The 23. edizione Mille Miglia was an auto race held on a 992.332 mile (1597 km) course made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on 28–29 April 1956. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish, in Brescia. It was the 3rd round of the 1956 World Sportscar Championship.
As in previous years, this event was not strictly a race against each other, but a race against the clock. The cars were released at one-minute intervals, usually with the larger professional class cars going before the slower cars; in the Mille Miglia, however, the smaller displacement slower cars started first. Each car number related to the car’s allocated start time. For example, Peter Collins's car had the number 551, which meant he left Brescia at 5:51am, although the first cars had started late in the evening on the previous day. Some drivers went with navigators, others didn't; a number of local Italian drivers had knowledge of the routes being used and felt confident enough that they wouldn't need one.
This race was won by Scuderia Ferrari driver Eugenio Castellotti without the aid of a navigator. He completed the 992-mile distance in 11 hours, 37 minutes and 10 seconds- an average speed of 85.403 mph (137.442 km/h). The Italian finished 12 minutes in front of his second-placed team-mates, the English pairing of Collins and Louis Klemantaski. Luigi Musso and Juan Manuel Fangio were next, ensuring Ferrari finished 1-2-3-4.
Report
Entry
A total of 426 cars were entered for the event, across 13 classes including Grand Touring Cars, Touring Cars and Sports Cars with engine sizes ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0-litres. Of the cars entered, 365 cars started the event.
Following the withdrawal of both Daimler Benz AG and Lancia from motor sport at the end of 1955, the World Sportscar Championship was left wide open for Ferrari to regain the title they had held in 1953 and 1954, although Maserati also aimed to win the title. Each team had one win apiece from the first two races, but Ferrari had the upper hand as they led the championship by four points.
For the 1956 Mille Miglia, the only racing factory teams were Ferrari and Maserati. Scuderia Ferrari brought five cars: two 290 MMs for Castellotti and Fangio, two 860 Monzas for Collins and Musso, with a 250 GT SWB for Olivier Gendebien. The other works team was Maserati, who entered three cars driven by Stirling Moss (350S), Piero Taruffi and Cesare Perdisa, both in 300S. Meanwhile, there was a significant contingent of Mercedes-Benz cars – no less than 14 semi-works Mercedes-Benz 300SL. With the numbers of participants being reduced by the organisers, many international racing teams and their drivers stayed away from the race.
Race
Ferrari's race plan was, in the first half of the race, Castellotti and Fangio would push hard in their faster cars, with Collins and Musso saving their strength for the return leg, arriving fresh in Rome, then able to attack over the rough and winding mountain passes of Radicofani, Futa and Raticosa. Despite this plan, the Maserati of Taruffi took the lead between Ravenna and Forlì, but problems with wet brakes forced him to stop at Savignano sul Rubicone. The Mercedes of Wolfgang von Trips took over the lead, ahead of Castellotti and the Mercedes of Fritz Reiss. The early race sensation were the two Osca drivers Giulio Cabianca and Umberto Maglioli who were lying in fifth and seventh places in their little 1.2 litre 4-cylinder cars. But von Trips left the road in Pescara, while Moss did the same in Antrodoco. By Rome, Reiss would be the only threat to Ferrari, but he too was forced to slow down, eventually finishing tenth overall. Castellotti went on to win the event. In the fast mountain passes down to Pescara, the Osca drivers could not keep up the pace and soon fell back in the standings.
