| Category | Endurance |
|---|---|
| Country | Tour of Island of Sicily, Italy |
| Inaugural season | 1906 |
| Folded | 1977 |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Raffaele Restivo, Alfonso Merendino |
| Last Constructors' champion |  Chevron B36 BMW |
| Official website | www.targa-florio.it |
TheTarga Florio was a public roadendurance automobile race held in the mountains ofSicily near the island's capital ofPalermo. Founded in1906, it was the oldestsports car racing event, part of theWorld Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race's last decades was limited to the 72 km (45 mi) of theCircuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.
After 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since been run asTarga Florio Rally, arallying event, and is part of theItalian Rally Championship.
The race was created in1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast,Vincenzo Florio, who had started theCoppa Florio race inBrescia,Lombardy in 1900. The Targa also claimed to be a world event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such asAlexandre Charpentier andLeonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated,Rapiditas, which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed.[1]
One of the toughest competitions in Europe, the first Targa Florio covered 3 laps of a 92 mile (148 km) circuit, totaling 276 miles (444 km), traversing through winding bends and multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, with around 2,000 corners per lap and over 3,600 feet (1,100 m) of elevation change, at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred. Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour (50 km/h).
By the early to mid-1920s, the Targa Florio course had been shortened to 67 miles (108 km) and had become one of Europe's most important races, as neither the24 Hours of Le Mans nor theMille Miglia had been established yet.Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like today's F1.
The wins ofMercedes (not yet merged withBenz) in the 1920s made a big impression in Germany, especially that of GermanChristian Werner in 1924, as he was the first non-Italian winner since 1920.Rudolf Caracciola repeated a similar upset win at theMille Miglia a couple of years later. In 1926,Eliska Junkova, one of the great female drivers inGrand Prix motor racing history, became the first woman to ever compete in the race. The 1931 race saw a one-off return to theGrande course after roads and bridges specifically unique to theMedio course near Polizzi Generosa had been destroyed by landslides during severe rainstorms; the 1932 course saw the first use of thePiccolo course after a road connecting Caltavuturo and Collesano was constructed on the direct orders ofBenito Mussolini himself by request of Florio.
In 1953, theFIAWorld Sportscar Championship was introduced. The Targa became part of it in1955. Mercedes had to win 1-2 with theMercedes-Benz 300 SLR in order to beatFerrari for the title. They had missed the first two of the 6 events,Buenos Aires and the12 Hours of Sebring, where Ferrari,Jaguar,Maserati andPorsche scored points. Mercedes appeared at and won in theMille Miglia, then pulled out of Le Mans as a sign of respect for the victims of the1955 Le Mans disaster, but won theTourist Trophy atDundrod. Despite a number of incidents, theStirling Moss/Peter Collins andJuan Manuel Fangio/Karl Kling cars finished minutes ahead of the best Ferrari and secured the title. In 1958 the race again became a round in the Championship replacing the discontinued Mille Miglia as the Italian round of the Championship.
Several versions of the track were used. It started with a single lap of a 148 km (92 mi) circuit from 1906-1911 and 1931. From 1912 to 1914 a tour around the perimeter of Sicily was used, with a single lap of 975 kilometres (606 mi), lengthened to 1,080 kilometres (670 mi) from 1948 to 1950. The 146 km "Grande" circuit was then shortened twice, the first time to 108 km (67 mi), the version used from 1919-1930, and then to the 72 km (45 mi) circuit used from 1932 to 1936 and 1951 to 1977. From 1951-1958, the long coastal island tour variant was used for a separate event called the Giro di Sicilia (Lap of Sicily).
The start and finish took place atCerda. The counter-clockwise lap lead fromCaltavuturo andCollesano from an altitude over 600 metres (1,970 ft) down tosea level, where the cars raced fromCampofelice di Roccella on theBuonfornello straight along the coast, a straight that was even longer than theMulsanne Straight at theCircuit de la Sarthe inLe Mans. The longest version of the circuit went south through Caltavuturo (whereas the shortest version of the open-road circuit went east just before entry into Caltavuturo, through a mountainous section directly to Collesano) through an extended route through elevation changes, and climbed uphill through the nearby towns of Castellana, Sottana, Madonnuzza and Miranti, twisting around mountains up to the highest point- 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) at Geraci Siculo, dropping down 620 metres (2,030 ft) into Castelbuono, twisting around more mountains and passing through Isnello and the village of Mongerrati and then rejoined the most recent version of the track at Collesano. The second version of the track also went south through Caltavuturo and took a shortcut starting right before Castellana to Collesano via the town ofPolizzi Generosa. There was a closed circuit called Favorita Park in the Sicilian capital ofPalermo used from 1937-1940. All the roads used for all the variations of the circuits are still in use and can be driven on today. Originally a narrow 2-lane country road, the Buonfornello straight became a lot wider in the late 1960's thanks to the development of theAutostrade motorways all over Italy.
