A memorable edition
This year too the miracle was accomplished and another memorable edition of the Vernasca Silverflag ended: with the participation of 205 of the most fascinating and renowned racing cars and the arrival of new participants from all over the world, the 28th ^ edition of the Piacenza event confirmed once again how this is the winning formula: passion, quality of the cars, selective jury, friendly atmosphere, location of great charm, excellent cuisine and above all a path that Thierry Boutsen defined as extremely technical and compelling .
The spirit of Vernasca
And his words are precisely the best compliment that this year’s edition could have had. At the awards ceremony he declared: “I should be very happy, but instead I am very sad; I’m sad because I think of all the years I lost not knowing about this event before.”
In these words there is all the essence and spirit of the Vernasca Silverflag which this year saw for the first time the presence of five Japanese collectors accompanied by the director of Car Graphic, the oldest Japanese car magazine, founded in 1962, and of which we publish an interview separately.
The difficult task of the jury
The jury’s task was very difficult to assign the numerous prizes that the organizers had established, but in the end the victories for the pre-war and post-war Best of Show went to two cars that fully deserved this title: Giacomo Foglia’s Bugatti 35 Grand Prix and Massimo Chini’s Ferrari 250 Tour de France, a car that had practically not yet been seen in any event and which is in an absolutely unparalleled state of conservation and originality.
It is also difficult to remember, among the list of participating cars, the most significant but undoubtedly to see again after many years the Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 in Munari’s Safari version, brought by the Macaluso foundation, or the small Abarth 1000 SP which also ran in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1968 with the Italian crew Zanetti-Locatelli, brought back to Italy for the occasion by the Japanese collector Takayoshi Matsui or the Alfa Romeo 33/2 which won so much in hill climbs and road races in the 60s by Alessandro Carrara, it was another of the peculiarities of this event.
The rare piece of Abarth and Iso Grifo
Enthusiasts were particularly moved by seeing the Abarth 2000 OT long tail on these very roads, a unique model that took part in the race in 1968 driven by the driver Eris Tondelli and who, after 56 years and at the enviable age of 89, conducted on the roads leading to the Piacenza village.
This year too, some aces from the past wanted to attend the event and among them Thierry Boutsen who drove the Iso Grifo A3/C competition which was the subject of our report some time ago, Riccardo Patrese who drove the Lancia Stratos of ASI collection and Micky Biasion who led the way with a brand new Maserati MC 20.
The Ford GT40 from Japan
There was no shortage of curious stories like that of the well-known Japanese collector Takeshi Moroi who, upon arriving in Vernasca, discovered that his Ford GT40 Mk2 would not arrive before July 4th due to a problem with the ship transporting it, so he didn’t miss out on heart and in two days he bought an Osella just to be present at the event, declaring that the Ford GT40 will remain in Italy ready for the 2025 edition. Here, the Vernasca Silverflag is also this… by PIETRO SILVA
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