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Brilli-Peri (Steyr)
32 Gastone Brilli-Peri
Österreichische Waffenfabriks Ges.
Steyr VI Sport 15/90 HP
Masetti (Alfa Romeo)
25 Giulio Masetti
SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo
Alfa Romeo RLTF23
Ascari (Alfa Romeo)
26 Antonio Ascari
SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo
Alfa Romeo RLTF23


CIRCUITO DEL MUGELLO

Circuito del Mugello (I), 10 June 1923.
6 laps x 64.9 km (40.3 mi) = 389.4 km (242.0 mi)

No.DriverEntrantCarTypeEngine

Production Car Category 1350 cc
1Ferruccio CercignaniF. CercignaniWanderer5/15 W41.3S-4
2Vieri VagnettiV. VagnettiWanderer5/15 W41.3S-4DNA - did not appear
 
Production Car Category 1500 cc
3Vieri GiannottiV. GiannottiFiat501 S1.5S-4DNA - did not appear
4Guido CecchiG. CecchiFiat501 S1.5S-4DNA - did not appear
5Aldo BonfiglioliA. BonfiglioliOMTouring1.5S-4DNA - did not appear
6Vasco SbraciV. SbraciFiat501 S1.5S-4
7Romeo GuardianiR. GuardianiOMTouring1.5S-4
8Edoardo WeberE. WeberFiat501 S1.5S-4DNA - did not appear
 
Production Car Category 2000 cc
10Giulio BacciniG. BacciniDiatto20 S2.0S-4
11Alete MarconciniAutomobili AnsaldoAnsaldo4CS2.0S-4
12Albino MarinoniAutomobili AnsaldoAnsaldo4CS2.0S-4
13Dante NoviD. NoviCMN2.0S-4
14XXDe Dion2.0DNA - did not appear
15Corrado LottiC. LottiAnsaldo4CS2.0S-4
16Ferruccio ZanirattiF. ZanirattiBianchi182.0S-4
17CagliCagliDiatto20S2.0S-4DNA - did not appear
18Giorgio RubbiettiSA Automobile e Velocipd. Eduardo BanchiBianchi182.0S-4
19Tulio VespriniSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-4
20Guido MeregalliSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-4
 
Production Car Category 3000 cc
22Enzo FerrariE. FerrariAlfa RomeoRLTF233.0S-6
23XXItala51S2.8S-4DNA - did not appear
24Emilio MaterassiE. MaterassiItala51S2.8S-4
26Antonio AscariSA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & CAlfa RomeoRLTF233.0S-6
 
Production Car Category over 3000 cc
28XXSteyr VI Sport 15/90 hp4.5S-6DNA - did not appear
29Abele Augusto TarabusiFabbrica Automobili NazzaroNazzaroTipo 5 Sport4.4S-4
31Felice NazzaroFabbrica Automobili NazzaroNazzaroTipo 5 Sport4.4S-4DNA - did not appear
32Gastone Brilli-PeriÖsterreichische Waffenfabriks GesellschaftSteyrVI Sport 15/90 hp4.5S-6
33Giovanni CaprioneFabbrica Automobili NazzaroNazzaroTipo 5 Sport4.4S-4
 
Racing Car Category
9Massimiliano LancellottiSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-4
21Alfieri MaseratiSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto SplHispano-Suiza5.8S-4
25Giulio MasettiSA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & CAlfa RomeoRLTF233.2S-6
27Gulielmo TurnerG. TurnerDiattoCS2H2.6S-4
30Vittorio ForoniV. ForoniItala SplHispano-Suiza5.8S-4