The challenge of the Targa was unprecedented in its difficulty and the driving experience of any of the course variants was unlike any other circuit in the world other than perhaps that of the Nurburgring in Germany and (for motorcycles) and the much faster but similarSnaefell Mountain Course on theIsle of Man. All of the variants had 18 to 23 corners per mile (11 to 14 corners per kilometer)- the originalGrande 146 km (91 mi) circuit had in the realm of 2,000 corners per lap, the 108 km (67 mi)Medio had about 1,300-1,400 corners per lap and the final iteration of the course, the 72 km (45 mi)Piccolo circuit had about 800-900 corners per lap. To put that into perspective, most purpose-built circuits have between 12 and 18 corners, and the longest purpose-built circuit in the world, the 13-mile Nurburgring, has about 180 corners. So learning any of the Targa Florio courses was extremely difficult and required, like most long circuits, at least 60 laps to learn the course- and unlike the purpose-built Nurburgring, the course had to be learned properly in public traffic, and one lap of even thePiccolo course would take about an hour to do in a road car- if there was little to no traffic. To even finish this punishing race required a very reliable car- and it being a slow, twisty circuit it was very hard on the gearbox, brakes and the suspension of a car. Some manufacturers and entrants, particularly non-Italian ones would sometimes outright skip the Targa because of the difficulty of learning the layout and were unsure if their cars could stand the brutal pace there.[2]
Like a rally event (and events like theIsle of Man TT and theMille Miglia), the race cars were started one by one every 15 seconds for a time trial, as a start from a full grid was not possible on the tight and twisty roads.
Although the public road circuit used for the Targa was extremely challenging- it was a very different kind of circuit and race from any other race on the sportscar calendar. All of the circuit variations of the Targa had so many corners that lap speeds at the Targa never went higher than 80 mph (128 km/h), as opposed to Le Mans in France, where cars would average 150+ mph (240+ km/h) or the Nürburgring, where cars would average 110 mph (176 km/h).Helmut Marko set the lap record in 1972 in anAlfa Romeo 33TT3 at 33 min 41 s at an average of 128.253 km/h (79.693 mph) during an epic charge where he made up 2 minutes onArturo Merzario and hisFerrari 312PB.[3] The fastest ever wasLeo Kinnunen in 1970, lapping in thePorsche 908/3 at 128.571 km/h (79.890 mph) or 33 min 36 seconds flat.[4]
Due to the track's length, drivers practised in the week before the race in public traffic, often with their race cars fitted with license plates. Porsche factory drivers even had to watch onboard videos, a sickening experience for some. The lap record for the 146 km "Grande" circuit was 2 hours 3 min 54.8 seconds set byAchille Varzi in a Bugatti Type 51 at the 1931 race at an average speed of 70.7 km/h (43.931 mph).[5] The lap record for the 108 km "Medio" circuit was 1 hour 21 min 21.6 seconds set by Varzi in an Alfa Romeo P2 at an average speed of 79.642 km/h (49.487 mph) at the 1930 race.[6] The fastest completion around the short version of the island tour was done byGiovanni "Ernesto" Ceirano in a SCAT at the 1914 race, completed in 16 hours, 51 minutes and 31.6 seconds from May 24–25, 1914.[7] The fastest completion of the long version of the island tour was by Mario and Franco Bornigia in anAlfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione, completed in 12 hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds flat at the 1950 race at an average speed of 86.794 km/h (53.931 mph).[8]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, race cars with up to 600 hp (450 kW) such asNino Vaccarella'sFerrari 512S raced through small mountain villages while spectators sat or stood right next to, or even on, the road. Porsche, on the other hand, did not race its big and powerful917K, but rather the smaller and nimbler908/3 Spyders.
Due to safety concerns, especially byHelmut Marko, who called the race "totally insane", the last Targa Florio run as an FIA World Sportscar Championship race was in 1973. During the 1973 event, there were an unusually high number of accidents, two of which were fatal; one which privateer Charles Blyth crashed hisLancia Fulvia HF into a trailer at the end of the Buonfornello straight and was killed; and another where an Italian driver crashed hisAlpine-Renault into a group of spectators, killing one. There were several other accidents during practice in which a total of seven spectators sustained injuries. The event was won by aPorsche 911 Carrera RSR as the prototypes such asJacky Ickx's Ferrari suffered crashes or other troubles.
