38 replies to this topic

[BRG]

The weekend before last, Eurosport’s Super Racing Weekend (SRW) series travelled down to Enna-Pergusa. Now I have heard and read about Enna for very many years, but I have only rarely had the chance to see racing there on television. I know that non-championship F1 races were held there in the past, and that it regularly hosted a round of the F2 and later the F3000 championships.

My question essentially is, why? I know that motor racing is one of Italy’s passions – along with football, cycling, food etc – and I am well aware of the heritage of the Targa Florio road race. But how did a track in the middle of nowhere, on an impoverished island tucked away at the “wrong” end of Italy (that is to say, far away from the big population centres and the industrial base of the country) manage to attract major races like that?

The SRW, with its mix of FIA GT championship, European Touring Car championship and the various Renault series (V6 and Clio), is an invention of the TV age, and does not seem to attract big crowds at any of its venues. But even so, Enna, with all its chicanes, is hardly a “classic” track in the way that Spa is.

So how has this uninspiring circuit consistently managed to get a prestigious championships like F2, F3000 and now the SRW, when better tracks can’t? Being Sicily, my thoughts are inevitably drawn to the prospect of something dodgy, but that may just be my unworthy nature! Having said that, the slipstreaming touring car and Clio races made pretty good television!

[David T.]

Words fail. I would have tried to give you an answer if only your post had been less arrogant. Some of your opinions can be shared but the tone of the whole thing is not acceptable. Moreover it's time to revise your appalling commonplaces, mate.

[Rob29]

They of course had had an F1 race from 1962-65. At the time I recall involvement of the Mafia being mentioned as a possible source of funding!

[BRG]

David T

That's a very high horse that you're riding. Careful you don't fall off it.

[2F-001]

Words fail me, too...

I was convinced that David might have replied on the wrong thread by mistake, so unable was I to equate the comments to the original post. However, I deduce (from the www) that David hails from Italy - so I presume BRG has hit a nerve somewhere, but I suspect just how and where is lost on most of us. (Even BRG's oblique reference to organised crime was tempered by the acknowledgement that it was a thought based on a common stereotype).

I thought the original question was interesting and worthy. If genuine offence has been caused, can we know how? Or else let it drop? For me, this forum is too valuable to allow ill-feeling and misunderstandings to lie and fester...

(I'm off the soapbox now... thank you)

[byrkus]

Speaking of Pergusa - it seems to me that the track used to be something like 'roval', or road-oval of some kind. Basic shape is still visible, but unfortunately there are some ridicolous chicanes in there... What I'm saying is - does anybody have a map, what this track was like, say... 40 years ago? For every track map I saw of Enna-Pergusa, was of the present state.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by David T.
Words fail. I would have tried to give you an answer if only your post had been less arrogant. Some of your opinions can be shared but the tone of the whole thing is not acceptable. Moreover it's time to revise your appalling commonplaces, mate.

Blimey........

[David T.]

I don't actually want this post to become a matter of controversy so I willingly reply to BRG: re his warning about horses, I personally think everybody rides high horses, even if not always one notices it; this apart, what really hurted me is was once again a doubtful knowledge of Italian motor racing and Italian society (for example I don't like cycling and I like more German food than spaghetti). Now, let's go to the point. "Why Pergusa?" Well, 'cause the other Italian circuits are not actually interested in hosting the SRW, that's all. I'm speaking about the "big" circuits, namely Mugello, Monza, Vallelunga and Imola. Nowadays circuits only make money with tests and they host national championships only because they are forced to, otherwise they wouldn't: for Monza or Imola, to host the Italian F.3 Series is only a waste of time and money. Now, Pergusa is one of the very few Italian tracks that somehow can attract some decent public, as Sicily is not an isolated desert but one of the cradles of Italian motor racing, so the Enna venue is the only one circuit insisting with the promoter and continuously asking to be assigned international races. Secondly, Sicily is a "Regione a statuto speciale", therefore they have at their disposal funds other districts don't have - the topic is important, but would make us wander too much of the point. BRG, I respect your point of view, but I disliked a certain acrimony towards Italy spreading in your thread, I only wish I were wrong. No personal attacks, however, but I only wish some suppositions were more steadily based, otherwise you run the risk of offending someone you do not know. I'm not Sicilian, but I feel that your thread was a little bit too provocative. On the other hand all the racing calendars feature "strange" rounds, but's a matter of political power and who brings more money or who is better organized usually wins contracts. As far as I know, organization at Pergusa for the Super Racing Weekends has always been very good, just because in Sicily there's a bigger attention towards such aspects than - say - at Monza, whose bigwigs are only looking forward to the F.1 Grand Prix. Please, BRG, feel free to write me an e-mail for any further comments.

