35 replies to this topic

[SEdward]

Following on from the recent and excellent thread about the walk around the circuit in Angoulême, I thought I'd post a few photos of Pescara that I took last week when on holiday in Italy.

A lot has already been written in this forum about the circuit in Pescara, so I won't bother repeating what has already been said. Use the "Search BB" function, enter "Pescara" and you will find a lot of information and a host of photos about the circuit. Many photos of the track from the Fellowes collection have already been posted, some of which perfectly match the images below. It is quite easy to match the pictures I took in Spoltore and Capelle sul Tavo with the photos from the 1930s.

Traffic was quite dense all around the circuit and I had to wait for ages to get a clear track for the photos. The traffic also made it hard for me to suddenly stop the car and jump out for a photo. I would have liked to take many more, but it simply wasn't possible without causing a pile-up or being seriously bad-mouthed by irate truck drivers.

The surroundings of the circuit have changed considerably since its heyday and urban development has replaced the olive groves with housing estates. This made it quite hard to recognise certain points of the track.

To tell the truth, it's a pretty daft circuit. It is triangular in shape. Two sides of the triangle are made up of endless straights. Only the third side, that climbs from Pescara, through Spoltone to Capelle sul Tavo is really of any interest.

Apart from the statue at the top end of the track that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the very first race in 1924 (won by Enzo Ferrari), I could not find any signs of the track's past. I spotted the occasional kerb or wall painted black and white and that's about it. I did not spot a memorial for Guy Moll, but there again, I have no idea where on the track he perished and I could not slow down too much to look because of the traffic. I found only the "Piazza Guy Moll" on the straight from Capelle sul Tavo to Montesilvano. If there is a memorial to Guy Moll somewhere on the circuit, then I'd be interested to know where.

One last question. Was it at Pescara that Jack Brabham ran out of fuel and asked a local "garagista" for a top-up?

Enjoy.
Edward

http://img254.echo.c...kpescara5zu.jpg

I was unable to locate the start. Finding the right turn that led out of Pescara and into the mountains was also impossible. I spent some time wandering around the one-way system before I spotted this...



The drive out of the town of Pescara is pretty dismal as the road threads its way between tatty industrial estates and shopping centres. Things got better after taking the road to Spoltore.




The first photo looks back up the circuit before the right-hander in the centre of Spoltore. The second photo shows the exit of the same corner. Sorry about the municipal rubbish bin. The first two photos in the following post were taken at the same point: the first from the inside of the corner and the second from the exit. Later on in the thread, there is another photo taken from the inside of the exit of the same corner.
http://forums.atlasf...283#post1618283

Somewhere between Spoltore and Capelle sul Tavo.


This is the monument commemorating the 80th anniversary of the circuit. The views from the top end of the track are breath-taking. In the background you can see the foothills of the Abruzzi mountains and the Adriatic coast.


This is the hairpin at the top of the circuit, just before the descent into Capelle sul Tavo. The thread mentioned above includes a number of photos taken at this spot.


Capelle sul Tavo, looking back up the track. I am pretty sure that the photo of Carraciola on page 225 of the late Chris Nixon's "Racing the Silver Arrows" was taken here, looking in the other direction.


Same place, this time looking downhill towards Montesilvano.


This is the start of the straight between Capelle sul Tavo and Montesilvano. As you can see, it is fairly built-up now and I'm sure that the autostrada did not exist when the circuit was in use.


The only reference I could find to Guy Moll: a small ornamental garden in a sorry state of repair.


And a board, lying on the ground, recounting his career.


The last photo shows the road from Montesilvano to Pescara. You can see for yourselves just how much traffic there was.


If anyone out there can provide guidance as to just where the chicane and the start/finish line were, then I'd be grateful.

[Ray Bell]

Evocative, despite the ravages of time... thanks very much for what you did.

[tonicco]

Originally posted by SEdward
One last question. Was it at Pescara that Jack Brabham ran out of fuel and asked a local "garagista" for a top-up?

According to Richard Williams' "The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix", yes.

