Page Details

• TitleCoppa Milano-Sanremo
• DescriptionEstablished in 1906 by La Gazzetta dello Sport, in collaboration with the Automobile Club of Milan, one year prior to the Milano-Sanremo bike race, the first Milano-Sanremo was a true endurance race for cars from the start of the 20th century. Participants were mostly Milanese who pushed themselves toward the sunlit coasts of the Riviera after a winter in the plains. Resumed later in 1929 by the Automobile Club of Milan with the name Coppa Milano-Sanremo, this captivating regularity rally defined four-wheeled competition for Milan and elsewhere, spanning a long period of time between the Thirties and the early Seventies, with an interruption during the war. In 1948, while the serious damages inflicted by the war were being healed in Milan, the Coppa Milano-Sanremo resurfaced and was welcomed with great enthusiasm. Over the years, the event attracted not only Italian competitors, but also foreign and female crews. The success of female participants was such that, for several years, a route was organized exclusively for women called ‘La Perla di Sanremo – Coppa delle Dame’ (The Pearl of Sanremo – Ladies’ Cup). In the following years, through 1973, the Coppa Milano-Sanremo maintained its design, with the addition of a few thrills on the racetrack of the Autodromo Nazionale of Monza and with the insertion of the Ospedaletti Circuit, precision tests, and uphill races. Increases in traffic, along with a changing relationship with the public and car users following the oil crisis and the period of economic austerity brought this type of event into decline, leaving enthusiasts, however, with an indelible memory, which today is revived thanks to the historical re-enactments. After thirty years of silence, the Coppa Milano-Sanremo reignited its engines in 2003, and today, after having commemorated its Centenary and entered into a ‘New Century,’ it will celebrate its 9th historical re-enactment.
• Websitewww.milano-sanremo.it