1953-07-12 Coppa Dolomiti Lancia D23 Taruffi

The Dolomites Gold Cup Race (translation: ''Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti'') was a car race on public roads open to traffic, which was run in the Dolomite Mountains of northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for ten years from 1947 to 1956. It took place along an anti-clockwise circuit that was 304 km (188 miles) long and usually took about 3 to 4 hours to complete the one lap that made up the race distance, with the start and finish in the town of

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

. The circuit went through many Italian towns, and it had nearly 2,000 meters (2 km, 1.25 miles, or 6,600 feet) of elevation change- more than 6 1/2 times that of the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and the Isle of Man TT track. The official name of the race has changed over the years. In 1947, it was known as the "Cup of the Dolomites", from 1948 to 1950 it was known as the "International Cup of the Dolomites", and in 1951 it was renamed the "Gold Cup of the Dolomites". The race was not continued after 1956 after the fatal accident of Spaniard

Alfonso de Portago Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago, GE (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing and bobsleigh driver, jockey and pilot. Born in London to a prominent family ...

at the 1957 Mille Miglia, which killed 9 spectators, which prompted the Italian government to temporarily ban racing on public roads. The race was established by the Automobile Club of

Belluno Belluno (; lld, Belum; vec, Belùn) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region ...

, which is still the runner of the now

historic motorsport Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport, is motorsport with vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road ...

event, since 1972. The race is included in the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

international calendar as "Big Event CSAI" classic regularity.

The race

The race's official title has changed over the years. On its foundation in 1947 it was the Coppa delle Dolomiti (Dolomites Cup); then from 1948 to 1950 it became the Coppa Internazionale delle Dolomiti (International Dolomites Cup). From 1951 on, the title became the definitive Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti (Dolomites Gold Cup). In the course of the race's history, the Gold Cup was awarded to the driver achieving the best result over three successive years. From the three races in 1950-1952 it was awarded to Salvatore Amendola, and in the following three-year period from 1953-1955 to

Giulio Cabianca Giulio Cabianca (19 February 1923 – 15 June 1961) was a Formula One driver from Italy. Cabianca was born in Verona, northern Italy. He participated in 4 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1958. He scored a total of 3 champions ...

.Gianni Cancellieri; Cesare De Agostini, ''Polvere e gloria. La Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti (1947-1956)'', Giorgio Nada Editore, 2000. . The race was started and run like a rally, where drivers started individually at timed intervals racing against the clock, like the

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

and the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

The trophy and its allocation

The trophy for the winner is an artistic reproduction of the kilometer milestone of SS 48 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, embedded in a block of Dolomite rocks, this makes up of peaks of these mountains. In the historical period of the race, the Gold Cup was definitively assigned to the driver who obtained the best result by adding the times achieved in three consecutive years. In 1950-1952 Salvatore Ammendola won the Cup, in the following three years, 1953-1955, Giulio Cabianca won the prize.

Circuit route(meters/ft)

(1210 m/3970 ft) - * Pocol (1530 m/5020 ft) – * Passo Falzarego (2105 m/6906 ft) – * Andraz (1392 m/4567 ft) – * Pieve di Livinallongo (1465 m/4806 ft) – * Arabba (1591 m/5219 ft) – *

Pordoi Pass Pordoi is a mountain pass, pass in the Dolomites in the Alps, located between the Sella group in the north and the Marmolada group in the south. The pass is at an altitude of , and the road crossing the pass connects Arabba (Livinallongo del Col d ...

(2239 m/7346 ft) – *

Sella Pass The Sella Pass (german: Sellajoch; lld, Jëuf de Sela or ''Jouf de Sela''; it, Passo Sella) (2218 m) is a high mountain pass between the provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol in Italy. It connects the Val Gherdëina in South Tyrol and Ca ...

junction (1819 m/5968 ft) – *

Canazei Canazei ( Ladin: ''Cianacéi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located in the upper part of the Val di Fassa, about northeast of Trento. Its name derives from the Latin ...

(1467 m/4813 ft) – *

Vigo di Fassa Vigo di Fassa ( lld, Vich de Fascia, german: Wiegen im Fasstal or ''Vig im Fasstal'') is a ''frazione'' of Sèn Jan di Fassa in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northeast of Trento. In the ...

(1342 m/4403 ft) – *

Moena Moena (Ladin: ''Moéna'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about northeast of Trento. It is the largest comune in the Fassa Valley. In the census of 2001, 1,967 inha ...

(1184 m/3885 ft) – *

Predazzo Predazzo (, literally big meadow) is a village and ''comune'' in the province of Trento, northern Italy. Predazzo is located about 58 kilometres northeast of Trento in Val di Fiemme. It is one of the main centers of Val di Fiemme (the other is ...

(1114 m/3655 ft) – *

Rolle Pass The Rolle Pass ( it, Passo Rolle) (1989 m) is a high mountain pass in Trentino in Italy. It connects the Val di Fiemme, Fiemme and Primiero valleys, and the communities of Predazzo, San Martino di Castrozza and Fiera di Primiero. The pass r ...

