Luciano Viaro, from Trieste, and his 50 year-old co-driver from Mantua Luca Bergamaschi are the winners of the 2007 Mille Miglia retrospective.

After an exhausting battle with the 1927 Bugatti T37 driven by Bruno and Carlo Ferrari, Viaro, driving the 1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 S, with which he won the race in 2005 with Maurizio De Marco, is victorious again. Last year he was second behind Giuliano Cané (nine victories from 1992 to 2006). It was the second win for Viaro and the third for Alfa Romeo (the Milanese manufacturer having won in 1977 with the Hepp/Bauer 1927 RL).



The crew, representing the Alfa Romeo Register of Members, showed exemplary determination, even when facing the most difficult events such as in Urbino, where they had to miss a lunch-stop, being worried about re-starting problems due to problems with the car’s fuel pump.



Once the technical problem had been solved, the red car marched on at full speed, giving Viaro a victory which will go down in history: 80 years after the birth of the famous Mille Miglia ‘Red Arrow’.



Worth mentioning are the ‘golden turtle’ - the winners’ lucky charm in the manner of the great Mantuan Tazio Nuvolari - pinned to their race suits, and the perfect sympathy between Viaro and his new navigator Luca Bergamaschi (director of the Museo Nuvolari).



The driver from Trieste explains: “I want to dedicate my victory to Alfa Romeo, to my wife Maria Giovanna and our son Antonio, who works with me producing stopwatches. The Mille Miglia was conceived in Brescia and was brought back to life recently in Brescia, but it is an Italian inheritance”.



To 56 year-old architect Bruno Ferrari from Brescia, winner in 1995 (Abarth 750 Zagato), second position should not sound as a defeat: his Bugatti T37 has run flawlessly, as regular as clockwork, were it not for a moment’s carelessness during the last trial in Scaldsole/Radicofani. He dominated the race both after the first and the second trial in Rome, thus ending the race with honour, after only 1031 points from the winner.



Third position goes to lawyer Flaminio Valseriati and his young co-driver Andrea Guerini in extremis. Their 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans allowed them to step on to the podium thanks to the wonderful performance during the last trials in Modena.



The Bolognese Giuliano Cané, coupled with his wife Lucia Galliani, comes fourth in their 1940 BMW 328 Touring, which gave them victory in 2002. They did not grasp their tenth win, in spite of a general expectation. The Mille Miglia record-holder had been hindered during the first part of the race due to some carburettor troubles.



He fixed them in Rome and was able to move from the seventh to third position before arriving in Modena, but was finally defeated by Valseriati. Ezio Perletti, fifth in the cockpit of his 1930 Fiat 514 Coppa Alpi, was able to overcome engine troubles with the help of co-driver Andrea Vesco.



Salvinelli Fabio was sixth successfully defending his position from the attacks of Sisti Sergio, who is seventh in an 1932 Aston Martin International.



The Argentinian Manoel Elicabe was eighth (1926 Bugatti T37) and first among the non-Italians. Franca Boni and Monica Barziza (BMW) won the Ladies’ Cup with their thirteenth position. Luca Bizzarri and Paolo Kessisoglu, anchormen of the satirical TV show on Italia Uno Channel, ended the race in the 110th position.



FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION (after 40 time trials)
1. Viaro-Bergamaschi (1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 S n. 26) 15452
2. Ferrari-Ferrari (1927 Bugatti T37 n. 41) 14421;
3. Valseriati-Guerini (1933 Aston Martin Le Mans n. 112) 13080
4. Cané-Galliani (1940 Bmw 328 Touring n. 138) 13021
5. Perletti-Vesco (1930 Fiat 514 Coppa Alpi n. 50) 12761
6. Salvinelli-Rizzo (1936 MG PB n. 121) 12630
7. Sisti-Sisti (1932 Aston Martin International n. 84) 12302
8. Ecalibe-Varalla (1926 Bugatti T37 n. 30) 12276
9. Sielecki-Hervas (1926 Bugatti T35 A n. 34) 11941
10. Accerenzi-Bettoncelli (1936 Riley 12/4 n. 117) 11184
11. Redaelli-Moceri (1929 Aston Martin International n. 60) 11099
12. Per bellini-Perbellini (1950 Jaguar Biondetti S n. 369) 11065
13. Boni-Barziza (1937 BMW 328 n. 118) 10260

Text: Classic Driver
Photos: Mathias Paulokat / Mille Miglia