[Ray Bell]

I'd suggest that the circuit built its tradition in the age old and highly accepted way - by paying good starting money to selected F1 drivers.

Never a full field, but a couple of works cars and a bunch of reasonable privateers, and voila!... you have a tradition!

Once the tradition was established, of course, it became harder, but the tradition is still there to trade on, even if the chicanes seem to get in the way sometimes.

[ensign14]

I always liked the Enna F3000 round, it used to provide some strange results as people tried to demolish the scenery. I think Gary Evans (son of the Luton Town FC chairman, once retired from a race so he could watch the League Cup Final) came last there once but still picked up 2 points.

As usual, a good unusual circuit ruined by chicanes, IIRC...

[2F-001]

I believe they had a bit of a problem with the frogs, one year.
(A track invasion by amphibians, I mean.)

[Ray Bell]

Frank Gardner likes entertaining with his stories of fighting off water snakes as he attached a rope to a car (Paul Hawkins') in the lake to facilitate its retrieval.

No doubt the snakes forced the issue with the frogs and sent them scurrying to dry land?

[bschenker]

I think the last permanent track in Sicilian; have all the rights to organize international races.

For the track have a luck on this site:
http://www.racingcir...nnaPergusa.html

[2F-001]

It *had* to be Paul Hawkins, I suppose!
Was this a prelude or an encore to his more celebrated dunking?

[Ray Bell]

No, the drinking would have come later...

The car got in the lake the normal way... it ran off the road during the race and missed whatever barriers would have prevented it getting a dunking.

There weren't many of those, I gather.

Beat...

That map certainly shows the old course beneath the darker line of the modified or chicane-laden path followed today.

[bschenker]

You have to luck the differents years.

[2F-001]

Oh, sorry... I meant was it before or after he went for a swim at Monaco?!

[Doug Nye]

I too was fascinated to see the touring car coverage from Enna - particularly since much of the old circuit sections which 'straightline' the modern chicanes remain clearly visible. Here is Enna as it was:



DCN - oh and Mike Spence was the Lotus F1 driver who went into the drink amongst the water snakes... (and I have removed the Enna race pictures formerly in this post)

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by bschenker
You have to look the differents years.

Yes, I saw that later Beat, thank you...

The map has all the variations shown for the years they were used... if you click on '1961' you get the original similar to the one Doug has posted. And it seems that ran to 1969.

Who were the participants in the feiry one, Doug? Seems to me there was a Ferrari in there, but I don't remember who... and yes, I misread 'dunking' as 'drinking'... sorry about that.

Especially, Doug, thanks for the image of my favourite privateer...

[Wolf]

If I durst show my ignorance in here, is that Chris (I would not have guessed it, were it not for Doug's hint) in Bowmaker Lotus (looks like 33 with B.R.M. engine to untrained eye of mine)?

And what is that third track in first picture? It might be Japanese circuit (it seem to have 'Tokyo' written beneath).

[Ray Bell]

Mount Fuji, if I'm not mistaken...

As it was used for the Japan GP in the sixties and early seventies.

[Rob29]

Originally posted by bschenker
I think the last permanent track in Sicilian; have all the rights to organize international races.

Seems to be the only permanent circuit ever to have existed in Sicily.

[David T.]

Originally posted by Rob29
Seems to be the only permanent circuit ever to have existed in Sicily.

It is, but two other permanent tracks are planned: the first, at Siracusa, is being completed (kms 5.493); the other one, at Racalmuto (Agrigento), is being approved. It's a very long story, actually.

[Ray Bell]

The Targa circuit is still there, though unused...

Surely that can be considered 'permanent'... for the moment.

Actually, it's probably changed less than Enna-Pergusa!

[Rob Semmeling]

I don't think Enna is such a bad track, there are plenty of worse tracks than Enna.

