13 Antonio Ascari
SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo
Alfa Romeo RLTF 
15 Alfieri Maserati
SA Autocostruzioni Diatto
Diatto 20S 
22 Franco Boggio
F. Boggio
Ceirano CS2H
CIRCUITO DI CREMONA
Circuito di Cremona (I), 6 May 1923.
3 laps x 62.98 km (39.135 mi) = 188.9 km (117.3 mi)
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Ascari wins the Cremona Circuit with Alfa Romeo
by Hans Etzrodt
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The Cremona Circuit was held for the first time with 15 starters present. A 10-km speed trial was part of this event. After the morning's motorcycle races, the afternoon
battle of the race cars was even more exciting. Ascari (Alfa Romeo) won ahead of Maserati (Diatto), Boggio (Ceirano), Masperi (OM), Deo (Chiribiri), the Bugattis of Lenti
and Bernarducci and Guardiani (OM) eighth and last finisher. The 10-Kilometer speed trial was won by Ramassotto (1500 Chiribiri) at 161.290 km/h.
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The town of Cremona, famous for Antonio Stradivari, the world's greatest crafter of violins, was south of Brescia, on completely flat terrain. The Circuito del Cremona
was held for the first time and had the appearance of an irregular triangle leading on dirt roads running anti-clockwise at a length of 62,980 km. The total distance over
three laps was 188.940 km. Start and finish with grandstands were in Cremona from where the road headed east leading past Cingia de Botti village to San Giovanni in Croce
where the course turned north through the town of Piadena to Sant'Antonio Negri. From here the road continued west, stretching straight for 18 kilometers, past Gadesco
towards Cremona. On this section a timed 10-Kilometer speed trial took place. The point for this attempt was set from km 12,500 (Cicognolo) to km 2,500 (five hundred
meters before the Cremona level crossing) of the provincial road in Mantua. One km before and for the entire record course, the dusty road was treated with a special
coating so that all competitors had full visibility. L'Automobile Club di Cremona divided the entries into 1500 cc and 3000 cc categories. The addition of fuel, oil
or water were only allowed at the pits in Cremona. This provision was mandatory and transgression of the same would lead to disqualification. Scrutineering with
verification of the cars' weight, drivers and mechanics, the application of seals to the engine block, verification of race numbers, cards and licenses was carried
out in the enclosure of the Cattle Market.
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Entries:
Of 25 entries only 15 drivers arrived at the start. The 3000cc category comprised seven starters, including the Alfa Romeo works entry for Ascari, the latest 3-Liter
6-cylinder Alfa Romeo RL, the fastest car present with a streamlined tail and a spare wheel on the left side. Maserati drove a 20S Diatto with 2-Liter engine, entered
by the factory. According to Alessandro Silva, Nuvolari was present but his Chiribiri was not ready yet. So, the organizers asked him to drive a car that they would
provide, which was the number 11 car, an older large Diatto with artillery wheels. It is unknown what happened next, except that Nuvolari was replaced by reserve driver
Giuseppe Mussini, who drove the car in the race. Alessandro Silva enlightened also that the Nesseldorf of Canali and Marconcini were specials built by Alfieri Maserati
in 1920/21 using Nesseldorf engines of light trucks that were war prey. They were the first cars built by Alfieri Maserati and he drove one of them at Mugello in 1920.
Canali and Marconcini were the last owners of those two cars. Company history of the Nesseldorfer Wagenbau-Fabriks-Gesellschaft recorded their first car in 1897 in
Nesseldorf near Vienna. As of 1899 they were involved in racing. After WW I, Nesseldorf was renamed Kopřivnice, when it became part of Czechoslowakia. In 1923 the
Nesseldorf company became Tatra. The car entered at Cremona was probably a 3-L 4-cylinder. Pelegatti drove a S.I.A.M. which was a new Milanese brand built in 1922.
