Coppa Florio

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1907 poster showing the Coppa Florio on 1 September and Coppa di Velocita on 2 September. 1907-09-02 Coppa Florio e Velocita poster.jpg
1907 poster showing the Coppa Florio on 1 September and Coppa di Velocità on 2 September.

The Coppa Florio (or Florio Cup) was a motorsport race for automobiles first held in Italy in 1900. It was renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50,000 Lira prize money and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The cup was to be awarded to the car maker who gained the most wins in the first seven races, beginning with the race held in 1905. In the event, the first seven races were all won by different manufacturers, but Peugeot won the eighth race in 1925 and thus secured the cup with its second win. However, the competition for the cup continued after Lucien Rosengart, then a director of Peugeot, offered to make it available again.

Contents

The Brescia race ran along the route Brescia-Cremona-Mantua-Brescia. In 1908, the race used the Circuito di Bologna: Bologna-Castelfranco Emilia-Sant'Agata Bolognese-San Giovanni in Persiceto-Bologna. [1] After 1914, most of the Coppa Florio races were co-organized with the Targa Florio at the Circuito delle Madonie circuit outside Palermo, Sicily, running four or five laps, 108 km each. Only in 1927 did the race move to Saint-Brieuc, in honour of Peugeot's second win in 1925. [2] [3] The race attracted teams from around Europe as well as the 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeams from England [4] and was an opportunity to see Sir Henry Segrave and Jean Chassagne competing. [5] The winners were: [6] [7] [8]

From 1974, the Coppa Florio was revived as a sports car race held at the Autodromo di Pergusa in Sicily. The race counted towards the World Sportscar Championship most years from 1975, last being held in 1981. In 2020, the Coppa Florio was again revived at Pergusa, being the fifth round of the 2020 24H GT and TCE Series as the Coppa Florio 12 Hours of Sicily. [9] [10] The race was again confirmed as part of the 24H Series calendar, of 2021, being the seventh round of 8 events scheduled for the 2 and 3 of October, [11] but was later cancelled. [12]

Past winners

EditionDateCircuitWinnerVehicleTime
--10 September 1900Brescia Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Alberto Franchetti [13] Panhard & Levassor 12 HP n/a
--5 September 1904Brescia Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Vincenzo Lancia Fiat 75 HP 2*167 km=372.2 km in 3h12m
I4 September 1905Brescia Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Giovanni Battista Raggio Itala 112 HP 3*167 km=500.7 km in 4h46m
II1 September 1907Brescia Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Ferdinando Minoia Isotta Fraschini 8*60 km=485.7 km in 4h39m
III6 September 1908Bologna Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Felice Nazzaro Fiat 10*52 km=528.1 km in 4h25m [1]
IV31 May 1914Madonie Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Felice Nazzaro Nazzaro 3*148 km=446.5 km in 8h11m
V4 September 1921Brescia Flag of France.svg Jules Goux Ballot 3L 519 km in 3h35m
VI19 November 1922Madonie Flag of France.svg André Boillot Peugeot 432 km in 7h09m
VII27 April 1924Madonie Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg Christian Werner Mercedes-Benz TF 432 km in 6h32m
VIII3 May 1925Madonie Flag of France.svg André Boillot Peugeot 432 km in 6h04m
IX 25 April 1926Madonie Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Bartolomeo Costantini Bugatti Type 35T 540 km in 7h20m
X17 July 1927Saint-Brieuc Flag of France.svg Robert Laly Ariès n/a
XI6 May 1928Madonie Flag of France.svg Albert Divo Bugatti Type 35B n/a
XII5 May 1929Madonie Flag of France.svg Albert Divo Bugatti Type 35C n/a

Winners of revived race

The following is a list of winners of the revived race held at Pergusa: [10]

YearWinnerVehicle
1974 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Fitzpatrick Porsche Carrera RSR
1975 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario
Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass
Alfa Romeo 33TT12
1976 Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen
Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass
Porsche 936
1977 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Alfa Romeo 33SC12
1978 Flag of Italy.svg Gimax
Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Francia
Osella PA6-BMW
1979 Flag of Italy.svg Lella Lombardi
Flag of Italy.svg Enrico Grimaldi
Osella PA7-BMW
1980Not held
1981 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards
Lola T600-Ford
1982

2019
Not held
2020 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Frédéric Fatien
Flag of South Africa.svg Jordan Grogor
Flag of France.svg Mathieu Jaminet
Flag of Germany.svg Robert Renauer
Porsche 911 GT3 R

References

  1. 1 2 Ricorda del circuito di Bologna 1908 Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Coppa Florio 1927 discussion
  3. 1927 Coppa Florio
  4. Targa Florio, W F Bradley P82-83
  5. Rapiditas Vol.5 1922-1923 P.60
  6. GP Winners 1894-2007 from forix.com
  7. Coppa Florio from targaflorio.info
  8. "GRAND PRIX WINNERS 1895-1949". kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman. Archived from the original on 2001-04-17. Retrieved 2001-04-07.
  9. "CREVENTIC to revive the Coppa Florio at the Autodromo di Pergusa". CALENDAR 2020. 24hseries.com. Creventic . Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. 1 2 Goodwin, Graham. "Creventic Revives Historic Coppa Florio". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  11. "Single Championship for 2021; Provisional Calendar Released". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. "THE HUNGARORING IS BACK ON THE 24H SERIES CALENDAR". 24hseries.com. Creventic. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  13. "GRAND PRIX WINNERS 1895-1949". kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman. Archived from the original on 2009-04-13. Retrieved 2008-01-02.