Mille Miglia 2011 : En route pour Rome

After a very short stay in Bologne, we set off for Rome at 6 o’clock in the morning.

Breathtaking landscapes

During this stage of the race, the cars journeyed through the towns of San Marino, Sansepolcro and Rieti under the heat of the burning sun. But if there was a section that really drove me crazy, it was at Spoleto!

The engines suffer

It’s not easy to keep an engine at the right temperature during the midday sun, and at full throttle. As the driver of the Ferrari 174 explained to me “If you stop the engine in this heat, it’s almost impossible to start it up again. Normally if you put it in second it can get going… but we’re going downhill here. If you’re a real risk taker, you can put it in reverse. And if you believe in God, you do it like him (he points to an Aston Martin, whose drivers seem to be praying that the temperature gauge won’t go up).

Another lesson learnt from this stage; engine oil. From what I understood of the German who had just broken down, most of engine faults arise from the oil, which has either become too fluid, too viscous, or has mixed with condensation. The engine heats up, starts to leak (radiator, cylinders…) and then mixes with petrol. This results in lower power levels, and the engine doesn’t respond.

Snowy passage in mid-May

A small, isolated stretch of winding road took us through an area of magnificent snow-capped mountains in the middle of May.

Arrival at the Olympic Stadium in Rome

This day was fantastic, full of a sense of adventure that pushed you to your limits.

Never again

I made the fatal error of not keeping myself hydrated, and not eating enough throughout the day. I therefore got a migraine around 6pm, my eyes crying with pain and tiredness. Every bend was both a technical feat and a hammer to my head. Yet passion wisely kept me going until the end of the stage… at 1 o’clock in the morning.

Tomorrow morning, the drivers and myself are getting up again at 6am for the longest part of the race: return to Brescia, going via Bologne.