This is the location of the Circuito di Bari, used between 1947 and 1956 for the Grande Premio di Bari (the track is shown in dark green) :
This image was generated based on a map obtained under these coordinates at Multimap.com.
Bari, with a length of 5.55 km and located by the sea, must have been an interesting track. I wonder if it might be revived one day (I am just daydreaming...). It was the place of Chico Landi's first victory in Europe. Landi, the first great Brazilian driver, won the 1948 Grande Premio driving a Ferrari 166.
Landi's influence in Brazilian motorsports is simply too large for someone like me to translate into words. He is directly responsible for putting Brazil in the racing map. He nurtured young talents, doing more than coaching - he gave them advice and support. Landi helped even those that did not care much for him, as Christian "Bino" Heinz - a promising, somewhat cocky young driver that was killed in a multi-car accident during the 1963 24 Heures du Mans.
He was a talkative, lively chap that would not stand still for a second. He was a larger-than-life character. I met him when my passion for motorsports was blooming, and he was the administrator of the Interlagos track - then in shambles, in the mid-eighties.
Landi had been invited by the São Paulo Mayor (being Interlagos a public track) for that position hoping that his name would generate enough publicity, and this eventually could attract companies, that in turn would pour money in the track. The repercussion of Landi's nomination was indeed considerable, but almost no one gave a cent. To see that man working at least six days a week for many, many hours - in his late age, and with his health beginning to fail - just to keep the track open was touching.
His perseverance (and his figure) reminded me of Cervantes’s character Don Quixote, as only a madman could be that persistent. These were times when the track would be ransacked by the people living in the favelas around the track, that used to demolish the track walls to build houses with the bricks. Guard-rails would be stolen and become roof cover. Wires, fuses and light bulbs were poached every week. Even the faucets and toilets would endure the same fate.
I remember when Chevrolet do Brasil made a donation to the track, as the Stock Cars drivers - a Chevrolet-sponsored category - refused to race unless guard-rails were installed. Once again Interlagos came back from the dead, and it was received with tears in the eyes of the Velho Chico. He was an amazing man.
Sorry, I got diverted. This is a map of Bari from Daniel King's Racing Circuits website to which I added the street names:
Guido, when are you going to Bari?
Cheers,
Muzza