I must also say I like tracks that have somewhat "illogical" things. Alright, that doesn't make much sense, I'll try and explain. With "illogical" I mean, for instance, the sudden change of the trackwidth at Enna, I noticed the track is very wide at some points an then suddenly tightens into one of the chicanes. There are also some markings/lines on the track that seem totally misplaced. I like such things because they make the track look less "clinical".

Also, a remote location for a track doesn't seem to have anything to do with the races held on that track. Remember for instance the Aida GP circuit in Japan, which hosted the Japanese GP several times even though the track lays in a remote area.

Imagine what it must have been like in the old days of the Ring: over 300.000 people finding their way to the track on the narrow eifel roads.

[Ray Bell]

I agree... we need to see that variety...

But on the subject of Aida, there was never a Japan GP there. The only WDC race held there was called the Pacific GP, Suzuka hosted the Japan GP later in the year.

[Rob Semmeling]

You're right, it was the Pacific GP.

[BRG]

Now that the dust has settled somewhat (and I thank David T for his second post), perhaps I can enlarge on my original enquiry.

But firstly, can I say that I have nothing but affection for Italy and the Italians! I was certainly not seeking to blacken either Italy or Sicily's reputation in any way - I was just honestly wondering about the economics of Enna.

Sicily has a great motor racing heritage, mainly of course in the Targa Florio but doubtless in many other less well-known events as well. However, it is in no way a criticism of Sicily to say that it is geographically one of the more remote parts of both Italy and Europe. Nor to say that it has historically been (and AFAIK still is) one of the poorest parts of Italy. Neither of these factors seems to indicate an environment that would easily support an expensive luxury like a permanent race track - especially one that could attract top-line events. Similarly, presumably competitors from outside Sicily and southern Italy (and that would be virtually all the entries for F1, F2, F3000 and now SRW races) are not going to be so keen to travel so far without some incentive?

As a comparison, the Knockhill circuit in Scotland might be said to be similarly disadvantaged and it can barely hang on to the British championship events that it hosts - people are always complaining about how remote it is and what a pain it is to get to, and that's just a 500km journey within the UK, with no ferry crossing required!

Back in the days of non-championship F1 races, the Enna promoters would have needed to pay start money and I suspect this probably applied during the F2 days as well. So I am wondering how the whole business has been financed? David T said that "Pergusa is one of the very few Italian tracks that somehow can attract some decent public". Is this so? Has the track been able to finance itself from gate money? That would be quite a rare thing, although I imagine that fixed costs might be lower in Sicily than they are for circuits in (say) the UK.

Or was there a rich benefactor, for instance (as there was for the Paul Ricard circuit in Provence) - maybe a rich local olive-oil magnate or whatever? Or was it state money - David T mentioned that "Sicily is a "Regione a statuto speciale", therefore they have at their disposal funds other districts don't have" . Is this the answer or part of the answer?

If Enna were a really amazing track, competitors might be keen to beat a path to its door irrespective of some additional travel time and cost. It is only my opinion and others may disagree, but Enna is not mentioned in the same way that the Nordschliefe, Spa, Rheims, Rouen, Montjuich etc are.

Hence my question: Enna - why?

[Ray Bell]

I seem to recall that the circuit is a road within a park... am I right or wrong?

If this is the case, a lot of the overhead costs of running the place simply wouldn't exist. Improvements like fencing and so on could stay in place on a year-round basis, eliminating the setup costs of normal street circuits,while regular road maintenance would be a community cost.

And the community would no doubt fund it because of the revenue to be had by local business when the crowds come to see the racing.

[Rob29]

That would seem to be the case. Back in the 60s the only meetings were in August,though they seem to have more now. If there is no testing,maybe the park is used for other purposes? Rather like an Italian Crystal Palace,or for that matter Monza & Imola in the past.

[Doug Nye]

BRG - all seems eminently reasonable to me. David T - ....PMT perhaps? Just for reference, the pix I posteded above (since removed by me) showed the following:

Jo Siffert in his red-liveried Brabham-BRM during his victorious drive in the 1964 Mediterranean GP. When he won there in the same car in 1965 the Brabham was wearing midnight blue and white R.R.C.Walker Racing Team livery.

