The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in

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 ...

Overview

Despite its title, the race has been run at shorter lengths (most notably in the late 1970s and early 1990s, before the demise of the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

in 1992). The Coppa Intereuropa was first held in 1949 on a circuit. The race length was expanded to 1,000 km in 1954; in 1956, it was held on a circuit. The race was shortened and returned to the 6.3-km track the following year. In 1960 and 1961, it was part of the FIA GT Cup. In 1963, the race was held as a three-hour event for production-based cars in the

before its expansion to 1,000 km in 1965. Until 1969, the full Monza circuit (including the banked oval) was used. To slow the cars, chicanes were installed in 1965 at the beginning of the second bank (the south curve) and in 1966 at the beginning of the other bank. A lap was long, for a total distance of 1,010 km (100 laps). From 1970, the shorter Grand Prix circuit has been used occasionally.

History

* 1976 - The

was split into two series. The first, for production cars, was called the World Championship for Makes. The second, for prototype cars, was called the World Sports car Championship. The Monza race was eligible for the latter in 1976 and 1977. * 1978 - The World Sports Car Championship was cancelled and the race was reconfigured for 320 km, making it eligible for the European Sportscar Championship. * 1979 - After the European Championship was cancelled, the race was eligible for the Italian championship. * 1980 - The race again became eligible for the

. * 1989 - It was cancelled due to financial problems with the Automobile Club of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and for the rebuilding of boxes and paddock facilities. * 1992 - The race was used on and off by various series, including the

BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR.) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...

, the Italian GT Championship, and the Challenge Endurance Italia series in 1997 and 1998. The

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating ...

hosted the 1,000 km in 2001. * 1995 and 1996 - The race was valid for the

, reserved for GT cars with the four-hour format. * 1998 - Did not qualify for an international championship. It returned to the 1,000-kilometre distance, and was re-opened to sports cars. * 1999 - The distance was reduced to 500 km, and it again became eligible for the international SportsRacing World Cup championship. * 2000 - Although the race was run at 500 km, it was called "1,000 km" because another 500-km race (for the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

) was held that morning. * 2001 - Returning to the 1,000-kilometre distance, the race was eligible for the

. * 2003 - After a year off, the race returned to the 500-kilometre distance. * 2004 - the race was resumed as part of the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. * 2006 - The race, part of the Le Mans Series, was cancelled due to protests about

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is ma ...

. * 2007 - Agreements were reached to allow the event to return to the

. The race was not held from 2009 to 2020, after which a six-hour race was scheduled as part of the

2021 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship was the ninth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The serie ...

Winners

Notes

References

External links

Racing Sports Cars: Monza archive
{{Automobile endurance races 1949 establishments in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 1949 Auto races in Italy Sports car races