The Targa's international demise was compounded by widespread concern about the organizers' inability to properly maintain the race on such a massive circuit. There were not enough marshals, most spectators sat too close to the roads, and also the international automotive governing body, the FIA, mandated safety walls on all circuits that hold FIA-mandated events from 1974 onwards. The 72-kilometre (45 mi) length of combined public roads made this impracticable, especially from a financial standpoint. The sport's growing professionalism was something the Targa's organizers simply could not keep up with. One example of this concern was when BritonBrian Redman crashed his Porsche 908/03 during the 1971 event 20 miles into the first lap. The steering on his car broke, and it hit a stone wall and caught fire. Redman had second-degree burns all over his body and it took 45 minutes for any medical help to reach Redman (while he was attended to by spectators who were trying to keep him cool by waving objects). The Porsche team did not know where he was for 12 hours until teammatesPedro Rodriguez andRichard Attwood found him in a local clinic inCefalu. Also during this raceAlain de Cadenet in a Lola was going down the Buonfornello straight and a piece of bodywork flew off a car in front of him and hit him on the head. He was knocked out cold and the Lola went off the road and crashed into a nearby wall, and caught fire. de Cadenet's life was saved not by marshals, but by an active Italian military serviceman watching the race from a location close to de Cadenet's crash, and he pulled him out of the wreck. de Cadenet was taken to the same clinic in Cefalu where Redman was, where he was badly burned and had lost the use of his left eye.[9]
The Targa was continued as a national event for some years, before a crash in 1977 where hillclimbing specialist Gabriele Ciuti went off the road and crashed at the fast curves at the end of the Buonfornello straight after some of the bodywork flew off his BMW-powered Osella prototype. This accident killed 2 spectators and seriously injured 5 others (including Ciuti, who went into a coma, but survived), and effectively sealed the race's fate. After this accident the race was forcibly taken over by local police and was stopped on the 4th lap, and it also saw 2 other drivers having serious accidents; one of them was critically injured, but survived.
Although the Targa Florio was a rally-type race that took place on closed-off public mountain roads with (aside from straw bales and weak guardrails at some of the turns, the latter were installed by the island's government) practically no safety features, only 9 people – including spectators – died at the event over the 71 year and 61 race history using a total of 6 circuit configurations. This number is relatively small compared to other open road races like theMille Miglia, where over a period of 30 years and 24 races 56 people lost their lives, and theCarrera Panamericana, where over a period of 5 years and 5 races 25 people were killed. This is probably due to the fact that the very twisty nature of the mountain roads used kept average lap speeds very low, never going above80 mph (130 km/h), even with the very long straight at the northernmost end of the track. In comparison, most road circuits had average speeds anywhere between 110 mph (180 km/h) and 160 mph (260 km/h).
After winning the race several times,Porsche named the hardtop convertible version of the 911 after the Targa. The nametarga meansplaque orplate, seetarga top.
The Australian-madeLeyland P76 had a special version named Targa Florio to commemorate victory by journalist-rallyistEvan Green on a Special Stage of the1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally which was held on the Targa Florio course.[10]
Since 1992 the event has lent its name to a modern recreation, staged half-a-world away in the form of the famous road rallyTarga Tasmania held on the island state of Tasmania, off the Southern coast of Australia. There are also theTarga New Zealand since 1995, theTarga Newfoundland since 2002 and Targa Great Barrier Reef since 2018 where it is held in the Far North section ofQueensland.
2017 will celebrate the 101st Anniversary of the Targa Florio and the first time the event has left Italy. This is an amazing attraction for Victoria, Australia and all car enthusiasts. The event, tours Victoria’s coast and countryside from November 29 to December 3 and features over 150 of the world’s most admirable cars and is expected to attract fans, celebrities and media from across the globe.
The Targa Florio Australian Tribute (TFAT -https://www.targaflorioaustralia.com/) is a regularity event for classic cars produced in the years between 1906 and 1976. Cars competed over 4 days on Victoria’s open roads at regulated speed. As part of the event there were 56 trials across the 4 days. The inaugural event was a huge success and was repeated in 2018. The 3rd Targa Florio Australian Tribute 2019 will be held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 27 November to 1 December 2019.
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2023) |
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Races between 1955 and 1973 were part of the World Championship, with the 1957 race not a race but aregularity test following theMille Miglia accident.
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The list below includes all car manufacturers who have attained apodium. The table does not include the results of the 1957 edition, which was held as a regularity race.
| Pos. | Brand | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | Fastest laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Porsche | 11 | 9 | 12 | 8 |
| 2 | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 13 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Lancia | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 |  Bugatti | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Maserati | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | SCAT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Fiat | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | Nazzaro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Itala | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Osella | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Peugeot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Chevron | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | S.P.A. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Franco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Isotta Fraschini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Frazer-Nash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Ballot | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Cisitalia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | De Vecchi | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Osca | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Aquila Italiana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 |  Sigma | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Lola | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Abarth | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | AMP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Berliet | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Darracq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Diatto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 |  Steyr | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Aston Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
37°56′52″N13°47′10″E / 37.94778°N 13.78611°E /37.94778; 13.78611
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