The written-off works Lotus-Climax 25 'R2' burning out opposite the far end of the pits after Trevor Taylor's apparently horrendous accident. Sprayed by gravel and pebbles from Bandini's Centro Sud BRM P578 - with which he had been battling wheel-to-whel and nose-to-tail - he had been stunned by a large stone which clouted him right between the eyes, and lost control. His car had spun up the bank opposte the pits before rolling and somersaulting down the start/finish straight, throwing Trev out. He came to rest in a sitting position, quite unconscious, while the car ended up as shown. The gearbox had been broken clean off the back of the engine and bits sprayed into the pits, knocking one mechanic's pit signal board out of his hands as he prepared to show it.

Pic 3 shows Trev being picked up, before the fire has fully developed in his wrecked Lotus (opposite). Nothing like checking the casualty's condition and stabilising it before daring to move him!

Trev apparently has a remarkably resilient bone structure and escaped without any fractures, though he would suffer terribly in later life from the after-effects of his many blameless shunts - even having bee-sting therapy for arthritic pain at one time.

The final pic shows Chris Amon in one of Parnell's Lotus-BRM 25s, 'R3', on his way to 4th place behind Siffert in the 1964 Mediterranean GP. This car was used-up in Parnell's ownership and does not seem to have survived. I was part-bamboozled/part-self-deluded into listing it as surviving in the appendices to 'Theme Lotus' (1978).

DCN

[David T.]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
I seem to recall that the circuit is a road within a park... am I right or wrong?

You're right, it's in a park near a little lake, but the track is 100% permanent.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by David T.
You're right, it's in a park near a little lake, but the track is 100% permanent.

That's my point... this is the most economical type of motor racing installation from the organisational point of view.

The community fund the bitumen, or at least most of it, and its upkeep, usually the promoting body fund the improvements required for racing. Barriers, grandstands, that sort of stuff.

If it stays in place all year round, which it can't do on a temporary road course, they have an annual running cost way below that where the mortgage has to be paid and all the upkeep is up to them.


Doug... Bandini in a red car... that's close to a Ferrari, isn't it?

[Pedro 917]

Pedro Rodriguez had a major accident at Enna in August 1967 driving a Protos F2. I've read somewhere that he tangled with Beltoise at high speed and that his car flipped a couple of times. Pedro suffered a broken ankle and a smashed heel. He was taken to a hospital nearby where there was no anaesthetic available and he had to go through the pains of hell while they set his ankle. The Doctor told him to forget about motor racing for at least a year....Pedro missed 3 GP's (Italy, Canada and USA) but returned to the GP scene in front of his home-crowd to finish sixth in the old and heavy Cooper-Maserati!
It was said that the wooden chassis of the Protos kind of saved his life as it absorbed most of the energy during the impact. Here's a picture (photographer unknown) of the sad remains of the Protos :



Just imagine what we would have missed if we'd lost Pedro here........

[Rob]

A quick question regarding Enna - when did the F3000 race stop being called the Mediterranean Grand Prix? I think it might be 1998 when Montoya won but I'm not certain.

[bigears]

Had a look and it is indeed 1998.

I believe the name might be revived for the Valencia F1 round this year as Nurburgring will take the European Grand Prix name.

[Rob29]

Originally posted by Rob
A quick question regarding Enna - when did the F3000 race stop being called the Mediterranean Grand Prix? I think it might be 1998 when Montoya won but I'm not certain.

Was that in fact the last time the F3000 race was held? Don't remember it being called anything else.Since F3000 (now GP2) has only been run as F1 support race. Silverstone International Trophy disapeared around the same time.

[Rob]

Originally posted by bigears
I believe the name might be revived for the Valencia F1 round this year as Nurburgring will take the European Grand Prix name.

I'd heard that but it seems ridiculous that someone other than the FIA should hold the rights to a name, preventing the only Grand Prix in Germany from being the German Grand Prix.

Is there any reason they couldn't reuse the Luxembourg Grand Prix moniker that they gave it when the European GP went to Jerez? It'd be a shame to see a Mediterranean GP that wasn't held at Enna Pergusa.

[Arjan de Roos]

The main question remains!

Why was there a race track developped around this lake near Pergusa (and Enna)? In fact it is right in the middle between Catania (airport) and Palermo. When was it opened?