Thanks for the wonderful post

[petefenelon]

Wonderful - particularly the corner in Spoltore, which really does take us back to the days when drivers were DRIVERS.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by SEdward
... I did not spot a memorial for Guy Moll, but there again, I have no idea where on the track he perished and I could not slow down too much to look because of the traffic. I found only the "Piazza Guy Moll" on the straight from Capelle sul Tavo to Montesilvano...

Edward - thank you very much for your very interesting thread.

Moll got killed between Capelle sul Tavo and Montesilvano but closer to Capelle than Montesilvano. Here an extract from my story about this race, written some years ago:

"On lap 18, Moll went faster through the winding section than he had ever done before. He was closely following Henne through the Capelle hairpin and as they entered the downhill Monte Silvano straight, Moll attempted to overtake the German’s Mercedes, which was now a full lap behind. The German did not expect Moll to pass on this narrow section where he needed almost the full width of the track just to keep the Mercedes on the road. A passing maneuver would be just too dangerous. But instead of waiting for one or two miles until the road widened, the inspired Moll gradually pulled alongside the German. Moll was slightly in front of Henne's Mercedes, when the Alfa Romeo fell back, moved too far to the left, the wheels slid over the road edge and veered into the shallow ditch at the side of the road. For about 50 meters the car remained straight with Moll braking and trying frantically to regain the road. Then one front wheel struck a low stone pillar, which was part of the wall of a small bridge. The impact at over 155 mph caused the car to vault into the air, somersaulting high, flinging out Moll. He was killed instantly. The car kept tearing through telegraph wires, tumbling repeatedly, felling some young trees and crashing down until it came to rest at the side of a house after 300 to 400 yards. The spectators who hastened to the site found Moll's lifeless body on the opposite side of the road against a concrete post.

"The exact cause of this crash will probably never be known. Statements from various accounts are contradictory and Moll's death was most likely instantaneous. Did a sudden gust of the Scirocco cause Moll to drift off the road? In Chris Nixon's book, 'Racing The SILVER ARROWS', Ernst Henne said, he could see that Moll wanted to pass him at a stretch were the road was very narrow. As they were doing about 170 mph downhill, Henne could see out of the corner of his eyes as Moll tried to pull alongside him only to fall back, but their cars never touched. There were different versions of what happened and, later on, groundless accusations were made that the cars touched, trying to put the blame of the crash on Henne, whose driving was described as wild and suspect. However, he was an easy target since this was his first grand prix race. Even though he had raced motorcycles for ten years, he was inexperienced driving these fast, poor handling cars. Guy Moll's dreadful crash in essence ended the race, which came to a somber end with the full 20 laps completed."

[SEdward]

Thank you Hans.

The memorial square is indeed between Cappelle sul Tavo and Montesilvano, but it is some distance after the descent from the village and is about 1 kilometer along the flat, long straight. Having said that, I suspect that reports from the time were sketchy and approximate and that the memorial square may indeed be where Moll died.

Edward

[bigears]

Wonderful photographs Edward!

[HistoricMustang]

TNF'ers continue to document former circuits and tracks around the globe.

Great jobs!

Henry

[stavelot]

Really great pics!

But this one link


http://img254.echo.c...kpescara5zu.jpg


is broken.

[SEdward]

I've tried to fix the broken link.

Edward

[Berger]

Link works!

[Arjan de Roos]

Thank you Edward for sharing your holiday pics!

Guy Moll, Enzo's favorite driver. He deserves a better memorial.

[Kvadrat]

Beautiful pictures, thank you!

Originally posted by SEdward
[B]This is the hairpin at the top of the circuit, just before the descent into Capelle sul Tavo. The thread mentioned above includes a number of photos taken at this spot.

Is this the place?

Source - Motorfilms Quarterly

[SEdward]

Kvadrat.

I cannot be 100% sure, but I think that it is the same place, looking in the other direction.

The statue in my thread is positioned where the tree is on the left-hand side of your photo. My picture of the hairpin was taken from a point that is probably about twenty or thirty meters behind the Auto Union in your photo.