However, the event was marred by many severe accidents, resulting in 6 deaths and 14 people injured, largely due to heavy rain throughout Italy in the early hours of the race. These accidents happened in spite of the attempt by the organisers to make the event safer. The fatal accidents included one that resulted in the death of the Englishman John Heath. He came off the wet road before Ravenna and overturned into a ditch. He died the next day from his injuries in a local hospital. Another fatality occurred in the small town of Montemarciano on the Adriatic coast, 260 miles (416 km) into the race, when the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL driven by the German pairing of Helmut Busch and Wolfgang Piwco left the road. At the time of the accident, Piwco was driving the car. The car hit a wall, killing him instantly, while Busch suffered only minor injuries. One spectator was also injured. A third accident claimed the life of Swiss driver Max Berney, who was killed just outside Ravenna after his Alfa rolled after having hit a house in pouring rain at four o' clock in the morning. His co-driver Ivo Badaracco was seriously injured, but he survived. In addition to these 3 competitors, 3 spectators were also killed. An Alfa Romeo 1900 driven by Aldo Giacobi went off the road barely 20 miles into the race and 2 spectators, Egidio Pincella and Igino Leoncelli, were hit and killed by the impact. The car then crossed the road, hit a parked vehicle and injured five other spectators. Later on in Pescara, 400 miles (640 km) into the race, a Stanguellini 750 Sport driven by Giorgio Cecchini hit and killed a spectator named Guerrino Sciarra.https://www.klemcoll.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/eugenio-castellotti-1956-mille-mihlia/
When Castellotti arrived back in Brescia, he had more than a ten-minute advantage over Collins. Musso was in third place, Fangio in fourth and Gendebien in fifth, completing a top-five clean sweep for Ferrari. Maserati experienced a debacle, with only Jean Behra making it back to Brescia. He had had to make several repairs on the way and finished 20th overall. Behind the Ferraris, were the three Mercedes of Paul von Metternich, Wolfgang Seidel and Jacques Pollet, in sixth, seventh and eighth places, respectively. Cabianca would eventually finish in ninth place after a spirited drive. Reiss, who was plagued by engine problems late in the race, arrived in tenth place. Castellotti reached Brescia at 17:25, 11 hours and 37 minutes after leaving Brescia at 05:48. He completed the race at an average speed of 85.403 mph.
Classification
Official Results
Of the 365 starters, 182 were classified as finishers. Therefore, only a selection of notable racers has been listed below.
Class Winners are in Bold text.
Pos. No. Class Driver Entrant Car - Engine Time Reason Out 1st 548 S+2.0 Eugenio Castellotti Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 290 MM Scaglietti 11hr 37:10 2nd 551 S+2.0 Peter Collins Louis Klemantaski Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 860 Monza Scaglietti 11hr 49:28 3rd 556 S+2.0 Luigi Musso Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 860 Monza Scaglietti 12hr 11:49 4th 600 S+2.0 Juan Manuel Fangio Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 290 MM 12hr 26:50 5th 505 T/GT+2.0 Olivier Gendebien Jacques Washer Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti 12hr 29:58 6th 504 T/GT+2.0 Paul von Metternich Wittigo von Einsiedel Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 12hr 36.38 7th 454 T/GT+2.0 Wolfgang Seidel Helmut Glöckler Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 12hr 38:24 8th 450 T/GT+2.0 Jacques Pollet P. Flandrak Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 12hr 49:58 9th 428 S1.5 Giulio Cabianca Osca MT4 12hr 57:11 10th 443 T/GT+2.0 Fritz Riess Hermann Eger Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 13hr 06:31 11th 106 T/GT1.3 Roberto Sgorbati Luigi Zanelli Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV 13hr 06:42 12th 120 T/GT1.3 Giorgio Becucci Pasquale Cazzato Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV 13hr 12:41 13th 529 