Brilli-Peri wins the Mugello Circuit

by Hans Etzrodt
The 23 starters at the 1923 Mugello Circuit race were split into two groups of Production Cars and Racing Cars, resulting in six categories. The favorites included Brilli-Peri (Steyr), Maserati (Diatto Special) and the Alfa Romeos of Giulio Masetti and Ascari. The battle for the lead was between Brilli-Peri and Masetti with Ascari once in second place. After more than five hours, Brilli Peri dominated as the overall victor winning the Production Car group while Masetti won the Racing Car group. Ascari was third, followed by nine other finishers, one car was flagged off and nine cars retired.
The races on Circuito del Mugello north of Florence in the Toscana region of central Italy, were also called the "Little Targa Florio" because of its many up and downs and its 1691 turns per lap. Mugello was one of the most important race circuits in Italy and dates back to 1914 when it was called Primo Circuito Toscano.
      After WW I, the race was held annually since 1920 and in 1923 it took place for the 5th time on its 64.900 km route. The start was at San Piero a Sieve, 205 meters above sea level, leading with a relatively slight slope to Scarperia, 292 meters. From here the road climbed in just over 10 kilometers to Giogo Pass at the considerable height of 879 meters. From Giogo Pass it descended to Fiorenzuola at 422 meters above sea level and then it climbed again to reach Futa Pass at 903 meters, which was the highest point of the circuit. From Futa the circuit led through Montecarelli to Bivio di Novoli and returned to San Piero a Sieve. Six laps had to be completed, a total of 389.400 km. The Automobile Club di Firenze organized this event under the supervision of the Commissione Sportiva del R.A.C.I. (Reale Automobile Club d'Italia). Besides cash prizes, for the first time a very rich Trophy of Marquis Ginori-Lisci, the magnificent Ginori Trophy, and other artistic gifts were at stake.
Entries:
A list of the 33 entries is at the beginning of this report of which 23 cars appeared at the start. Alfieri Maserati raced one of his Diatto Specials with a 5.8-Liter Hispano-Suiza Aero engine. The 3.0-Liter Alfa Romeo RLTF23 was considered a production car and started in the Production Car group, while Masetti's Alfa Romeo RLTF23 was re-bored to 3.154-Liter and therefore not a production car and started in the Racing Car group. The Steyr production car of Brilli-Peri was the same type he had raced at the Targa Florio.
      According to Alessandro Silva, Albiono Marinoni was Ansaldo's test driver and entered for this race, while Attilio Marinoni was Masetti's riding mechanic.
Race:
A large crowd was assembled along the entire route of the classic Mugello Circuit. The organization of the Firence Automobile Club appeared exemplary. At six o'clock the Circuit was cleared and whoever was on it had to leave without being able to continue to their destination. At any point of the circuit, both in the open countryside and inside the inhabited areas, during the race it was absolutely forbidden to drive at all, including officials assigned to keep order. The start was at San Piero a Sieve. The cars started individually in order of their race numbers at intervals of one minute and three minutes to the 1500 category and five minutes between the other categories. However, the cars were not necessarily released at one-minute intervals. The starting times were determined beforehand according to the race numbers and if cars did not appear at the start (e.g. #14), then the car #15 was held to its predetermined time of departure. The start began at 7:00 in the morning and the last car left at 7:50.
7:001CercignaniWanderer1350 cc
7:012VagnettiWanderer----"----Did not start
7:043GiannottiFiat1500 ccDid not start
7:054CecchiFiat----"----Did not start
7:065BonfiglioliOM----"----Did not start
7:076SbraciFiat----"----
7:087GuardianiOM----"----
7:098WeberFiat----"----Did not start
7:1410BacciniDiatto2000 cc
7:1511MarconciniAnsaldo----"----
7:1612MarinoniAnsaldo----"----
7:1713NoviC. M. N.----"----
7:1814XDe Dion----"----Did not start
7:1915LottiAnsaldo----"----
7:2016ZanirattiBianchi----"----
7:2117CagliDiatto----"----Did not start
7:2218RubbiettiBianchi----"----
7:2319VespriniDiatto----"----
7:2420MeregalliDiatto----"----
7:2922FerrariAlfa Romeo3000 cc
