There's car racing, and then there is the 1000 Miglia. The 2200-kilometer route, all in Italy, is designed as a regularity challenge, testing navigation, precision and the mechanics of hundreds of millions of dollars of classic and antique automobiles. Mercedes-Benz Heritage, the division of the global automaker responsible for upholding and preserving the heritage of the company, invited me along as co-pilot and navigator in the 2024 edition of the Mille Miglia, held last week.
I jumped at the opportunity. I'd never done the Italian race before, but I had done two previous iterations of the Mille Miglia Warm Up USA, the training program and competition held annually in the Washington, D.C.
area, so I had an idea of what I was getting myself into. The race is divided into four simultaneous challenges, all of which carry penalty points for being even a moment or meter off the set mark: navigation, arrival/departure time, average speed and varied time-distance. This year's five-day race left Brescia on the first day and headed through Bergame, Novara and Verecilli, before ending in Turin.
The second stage went through Genoa and along the Tyrrhenian coast to Viareggaio. Rome was the third day's destination. On the fourth day, the 1000 Miglia route passed through Orvieto, Solomeo, Siena, Prato, Futa and Raticosa.
The fifth and final route took the vehicles from outside Bologna through Ferrara, Bovolone and Villafranca, winding around Lake Garda, and finishing in Viale Venezia. Mi.