"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/08/2014 at 08:46 • Filed to: None
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"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/08/2014 at 08:46 • Filed to: None | 4
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Last week on Sicily I could not leave out a short run on the old Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, better known as the (public) route they (most of the time) used for the infamous Targa Florio.
As a big fan and frequent visitor of the Nordschleife I was totally freaked out because I felt this route was more entertaining, frightening and impressive than the Ring. The Ring sure is faster but passing buildings, cliffs and other obstacles at full speed should have been completely terrifying in the 60's and 70's!
On training days the road wasn't even closed, they only closed the roads when the actual race took place. No wonder it was stopped in '73 (international) and '77 (national) after some casualties.
As it's a 72km/45mile track it seems impossible to learn the complete track, no wonder both Ferrari and Alfa had to hire local hero Nino Vaccarella to win the race for them.
Only thing that really bothered me was the lack of decent transportation. The track-tool I used was this lovely rental on the right:
That's right. A Fiat Panda. If you're ever on Sicily don't forget to take this historic route. It's a quite simple counter-clockwise route between Palermo and Cefalu consisting of: SS120 (from the SS113 going through Cerda), SP24, small piece of SS643 (heading to Polizzi Generosa), SP9bis, SP9 heading Campofelice and the SS113 to Palermo before taking the SS120 again.
Just don't forget the road-conditions can be very, very bad. You see stuff like this all of the time, some parts are gravel as well.
Also live stock and the totally awesom Vespa Ape can be moving obstacles so going full throttle can be quite hazardous.
The guys of XCAR made a very entertaining and informative video of it if you're interested:
Bad Idea Hat
> Jobjoris
05/08/2014 at 09:21 |
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I take issue with this characterization. This track is gone (ish), but certainly not forgotten.
They still run a rally in the Italian Championship there, but I'm not sure how much of the original route they use.
You're spot on about the track being nuttier than the Nurburgring, though. The Ring is downright wimpy compared to the Madonie.
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Jobjoris
> Bad Idea Hat
05/08/2014 at 10:03 |
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Well, maybe 'Forgotten' isn't the right description, you're right about that. But I think not many are able to know about the 'Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie' itself, most will just remember the pictures of Porsche 908's and Ferrari 512S's blasting through towns.
And with all kinds of Racing sims nowadays you can race many tracks but this one I've only saw once in a modded GT Legends environment. While the Nordschleife and Le Mans seems to be in each and every one of them. So at least the gaming industry seems to have forgotten about it ;-)
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Bad Idea Hat
> Jobjoris
05/08/2014 at 10:57 |
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The track you're talking about was originally done for GP Legends (which is a really cool freaking game), and then ported over to just about every other racing sim on PC. The rFactor version is buggy, but it's still an insanely fun blast. I've never made it around without dinging up my car nicely, and never anywhere close to the track record.
tromoly
> Bad Idea Hat
05/08/2014 at 11:01 |
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The site I race with ran an event at the Targa last year and IIRC had no issues, it's a fun little track (and by little I mean the amount that one is able to learn in a lifetime compared to the actual length of the circuit).
Link for those interested:
http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=…
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Jobjoris
> Bad Idea Hat
05/08/2014 at 11:02 |
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Ah, GP Legends, that's the one! Have to get it for sure now.
MechaScroggzilla
> Jobjoris
03/03/2015 at 18:20 |
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A few years ago, there was a great article in Classic and Sports Car magazine regarding British privateers campaigning at the Targa Florio. One of the drivers stated that he used to watch the spectators to judge his pace. If they failed to take notice, he knew he was going too slow. If they noticed and applauded, he was on the pace. And, if they ran, he knew he was about to wreck.