L'Emozione della Grande Corsa - 2022

he will soon become a champion. “Cazzulani explained to his
comrade Monferroni.
The race was becoming more and more demanding. The riders
had to keep their eyes wide open, even as the hours of the race
began to add up. The adrenalin was very high, however, and
problems with falling asleep just didn’t exist.
“Tell me Monferroni, can you tell me where exactly we are now?”
asked Cazzulani.
“We are at about Spoleto,” Monferroni replied, scanning the map
on board and looking for some reference on the route.
“Look, isn’t that Brilli and Peri’s Alfa Romeo standing on the side
of the road? At the last refuelling they told me they were in the
lead from the start. From the smoke I see rising from the engine,
they must have had quite a problem,’ Monferroni said, trying to
understand what had happened.
“Alfa Romeos are great cars. Very powerful engines, but in these
extreme situations, all it takes is nothing for the engine to fail,
and goodbye race,” said Cazzulani with a hint of irony.
It is already past 3pm on 27 March. After almost 30 hours of racing,
the Peugeot 5CV driven by Giuseppe Cazzulani and Monferroni,
is in the Verona area, and so it is only a short distance to the finish.
Verona, Peschiera del Garda, Desenzano del Garda, pass quickly,
transformed by numerous motor fans and curious people who
greet and cheer for the fearless racers along the way.
“Here comes Brescia, here we are! “ exclaimed Cazzulani.
The car sped down Viale Venezia, still packed with people, and
triumphantly crossed the finish line in the late afternoon of 28
March 1927.
That edition was won by the OM 665 Superba driven by Minoia
and Morandi with a final time of around 21 hours.
The tiny Peugeot 5 CV driven by Cazzulani and Monferroni
finished in 33h51’33”0 but in this race time was secondary,
disappeared.
A new era was born where engines and challenges between
drivers entered fully into the collective imagination. Endless
emotions that will make the heart beat faster, for an epic and
unparalleled race.
76