Re: Targa Florio 1972

["Auto Legal / New York" <autlegal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe:
-----To continue, there was said to be a mechanical problem with Nanni's car
and the problem was said to have delayed him in the mountains....not the pit
stop I managed but somewhere else along the circuit.  Team members remain
silent regarding what caused Nanni to stop at the isolated Autodelta pit
service area. ... Writers covering the event never knew the story...

Of course you can say that I have no personal direct knowledge of the events
of the day, and that might be considered true, but team members that evening
gave me the
impression that the driver could not continue due to the heat and
dehydrating effects on his body due to the effects of the sun, and the fact
that the car was extremely difficult to drive given that there was not .2
kilometer of straight section of road to recoil and relax from the
relentless twists and turns of the Targa Florio.  The steering effort of the
T-33 also required Herculean effort and each lap was 44 km long......

Nanni served Autodelta well at LeMans in fulfilling the end of his Alfa
Romeo
contract even though we did not win the twenty four hour race a month or so
later.   The loss at
the Targa Florio was nevertheless devastating for Chiti who counted
heavily on a repeat of his 1970 victory with Nino Vaccarella of Sicily.
Chiti spent a veritable ton of lire trying to win this particular race
entering three brand new specially-prepared and heavily-Balocco-tested cars
and bringing along
a T-33 muletto and a practice GTAm for testing and circuit/driver
instruction,
seemingly one half of the guys at the Autodelta factory... attempting to
bolster his sagging image and trying to help the commercial people sell new
Alfa Romeo sedans and GTs throughout Europe ...and justifying the massive
Autodelta Group expenditures involved.  Had Marko only one more half lap to
pass the gloating Ferrari team on the final lap....

I saw Marko drive like a possessed wildman....nothing
I have witnessed in motor racing before or since has been an equal to that
drive...the possessed giant-eyed look in Marko's eyes visible through the
tiny helmet slot (without Lexan shielding which would sever his motor racing
career later when a stone chip would permanently end  his career)...the car
leaping
violently and completely off the ground in front of my eyes...daylight
clearly visible
under each tire....simultaneously... the screaming V-8 begging to satisfy
Marko's torturous commands....
driving at true11/10th
capability...to make up the difference...the way the car was wildly and
recklessly thrown from side to side on the narrow country road,...with steep
drops and rocky embankments on either side serving to punish the slightest
mistake.  He accomplished the impossible to come within 18 seconds of the
lead Ferrari (and only SEFAC Ferrari entered) on a single
lap but Ferrari won with Sandro Munari nevertheless....  We learned how
superior our T-33 was over the competition in terms of speed and handling
when handled by Marko on that single lap.

To view interesting segments of the race and catch a glimpse of your writer
(who had driven down for the week-long event from Florence in a
fantastically quick 45mm Weber-equipped Giulia Tii), view a copy of The
Speed Merchants.

Bob Little

Joe Elliott wrote:

"Since I don't see Nanni Galli on a regular basis, and Chiti is
deceased, would you care to enlighten us, Bob?"
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