behind dusty trail and two parallel tracks. Its pure ecstasy.

The organizers restrict the number of entries to around 300. You need to have a car with FIVA passport, Federation International of Vintage Automobiles. The preference always goes to exotic cars from exotic countries.

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