The car had a 2-Liter 6-cylinder engine with twin overhead camshafts. Saccomani and Boggio drove in 3-Liter Ceiranos.
Eight cars started in the 1500 cc category, including four Bugattis of Giovanelli, Berarducci, Lenti and Salvioni. There were two works entered Chiribiri Monzas for
"Deo" (Amadeo, the son of the constructor) and Ramassotto. The remaining two cars were 4-cylinder OMs driven by Masperi and Guardini.
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Practice:
On Friday over seventy motorcycles and cars were practicing on the circuit with general satisfaction by all. Some competitors coming from the furthest cities arrived at
night and tried out the route on Saturday morning when certain road sections were still being improved during practice.
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Race:
A large crowd arrived for Sunday's race. Ascari with his new Grand Prix Alfa Romeo appeared to be the one most likely to dominate the race. Only 15 cars showed up at
the start, eight in the 1500 category and seven of the 3-Liter cars.
After the morning motorcycle races, the automobile race in the afternoon had more spectators in the stands. At 2.15 PM the Modena-based Enzo Ferrari was driving an
Alfa Sport with the highly applauded Roberto Farinacci on board, left for the official opening of the circuit. After his return, the starting operations began for
the 1500 cars. The timekeepers Marley, Mespera and Del Grano, after lining up the 8 cars, gave the first start at 3:00 PM to Giovannelli. At intervals of two minutes
followed Bernarducci, Deo, Lenti, Salvioni, Ramassotto, Masperi and Guardiani. After an interval of 5 minutes it was the turn of the seven 3-Liter cars to leave with
Ascari, Mussini, Maserati, Pellegatti, Canali, Saccomani and Boggio.
When the cars returned to complete the first lap, Deo was in the lead at high speed. However, he was forced to stop for 2m45s at the pits to change spark plugs.
Ramassotto, Giovenelli, Masperi, Lenti and Berarducci passed in this order. Salvioni (1500 Bugatti) was delayed due to failures. The 1500 category order was as
follows after the first lap:
| 1. | Ramassotto (Chiribiri) | 28m25.4s |
| 2. | Deo (Chiribiri) | 29m15.0s |
| 3. | Giovannelli (Bugatti) | 32m40.4s |
| 4. | Masperi (OM) | 34m18.2s |
| 5. | Lenti (Bugatti) | 34m26.8s |
| 6. | Beraducci (Bugatti) |
| 7. | Guardiani (OM) |
In the 3000 category Ascari was in the lead followed by Saccomani, Boggio and Pellegatti. Canali crashed and retired when he damaged his own car, trying to avoid a
collision with Maserati who had stopped on the course changing a tire on his car. Mussini also retired. The order was as follows after the first lap:
| 1. | Ascari (Alfa Romeo) | 28m22.0s |
| 2. | Saccomani (Cereino) | 33m05.4s |
| 3. | Boggio (Bugatti) | 33m17.0s |
| 4. | Pellegatti (S.I.A.M.) |
| 5. | Maserati (Diatto) |
At the end of the second lap, Ramassotto was still leading the 1500 category after 58m08.0s. Deo who could not drive at full speed, took 1h11m14.0s. He lost another
two minutes when he stopped at the pits changing a spark plug. Masperi with 1h08m25s advanced to second place and drove at very regularly speed. Lenti, Berarducci
and Guardiani followed, slow and calm. The order was as follows after the second lap:
| 1. | Ramassotto (Chiribiri) | 58m08.0s |
| 2. | Masperi (OM) | 1h08m26.0s |
| 3. | Deo (Chiribiri) | 1h11m14.0s |
| 4. | Lenti (Bugatti) | 1h12m33.2s |
| 5. | Belarduccu (Bugatti) |
| 6. | Guardiani (OM) |
Ascari completed the second lap in 56m22.2s, followed by Maserati and Boggio over 10 minutes behind while Saccomani retired. On the last lap the 1500 group provided
a great surprise. Deo was delayed by refueling, then rejoined after Masperi, while Ramassotto had the victory in his pocket. But then the unfortunate Turin driver
had an accident that forced him to retire. Masperi then inherited the lead over Deo by 18 seconds. Meanwhile Ascari triumphantly crossed the finish line in 1h24m29.4s
equal to 134.174 km/h.
