It was in January 1922 that the Automobile Club Milan decided to build a race track to celebrate its 25th anniversary It was the third permanent circuit in the world, built only after the American track of Indianapolis (1909) and the English Brooklands circuit (1907). The race track at Monza was planned by the engineers Arturo Mercanti, Alfredo Rosselli and Piero Puricelli. It consisted of two rings, which could be used together, alternating a lap on one with one on the other (the main straight was shared by both rings and was split in two lanes) or separately: it was a road track with a length of 5,500 metres, seven corners, an oval high-speed ring and two raised corners with a length of 4,500 metres. During the first years the Italian GP was held on the complete circuit with a length of 10 km; in 1939 the track’s main part was redone: the high-speed ring was demolished and the road track was modified, with the straight now opposite the box and some modified corners. The two sharp cobblestone turns, leading onto the main straight (replacing the original southern corner), were called "red stone corners ". The circuit was now 6,300 metres long. The road track was again redone in the year 1955: especially the two cobblestone corners, which were combined into one 180-degree corner, the so-called Parabolica, because of its increasing radius, similar to a parabola. The completely renovated circuit was now 10 kilometres long: 5,750 metres road track and 4,250 high-speed ring.
In the same year, during a private test session, the driver Alberto Ascari lost his life: the accident’s dynamics never became clear and there were no witnesses. The corner, were the fatal accident had happened, the so-called Vialone, was renamed Ascari corner, to remember the Champion. The Italian GP was held for the last time on the complete circuit in the year 1961: as of the following year the races were always held on the road track. The high-speed ring, where in 1957 and 1958 American and European drivers took part in the "500 Miglia", was still used for a couple of years for other motorsport categories, but then completely abandoned. In the 70s, with higher top speeds and the track’s same danger, some modifications had to be made to make the track slower: first of all some provisional chicanes were introduced and in 1976 three permanent variants were set up (on the main straight, in the Roggia and the Ascari corners). The track was now slightly longer, with 5,800 metres.
Further interventions were made to improve safety in 1994, 1995 and 2000: the Goodyear variant (the one on the straight in front of the pits), the Roggia, the Grande corner and the two Lesmo corners were modified. In the same years the new pits were built, bigger and modern. After its last modifications, today the length of the track is 5,793 metres.
Date:
26th-27th March 2010
Event Location:
Venue: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
City: Monza, Italy
More Info:
Tel: +39 039.24821
Fax: + 39 039.320324
Email: infoautodromo@monzanet.it