Tazio Nuvolari at the 1930 Monza Grand Prix

The Monza Grand Prix (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Gran Premio di Monza'') was an automobile race held at the

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza The Monza Circuit ( it, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, , National Automobile Racetrack of Monza) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after ...

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

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 ...

. Following the terrible accident during the

1928 Italian Grand Prix The 1928 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race run on 9 September 1928, at Monza. It was run over 60 laps, and was won by Louis Chiron driving a Bugatti 37A. It was the 8th Italian Grand Prix. This race was also the VI Grand Prix d ...

, where

Emilio Materassi Emilio Materassi (October 30, 1894 – September 9, 1928) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver. Early life Born in Borgo San Lorenzo, near Florence, Italy, Emilio began working in a bicycle shop, learning the basics of applied mechani ...

and 27 spectators lost their lives, the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

was cancelled in 1929 and 1930. Not wanting to abandon racing at the Monza track completely, the Monza Grand Prix was held as a substitute during these years. Even when the Italian Grand Prix returned to the racing calendar, the Monza Grand Prix was retained as a separate event. The competition was typically divided into three short (~30 minutes) heats according to engine size, one

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

and a longer final. The 1933 event was to be known as the Black Sunday, due to 3 top drivers (

Giuseppe Campari Giuseppe Campari (8 June 1892 – 10 September 1933) was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver. Racing career Born near the city of Lodi southwest of Milan, as a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile compa ...

Baconin Borzacchini Baconin Borzacchini (Terni 28 September 1898 – Monza 10 September 1933) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver often referred to as Mario Umberto Borzacchini. Biography Born Baconino Francesco Domenico Borzacchini in Terni in the Umbria ...

and

Stanisław Czaykowski Stanisław Czaykowski, also known as Stanislas Czaykowski and Stanislaus Czaykowski (10 June 1899 – 10 September 1933) was a Polish Grand Prix motor racing driver. In 1930 and 1933 Czaykowski competed in the French Grand Prix. In 1931 he won ...

) getting killed in two separate accidents at the south banking of the high speed loop. The racing world was stunned and this spelled the end, not only for the Monza Grand Prix, but also for Monza's original 10 km circuit. The Italian Grand Prix continued on during the following years, using a number of different layouts, with chicanes put in to slow down the speed. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the ''Gran Premio dell'Autodromo di Monza'' was run in five editions between 1948 and 1952. The first of these was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race and the rest

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

. None of them counted towards the World Championship. The race was resumed in 1980, when the Italian F1 Grand Prix was raced in "Dino Ferrari" circuit in Imola, a

race was arranged. Today, the Italian Grand Prix is sometimes referred to as "the Monza Grand Prix" since it is so closely associated with the Monza track.

Winners of the Monza Grand Prix

These are the winners of the Monza Grands Prix.

References

{{reflist Pre-World Championship Grands Prix Auto races in Italy

Winners of the Monza Grand Prix

See also

References