(1970 m/6463 ft) – *

San Martino di Castrozza San Martino di Castrozza is a mountain resort in the Primiero valley in the Trentino province in Italy. The western part, with 428 inhabitants, is in the comune of Siror, with the eastern, housing 135 inhabitants, in Tonadico. History The fir ...

(1467 m/4813 ft) – *

Fiera di Primiero Fiera di Primiero (german: Primör) was a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento. It was merged with Siror, Tonadico Tonadico (german: Thunadich) was a ' ...

(713 m/2339 ft) – *

Fonzaso Fonzaso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about southwest of Belluno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,412 and an area of .All demographi ...

(329 m/1079 ft) – * Feltre (325 m/1066 ft) – *

(389 m/1276 ft) – *

Longarone Longarone is a town and ''comune'' on the banks of the Piave in the province of Belluno, in northeast Italy. It is situated from Belluno. 4,642 people work all together in Longarone, which is 112.62% of the total population, with most actual in ...

(472 m/1549 ft) – *

Pieve di Cadore Pieve di Cadore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, about north of Venice and about northeast of Belluno. "Pieve" means "Parish church". It is the birthplace of the Italian painter Titia ...

(878 m/2884 ft) – *

Auronzo Auronzo di Cadore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno (Cadore) in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northeast of Belluno. While Auronzo is geographically only from the Austrian border, ...

(864 m/2835 ft) – *

Misurina Lake Misurina ( it, Lago di Misurina; Cadorino dialect: ''Lago de Meśorìna'') is the largest natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1,754 m above sea level, near Auronzo di Cadore ( Belluno). The lake's perimeter is 2.6 km long, whil ...

(1756 m/4761 ft) – * Carbonin (1437 m/4715 ft) – * Passo Cimabanche (1529 m/5016 ft) – * Cortina d’Ampezzo (1210 m/3970 ft)

Top 3 results for each race

1948-07-11 Coppa Dolomiti WINNER Maserati A6GCS Bracco

1952-07-13 Coppa Dolomiti WINNER Ferrari 225 0172ET Marzotto Marini

1953-07-12 Coppa Dolomiti WINNER Ferrari 250 0282MM Marzotto Marini

1954-07-11 Coppa Dolomiti WINNER Maserati A6GCS Mantovani

''1947 - 20 July / The Cup of the Dolomites'' # Salvatore Ammendola - Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS - 3h58m18s 76.492 km/h (47.529 mph) #

Piero Dusio Piero Dusio (13 October 1899 – 7 November 1975) was an Italian footballer, businessman and racing driver.Donatella Biffignandi, Piero Dusio' from museoauto.it, an online museum for automotive issues, last accessed on 12 November 2016. Biograph ...

- Cisitalia 202 MM - 4h01m45s " #

Alberto Gidoni Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

- Fiat 1100 S Gidoni - 4h03m06s " ''1948 - 11 July / II International Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Giovanni Bracco Giovanni Bracco (6 June 1908 at Biella – 7 August 1968 at Biella) was an Italian racing car driver. He lived in Biella, home town of other racing aces such as Mario Porrino and Lamberto Grolla. Before and after World War II he had been racing ...

Maserati A6GCS Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati (one of the Maserati brothers, founders of Maserati) and for their straight-si ...

- 3h40m47s - 82.560 km/h (51.300 mph) #

Luigi Villoresi Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older ...

- Maserati A6GCS - 3h44m32s # Soave Besana - Ferrari 166 SC - 3h45m57s ''1949 - 17 July / III International Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Roberto Vallone Roberto Vallone (1915–2001) was an Italian racing driver mostly known for his early association with Scuderia Ferrari. He entered 13 sports car races (with 12 starts) between 1947 and 1953, mainly in a Stanguellini S1500 and Ferrari 166's th ...

- Ferrari 166 SC- 3h45m02s - 81.001 km/h (50.332 mph) # Franco Cornacchia - Ferrari 166 MM - 3h48m19s # Franco Rol - Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione - 3h48m20s ''1950 - 16 July / IV International Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Giannino Marzotto Count Giannino Marzotto (13 April 1928 in Valdagno, Italy – 14 July 2012) was an Italian racing driver and entrepreneur. Marzotto served as President of the Mille Miglia Club and won the Mille Miglia race in 1950 and 1953. Career He was one ...

- Ferrari 166 MM - 3h34m31s - 84.972 km/h (52.799 mph) # Giovanni Bracco - Maserati A6GCS - 3h34m45s # Franco Cornacchia -

Ferrari 195 S :''See also the Ferrari 195 Inter, 195 Inter grand tourer'' :''See also the Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans, 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans'' The Ferrari 195 S was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1950. It was an improved version of the Ferr ...