S2.0 Giorgio Scarlatti Maserati A6GCS 13hr 19:02 14th 326 T/GT2.0 Casimiro Toselli Renato Canaparo Fiat 8V 13hr 19:02 15th 050 T/GT1.3 Jo Bonnier Bo Beesen Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV 13hr 20:58 16th 455 T/GT+2.0 Arnaldo Bongiasca Mario Bongiasca Mercedes-Benz 300SL 13hr 26:05 17th 507 T/GT+2.0 Luciano Mantovani Nereo Cantuseno Lancia Aurelia 12hr 26:23 18th 255T/GT1.6 Olof Persson Gunnar Blomqvist Porsche 356 Carrera 13hr 32:64 19th 323 T/GT2.0 Maggiorello Maggiorelli Adalberto Parenti Fiat 8V 12hr 56:11 20th 433 S1.5 Jean Behra Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 150S 13hr 34:09 21st 314 T/GT2.0 Nello Sassoli Aurelio Schoen Fiat 8V Zagato 13hr 38:12 22nd 248 T/GT1.6 Max Nathan Gert Kaiser Porsche 356 1500 Carrera 13hr 40:07 23rd 037 T/GT1.3 Paul-Ernst Straehle Sepp Greger Porsche 356A 1300 Super 13hr 40:29 24th 448 T/GT+2.0 Giuliano Giovanardi Giorgio Meier Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti 13hr 40:35 25th 509 T/GT+2.0 Erwin Bauer Eugen Grupp Mercedes-Benz 220A 13hr 42:20 26th 310 T/GT2.0 Marino Guarnieri Danilo Brancalion Fiat 8V Zagato 13hr 44:57 27th 338 T/GT2.0 Daniele Pistoia Alfa Romeo 1900 13hr 45:49 28th 547 S+2.0 Cesare Perdisa Maserati 300S 13hr 47:17 29th 118 T/GT1.3 Marcel Stern Robert Barbey Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV 13hr 47:19 30th 346 T/GT2.0 Bruno Mazzi Emanuele de Amicis Alfa Romeo 1900 13hr 48:22 40th 245 SP Georges Guyot Jaguar XK140 14hr 07:15 49th 451 T/GT+2.0 Arthur Heuberger W. Heuberger BMW 507 14hr 21:50 50th 107 T/GT1.3 Carlo Guidetti Montano Lampugnani Siata 1250GT 14hr 22:04 54th 7 T/GT750 Maurice Michy Alpine-Renault A106MM 14hr 34:55 55th 76 T/GT1.0 Robert Manzon L. Borsa D.B.-Panhard HBR 14hr 36:54 56th 518 S2.0 Francesco Giardini Maserati A6GCS 14hr 38:42 57th 2348 T/GT1.1 Ludovico Scarfiotti Fiat 1100/103 TV 14hr 39:15 62nd 404 S1.1 Attilio Brandi Osca MT4 1100 14hr 48:42 70th 229 SP Peter Scott-Russell Tom Haig MG A 15hr 02:15 72nd 254 T/GT1.6 Sheila van Damm Peter Harper Sunbeam Rapier 15hr 04:37 77th 247 SP Tommy Wisdom Walter E. Monaco Austin-Healey 100M 15hr 09:08 82nd 75 T/GT1.0 Gilberte Thirion Renault Dauphine 15hr 14:10 105th 61 T/GT1.0 Maurice Trintignant A. Drouot Renault Dauphine 15hr 39:53 106th 210 S750 Ovidio Capelli Osca S750 15hr 41:15 107th 73 T/GT1.0 Louis Rosier Renault Dauphine 15hr 41:24 110th 62 T/GT1.0 Paul Frère Renault Dauphine 15hr 41:24 130th 155 S750 René Philippe Faure Roger Faure Stanguellini 750 Sport 16hr 17:04 137th 219 S750 Roberto Lippi Alberta Ralli Stanguellini 750 Sport 16hr 31:32 151st 301 T/GT1.6 Gregor Grant MG Magnette 16hr 57:56 182nd 2341 T/GT1.1 Pasquale Cardinali Vittorio Baldini Fiat 1100 21hr 38:18 DNF 424 S1.5 Umberto Maglioli Osca MT4 1500 6hr 15:18 DNF DNF 436 S1.5 Luigi Villoresi Osca MT4 1500 6hr 34:42 DNF DNF 419 S1.5 Hans Herrmann Werner Enz Porsche 550 RS 9hr 55:20 DNF DNF 68 T/GT1.0 Jean Rédélé Louis Pons Renault Dauphine DNF DNF 112 T/GT1.3 Ivo Badaracco Max Berney Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Fatal accident(Berney) DNF 200 S750 Élie Bayol D.B.-Panhard HBR DNF DNF 215 S750 Louis Chiron Osca S750 Clutch DNF 234 SP Bruno Ferrari Franco Dari Bruno Ferrari AC Ace Accident DNF 242 SP Leslie Brooke Stan Asbury Austin-Healey 100M Accident DNF 358 S1.1 ”Nando” Osca MT4 1100 DNF DNF 425 S1.5 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyder DNF DNF 434 S1.5 Alejandro de Tomaso Maserati 150S DNF DNF 446 T/GT+2.0 Wolfgang von Trips Horst Straub Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Accident DNF 502 T/GT+2.0 Helmut Busch Wolfgang Piwco Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Fatal accident(Piwco) DNF 545 S+2.0 John Heath H. W. Motors HWM-Jaguar Fatal accident DNF 553 S+2.0 Piero Taruffi Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 300S Fantuzzi Accident DNF 554 S+2.0 Stirling Moss Denis Jenkinson Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 350S Fantuzzi Accident DNF 557 S+2.0 Gerino Gerini Maserati 300S Scaglietti DNF DNF 453 T/GT+2.0 Camillo Luglio Elfo Frignani Ferrari 250 GT Boano Competizione DNF http://www.teamdan.com/wsc/1956/56mille.html
Class Winners