Best.
Edward

[Arturo Pereira]

Excellent pictures !! Thanks for posting this nostalgic pearl

[Keir]

Looks like quite the daunting course !!

[Almas]

Dear Edward,

I am new, I come from Montesilvano, but I live in Rome now.
I can help you for your questions...
You are right, Guy Moll died near the square. It happened at the end of 17th chilometre or, if you prefer, at the beginning of the 18th. The square is more or less there.
You didn't notice: there is an old church behind the square with this big label that was tributed to Moll the year after his death (1935).
I have a picture of it, but I'm not able to insert the pc in the space here...please support me.
I have other pics of the celebration of 1935 (the french ambassador, Chiron were there) in the same square you have seen.
Anyway Moll died in Montesilvano and not in Cappelle.
The start of the race was in Piazza Duca degli Abruzzi in Pescara, it is a very large square along the main Statale Adriatica road.
Next time I will go back to Montesilvano and I will show you some pics, so you can compare them to the same of Fellowes Collection.
I have all the books by poor Chris Nixon, who I knew when I supported Mr. Santuccione and Smoglica for the book "Il Circuito di Pescara 1924-1939".

Ciao

Aldo

[dretceterini]

I have extra copies of that book, if anyone is interested, PM me...

[MCS]

I have just read the Richard Williams book “The Last Road Race” and found this hitherto unseen thread via the search facility. Wow.

Edward, what fabulous pictures.

I thought the book was a wonderful, evocative vignette of a point in time that seems so very long ago that, compared to the absurd goings-on of today, it barely seems possible. There are some quite marvellous quotes as well.

Mixed with the pictures here, I feel quite fulfilled!

[milotemesvar]

A few years later to have read the your interesting post...
if somebody is interested, I've done a kind of camera-car round the circuit of Pescara (especially of the hilly part) available here:

http://laletterascar...mera-car-1.html
http://laletterascar...mera-car-2.html
http://laletterascar...mera-car-3.html

Best

[Doug Nye]

That provides a wonderful idea of what this wonderful circuit must have been like before all that building took place. Thank you very much indeed for posting the footage.

DCN

[milotemesvar]

has been amusing to do it despite the many trucks; I hope soon to repeat the experience on the OLD circuit of Mugello

[D-Type]

I can now appreciate just how appropriate Richard Williams's choice of the title The Last Road Race was

[Doug Nye]

has been amusing to do it despite the many trucks; I hope soon to repeat the experience on the OLD circuit of Mugello

Milo - you could find that you will now be expected to provide this audience with video footage not only from Pescara and Mugello, but also the old road and street courses at Alessandria, Ravenna, Bologna, Modena, the Baths of Caracalla, Bari, San Remo, Ospedaletti, even Tre Province etc, and then there would be all the corsa in salita venues...the Piantonia Ladder, Stallavena-Boscochiesanuova (my favourite) and so many more...you could find the demand VERY heavy indeed.

But thank you again ... in advance.

By the way - where precisely would this 1957 GP shot have been taken? Does the large pillared building in the background survive?



Photo Strictly Copyright: The GP Library

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 23 August 2011 - 23:00.

[cheapracer]

Wonderful - particularly the corner in Spoltore, which really does take us back to the days when drivers were DRIVERS.

Moll got killed between Capelle sul Tavo and Montesilvano but closer to Capelle than Montesilvano.

Yeah, well personally I'm glad they have changed, I don't find death romantic at all.

[milotemesvar]

Considering that I live in Rome, I think next footage will be about the circuit of Caracalla...
With respect to the photo, I hope to have an answer from a contact in Pescara;
but that curve, as almost all those of the circuit in the urban area of Pescara, was probably replaced by a roundabout

[Doug Nye]

Now here's a funny thing...idly looking through various Google Earth street-view pix around the old Pescara course I came to the village of Cappelle sul Tavo. If you find your way onto the Via Vestina a Mare on the exit from the village, find its junction with Via Roma, and there in a grassy yard of a house on the left of the roadway sits a racing red monoposto...or a jokey mock-up of one...rather Ferrari 375ish in appearance. The long-lost Ascari 1953 Albi car no doubt? Or maybe the Great Gonzo's winning Pescara GP car from here in 1951? Just imagine him, in that, blasting down this road!