- 3h41m39s ''1951 - 15 July / V Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Enrico Anselmi Enrico Anselmi was an Italian racing driver, who made a name for himself racing Lancias in the early 1950s. Racing career Enrico Anselmi, raced internationally, primarily in sportscars between 1947 and 1957, mainly in Lancia Aprilias and Lanc ...

- Lancia Aurelia B20 - 3h45m07s -80.971 km/h (50.313 mph) #

Umberto Castiglioni Umberto is a masculine Italian given name. It is the Italian form of Humbert. People with the name include: * King Umberto I of Italy (1844–1900) * King Umberto II of Italy (1904–1983) * Prince Umberto, Count of Salemi (1889–1918) * Umberto I ...

- Lancia Aurelia B20 - 3h47m30s #

- Osca MT4 1100 - 3h47m37s ''1952 - 13 July / VI Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' # Paolo Marzotto -

Ferrari 225 S The Ferrari 225 S was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1952. It was an evolution over the preceding Ferrari 212 Export with important engine upgrades that greatly improved power output. The model was extensively used in competition, win ...

- 3h22m25s - 84.528 km/h (52.523 mph) # Giannino Marzotto -

Ferrari 340 America Ferrari America is a series of top-end Ferrari models built in the 1950s and 1960s. They were large grand touring cars with the largest V12 engines and often had custom bodywork. All America models used a live axle in the rear, were front-eng ...

- 3h25m57s # Giulio Cabianca - Osca MT4 1100 - 3h33'49 ''1953 - 12 July / VII Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' # Paolo Marzotto -

Ferrari 250 MM The Ferrari 250 MM was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1953. After the initial racing successes of the 3.0-litre ''Colombo'' V12 engine, introduced in the 250 S one-off, Ferrari produced a serial racing model. It is best recognisable ...

- 3h18m19s - 91.913 km/h (57.112 mph) #

Piero Taruffi Piero Taruffi (12 October 1906 – 12 January 1988) was a racing driver from Italy. Sports car career Taruffi began his motorsport career racing motorcycles. He won the 1932 500cc European Championship on a Norton and in 1937 set the motorcycle ...

- Lancia D23 - 3h19m52s #

Umberto Maglioli Umberto Maglioli (5 June 1928 – 7 February 1999) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 10 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 September 1953. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 3 championship ...

- Ferrari 735 S - 3h20m02s ''1954 - 11 July / VIII Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Sergio Mantovani Sergio Mantovani (May 22, 1929 - February 23, 2001) was a racing driver from Milan, Italy. He entered 8 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on September 13, 1953. He started 7 of those races, all for Maserati. His best results w ...

- Maserati A6GCS - 3h19m36s - 91.319 km (56.743 mph) # Giulio Cabianca - Osca MT4 1500 - 3h20m23s # Gerino Gerini -

Ferrari 250 Monza The Ferrari 250 Monza was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1954. It was a combination of a stretched chassis and body from the line of inline-four-engined racers with an ubiquitous 3.0-litre Colombo V12 engine. Development After ongoi ...

- 3h20m30s ''1955 - 10 July / IX Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' #

Olivier Gendebien Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time". Rally racer Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car which was produced by Mercedes-Benz as a gullwinged coupe (1954–1957) and roadster (1957–1963).Werner Oswald: ''Mercedes-Benz Personenwagen 1945–1985''. Motorbuch Ve ...

- 3h23m01s - 89.779 km/h (55.786 mph) #

Eugenio Castellotti Eugenio Castellotti (10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was a Formula One driver from Italy. Driving career Castellotti was born in Lodi, Italy. He acquired a Ferrari at the age of twenty, from a local benefactor, and began racing sports cars ...

Ferrari 500 Mondial The Ferrari Monza is one of a series of cars built by Ferrari. In the early 1950s, Ferrari shifted from using the compact Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine in its smallest class of sports racers to a line of four-cylinder engines designe ...

- 3h23m22s # Giulio Cabianca - Osca MT4 1500 - 3h27m02s ''1956 - 8 July / X Gold Cup of the Dolomites'' # Giulio Cabianca - Osca MT4 1500 - 3h01m31s - 100.417 km/h (62.396 mph) (lap record) # Olivier Gendebien -

Ferrari 860 Monza The Ferrari Monza is one of a series of cars built by Ferrari. In the early 1950s, Ferrari shifted from using the compact Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine in its smallest class of sports racers to a line of four-cylinder engines designe ...

- 3h05m18s # Umberto Maglioli - Osca MT4 1500 - 3h09m47s

References

Bibliography

# Gianni Cancellieri; Cesare De Agostini,'' Powder and glory. The Gold Cup of the Dolomites (1947–1956)'', Giorgio Nada Editore, 2000. . # Carlo Dolcini,'' The last golden cup of the Dolomites'', Patron Editore, 2007.

External links

Official Site

ACI / CSAI (Automobile Club of Italy / Italian Motor Sport Commission)
ACI presented the Gold Cup of the Dolomites 2013]
Circuits of the World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolomites Gold Cup Race Auto races in Italy