Monza

• Monza Track History

A Brief History of the Track itself.

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is located near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. It was built in 1922 and is the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis.

Built in the Royal Villa of Monza park in a woodland setting, the site had three tracks – the 5.793-kilometre (3.600 mi) Grand Prix track,[2] the 2.405-kilometre (1.494 mi) Junior track,[3] and a 4.250-kilometre (2.641 mi) high speed oval track with steep bankings which has been unused for many decades.

Drivers are on full throttle for most of the lap due to its long straights and fast corners, and is usually the scenario in which the open-wheeled Formula One cars show the raw speed of which they are capable: 372 kilometres per hour (231 mph) during the mid-2000s V10 engine formula.

In addition to Formula One, the circuit hosts an endurance event, the 1000 km Monza, which has been run as part of the World Sportscar Championship and the Le Mans Series. Monza also featured the unique Race of Two Worlds events, which attempted to run Formula One and United States Auto Club National Championship cars against each other, and previously held rounds of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, in the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix. Current major events are races of the World Touring Car Championship and the Superbike World Championship, as well as various local championship races.

The Monza circuit has been the site of many fatal accidents, especially in the early years of the Formula One world championship and has claimed the lives of 52 drivers and 35 spectators. Track modifications have continuously occurred, to improve spectator safety and reduce curve speeds, but it is still criticised by the current drivers for its lack of run-off areas, most notoriously at the chicane that cuts the Variante della Roggia.

The first track was built from May to July 1922 by 3,500 workers, financed by the Milan Automobile Club – which created the Società Incremento Automobilismo e Sport (SIAS) to run the track. The track was officially opened on 3 September 1922, with the maiden race the second Italian Grand Prix held on 10 September 1922.

In 1928, the most serious Italian racing accident to date ended in the death of driver Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators at that year's Grand Prix. The accident led to further Grand Prix races confinement to the high-speed loop until 1932. The 1933 race was marked by the deaths of three drivers and the Grand Prix layout was changed, with two chicanes added and the longer straights removed.

There was major rebuilding in 1938–39, constructing new stands and entrances, resurfacing the track, moving portions of the track and adding two new bends. The resulting layout gave a Grand Prix lap of 6.300 kilometres (3.91 mi), in use until 1954. The outbreak of World War II meant racing at the track was suspended until 1948 and parts of the circuit degraded due to the lack of maintenance. Monza was renovated over a period of two months at the beginning of 1948 and a Grand Prix was held on 17 October 1948.

In 1954, work began to entirely revamp the circuit, resulting in a 5.750 kilometres (3.573 mi) course, and a new 4.250 kilometres (2.641 mi) high-speed oval with banked sopraelevata curves. The two circuits could be combined to re-create the former 10 kilometres (6.214 mi) long circuit.

The Automobile Club of Italy held 500-mile (805 km) Race of Two Worlds exhibition competitions, intended to pit United States Auto Club IndyCars against European Formula One and sports cars. The races were held on the oval at the end of June in 1957 and 1958, races which colloquially became known as the Monzanapolis series.

Ecurie Ecosse's three Jaguar D-type sports cars used their Le Mans-specification tyres with no ill-effects, but were completely out paced.

Formula One used the 10 kilometres (6.214 mi) high speed track in the 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1961 Grands Prix. Stirling Moss and Phil Hill both won twice in this period, with Hill's win at Monza making him the first American to win a Formula One race. The 1961 race saw the death of Wolfgang von Trips and fifteen spectators when a collision with Jim Clark's Lotus sent von Trips' car airborne and into the barriers on Parabolica.

Although the accident did not occur on the oval section of the track, the high speeds were deemed unsafe and F1 use of the oval was ended; future Grands Prix were held on the shorter road circuit, with the banking appearing one last time in the film Grand Prix. New safety walls, rails and fences were added before the next race and the refuelling area was moved further from the track. Chicanes were added before both bankings in 1966, and another fatality in the 1968 1000 km Monza race led to run-off areas added to the curves, with the track layout changing the next year to incorporate permanent chicanes before the banked curves.

The banking held the last race in 1969 with the 1000 km of Monza, the event moving to the road circuit the next year. The banking still exists, albeit in a decayed state in the years since the last race, escaping demolition in the 1990s. It is used once a year for the Monza Rally. The banked oval was used several times for record breaking up till the late 1960s.

Courtesy: Wikipedia.

Further Information

Wikipedia

Racing Circuit Info