Concurrently with the 3-lap race, the 10-km speed trial was held along the 18 kilometer straight, which was leading towards the west, beginning at San Antonio near
Piadena, passed Gadesco and ended at Cremona. At each end of the 10-km timed section were 4 km stretches, an approach run to accelerate up to speed and the other
4 km for slowing down. All cars were timed every lap as they passed the timed 10-km section. Below are the published speeds attained by the fastest drivers.
| 1. Ramassotto (Chiribiri 1500) | 3m43.2s - 161.290 km/h - 1st lap |
| 2. Maserati (Diatto 3000) | 3m49.2s - 157.068 km/h - 3rd lap |
| 3. Ascari (Alfa Romeo RL) | 3m49.4s - 156.931 km/h - 3rd lap |
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 13 | Antonio Ascari | SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & C | Alfa Romeo | RLTF | 3.0 | S-6 | 3 | 1h24m29.4s |
| 2. | 15 | Alfieri Maserati | SA Autocostruzioni Diatto | Diatto | 20S | 2.0 | S-4 | 3 | 1h37m21.4s | + 12m52.0s |
| 3. | 22 | Franco Boggio | F. Boggio | Ceirano | CS2H | 3.0 | S-6 | 3 | 1h42m41.6s | + 18m12.2s |
| 4. | 10 | Antonio Masperi | A. Masperi | OM | 469 | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | 1h42m45.0s | + 18m15.6s |
| 5. | | "Deo" | Chiribiri & Co. | Chiribiri | Monza | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | 1h43m03.0s | + 18m33.6s |
| 6. | | Enzo Lenti | E. Lenti | Bugatti | | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | 1h48m13.0s | + 23m43.6s |
| 7. | 2 | Guglielmo Berarducci | G. Berarducci | Bugatti | T13 | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | 1h53m20.6s | + 28m51.2s |
| 8. | | Romeo Guardiani | R. Guardiani | OM | 4 C | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | 2h00m12.4s | + 35m43.0s |
| DNF | 8 | Maurizio Ramassotto | Chiribiri & Co. | Chiribiri | Monza | 1.5 | S-4 | 2 | crash | |
| DNF | 1 | Piero Giovannelli | P. Giovannelli | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | | |
| DNF | 7 | Carletto Salvioni | C. Salvionit | Bugatti | T13 | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | | |
| DNF | | Carlo Canali | C. Canali | Nesseldorf | | 3.0 | S-4 | 1 | crash |
| DNF | 11 | Giuseppe Mussini | G. Mussini | Diatto | | 2.0 | S-4 | 1 |
| DNF | | Tommaso Saccomani | SA Giovanni Ceirano | Ceirano | CS2H | 3.0 | S-6 | 1 |
| DNF | | Olivo Pellegatti | O. Pellegatti | S.I.A.M. | | 2.0 | S-6 |
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Fastest lap 3000 cc: Antonio Ascari (Alfa Romeo) on lap 3 in 27m37.2s = 136.8 km/h (85.0 mph).
Fastest lap 1500 cc: Maurizio Ramassotto (Chiribiti) on lap 1 in 28m25.6s = 132.9 km/h (82.6 mph).
Winner's average speed 3000 cc (Ascari): 134.2 km/h (83.4 mph).
Winner's average speed 1500 cc (Masperi): 110.3 km/h (68.6 mph).
Weather: sunshine, warm
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Primary sources researched for this article:
Automobil-Welt, Berlin
La Gazetta dello Sport, Milano
La Stampa, Torino
L'IMPERO, Roma
Special thanks to:
Alessandro Silva
Giuseppe Prisco
Michael Müller
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