If I could work out how to post that particular image here I would. Since Google infringed my copyrights I have no ethical problem with playing fast and loose with their's. But on this iPad I can't work out how to copy and post it. Still - if you have an idle moment, and have a workable grip on the technology, do take a look.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 24 August 2011 - 19:40.

[LittleChris]

Milo - you could find that you will now be expected to provide this audience with video footage not only from Pescara and Mugello, but also the old road and street courses at Alessandria, Ravenna, Bologna, Modena, the Baths of Caracalla, Bari, San Remo, Ospedaletti, even Tre Province etc, and then there would be all the corsa in salita venues...the Piantonia Ladder, Stallavena-Boscochiesanuova (my favourite) and so many more...you could find the demand VERY heavy indeed.

But thank you again ... in advance.

By the way - where precisely would this 1957 GP shot have been taken? Does the large pillared building in the background survive?



Photo Strictly Copyright: The GP Library

DCN

Doug, Have a look at milo's first video ( approx 1 min 16 in at the end of the Via Michelangelo). Also have a look at the same area on streetview. I think this could be the building behind the graffitied wall. The main feature missing from the GP Library photo is the railway bridge, but given the railway station is immediately to the south ( left as you look on the videao ) and looks quite modern could it be that previously there was a crossing at road level leading to a smaller station or that an earlier station was to the north near the va Leonardo da Vinci ?


Oh and great videos milo

Finally Caracalla pictures ( rather than video )courtesy of TNF's own Barry Boor.

Go to photo archives at the site below

http://theracingline...racingcircuits/

Edited by LittleChris, 24 August 2011 - 20:19.

[Doug Nye]

I think you've got it, Chris. Same five windows on the central feature. The 2009 street view coverage suggest the building was a school, apparently under some threat at that time from the banners on the boundary wall. The entire Pescara area seems to have been comprehensively changed by so much building development over the past 50 years. Predictable, I suppose.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 24 August 2011 - 21:51.

[milotemesvar]

Do you refer to this interesting... thing?

I checked on my video and, at least from my perspective, it seems that it wasn't thene when I passed through Cappelle. Where it went in the meantime?

[Eric Dunsdon]

Yeah, well personally I'm glad they have changed, I don't find death romantic at all.

Sadly perhaps, it was part of what they all signed up for. Given the opportunity I know that I would have given anything to have joined them in racing on that wonderful circuit, and so many others like it' That was the motor racing that I fell in love with as a kid.

[Doug Nye]

Well done - yes, that's the baby... These Google Earth street views were dated 2009 I think. It does actually look rather more like something from a kiddy's playground, doesn't it.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 25 August 2011 - 17:37.

[milotemesvar]

The name of the building in the photo is Istituto Tecnico Tito Acerbo (...!) and it is situated in the place where LittleChris has found in the video. It seems a confirmation relatively to that line of the circuit.

[Doug Nye]

OK so above is the view south-westward on the Via Michelangelo towards the Acerbo Institute. Here below is the preceding frame from our 1957 Pescara GP negs. It shows the approach along the Viale Giovanni Bovio, and the rather modern looking house in the left background still stands, plainly recognisable today and very little changed on the inside of this corner...and the runners are...?



Photos Strictly Copyright: The GP Library

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 28 August 2011 - 15:03.

[David McKinney]

Godia leading Salvadori in the bottom picture, with Brabham in the other Cooper towards the back of the bunch. Unfortunately the lap-chart I have must have been taken from the s/f line, as nothing ties in...

Piotti (12) in the other photo chasing Brabham (maybe)

[milotemesvar]

I've traced back to Paco Godia by the help of wikipedia...; since I've born in that year ('57), it's quite strange for me to find Bonnier an Brabham in that classment, drivers that I associate to the era of the late sixties or seventies