The pandemic is on the decline and the classic cars are slowly starting up again. Many are looking at the Mille Miglia, which starts this week in Brescia, but there are also a few sizes smaller – and more exclusive. On the Stella Alpina.
Today the Mille Miglia 2021 starts and the classic car world is slowly returning to its beloved normalcy. The long-distance race from Brescia to Rome and back with its almost 1,700 kilometers is more popular than ever – especially in the early post-Corona period. But the growing field of over 400 participants plus accompanying large does not make everyone happy. Many want to enjoy the fun of a classic car tour more exclusively and maybe even prepare for the sporty, ambitious Mille Miglia here. A small event like the Stella Alpina classic car rally in Trentino and South Tyrol is just the right time. Three days of driving in the Dolomites, over 500 kilometers of spectacular landscapes and special stages non-stop – no wonder that the event between Madonna di Campiglio, Trento, Bolzano, Sterzing and Merano is becoming more and more popular and has become more than just an insider get-together . The participants are mostly old vintage and classic rally bunnies – you know each other, you are relaxed and you simply have a good time behind the wheel on narrow paths, winding mountain passages or short connecting stages between the northern Italian winter sports resorts of the western Dolomites. Somewhat apart from the field of participants, the more than two dozen drivers of the current Ferrari models, who traditionally also drive with the Stella Alpina and enjoy the event as such – but mostly avoid the special stages. Something like that only exists in Italy.
The field of participants in Trentino is small and more colorful than you know from comparable events. What feels like the first classic car rally in decades without a bevy of exclusive Mercedes 300 SL gullwing models and also classics such as Bentley Blowers or historic racing Bugattis, because these are surprisingly missing from the field of participants. Most of the vehicles are well motorized and therefore always suitable for mountain routes. Porsche 356, the successor 911, here a Lancia Fulvia or an Innocenti Mini Cooper. Ideal for the winding mountain roads and the corresponding permanent panorama of the sun-drenched Dolomites: Austin Healey or Triumph TR2. And even the historic Beetle models in the field roar powerfully up the mountains and easily climb heights of over 2,000 meters in second gear. Around 120 PS strong Salzburg Beetles in their characteristic paintwork, along with the Austrian national flag, have to make an effort to storm the two Mille Beetles on the ascent to Jaufenpass or Passo del Giovo, which took part in the Mille Miglia in the second half of the 1950s mixed up their almost 90 hp 356 Porsche engines.
Tsuguo Shintani and his co-driver Sumiko Kokono – Komo for short – are well equipped in their Triumph TR2 from 1954 for good reason. The well-practiced Japanese use the Stella Alpina 2021 as a gentle canter for the Mille Miglia, which begins a few days later. “We come from Japan, but we also have a place of residence near Bresia,” smiles the experienced Japanese. “For us this is perfect training.” Say it and say goodbye quickly turning the aisles towards Merano. From Madonna di Campiglia it goes directly to Brescia, where it gets harder and longer from the middle of the week. Instead of around 530 kilometers in the Dolomites, the Japanese driver pairing in the white roadster has to show that more than 1,600 kilometers are no problem. Then the short breaks in the large field of the Mille Miglia behind the breathing masks will not be as relaxed and casual as with the small but fine Stella Alpina 2021. Here people chat and talk shop before the Triumph TR2 Sports with starting number 19 roars again in search of maximum evenness. At the Mille Miglia, Tsuguo starts the race with the start number 275 and thus in the second half of the gigantic 413 field. More audience, more excitement, more pressure – but the Stella Alpina will have been more fun for both of them, because they want to come back next year – with or without success at the Milla Miglia.
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