7:3023XItala----"----Did not start
7:3124MaterassiItala----"----
7:3226AscariAlfa Romeo----"----
7:3728XSteyrover 3000 ccDid not start
7:3829TarabusiNazzaro----"----
7:3931NazzaroNazzaro----"----Did not start
7:4032Brilli-PeriSteyr----"----
7:4133CaprioneNazzaro----"----
--- RACING CARS ---
7:469LancellottiDiatto Spl2000 cc
7:4721MaseratiDiatto Spl6000 cc
7:4825G. MasettiAlfa Romeoover 3000 cc
7:4927TurnerDiatto 3000 cc
7:5030ForoniItala Spl6000 cc
The first start took place in near tropical heat at 7:00 AM; the others followed one after another from minute to minute.
      After the first lap Brilli-Peri (Steyr) led Masetti (Alfa Romeo); both were separated by a few seconds. They were followed by Ascari (Alfa Romeo) and Maserati (Diatto) in fourth place. Materassi (Itala) retired on the first lap.
      After the second lap Brilli-Peri had made a record lap in 54m47.6s at 71.067 km/h average speed to stay ahead of Masetti. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) and Lotti (Ansaldo ) retired on the second lap.
      After the third lap Masetti had taken the lead because Brilli-Peri lost four valuable minutes with tire defects. The Diattos of Maserati and Vesprini retired on this lap.
      On the fourth lap Brilli-Peri regained the lead, which he held for the last three laps until the finish, ahead of Masetti and Ascari. Baccini (Diatto) and Rubbietti (Bianchi) retired on lap four.
      On the fifth lap Brilli-Peri remained in the lead while Ascari was able to pass Masetti for second place. Tire failures had often taken away a minimal advantage and Masetti certainly was not immune to this dilemma. Marconcini (Ansaldo) retired on this lap.
      On the sixth lap Ascari approached a turn where a large dust cloud limited visibility. In order not to go off the road, he abruptly braked, which spun the car around and came to a stop with the two rear wheels suspended over the edge of a ravine. After a 16 minutes effort to extract the car, Ascari and his mechanic were back on the road and finished in third place. Meregalli (Diatto) and Zaniratti (Bianchi) retired on this last lap.
      At the end of the sixth lap, Brilli-Peri crossed the finish line in first place, two minutes ahead of Masetti and received great applause from the spectators. Ascari finished in third place, over 11 minutes behind the winning Steyr. Caprione (Nazzaro) was fourth ahead of Foroni (Itala Spl), Turner (Diatto) and Tarabusi (Nazzaro) in seventh place, the last of the large cars. In eighth place finished the small 1350 cc Wanderer of Cerignani, followed by Marinoni (Ansaldo), Lancellotti (Diatto), Sbraci (Fiat), Novi (C.M.N.) and Guardiani (OM) thirteenth, did not classify as he completed only five laps. The remaining ten drivers retired.
      The dusty course conditions had eliminated many of the cars and left the drivers behind. Both Brilli-Peri and Masetti stated that the race had been very tiring and at times it seemed to have been unsustainable due to the dust that obstructed visibility at some sections. Brilli-Peri's victory was neither easy nor did he have luck, as he had to stop several times for tire punctures and towards the end of the race a failure of the gear lever made it more difficult for him to maneuver. When one realized that Ascari's accident, which was almost fatal to him, lost him over 16 minutes, one can assert that he was removed from the fight for the overall first place. But Alfa Romeo's greatest success was the victory of Gulio Masetti among the racecars.
      Only Cerignani (Wanderer), Ascari (Alfa Romeo) and Brilli-Peri (Steyr), had lowered the times in their categories. The results were official only for the first overall for the Ginori Cup. The assignment of the other prizes were to be announced as soon as the Sports Commission answered a few complaints against Alfa Romeo, Steyr and the driver Ascari. Of these complaints the most important was the one filed against Steyr. According to this claim, the Austrian car was not a production but a racing type. In this case, the overall winner would remain Brilli-Peri; while the victory in the category of production cars would be awarded to the Nazzaro of Caprione. In retrospect, the protest was evidently dismissed.

Results

Pos.No.DriverEntrantCarTypeEngineLapsTime/StatusDiff

1.32Gastone Brilli-PeriÖsterreichische Waffenfabriks Ges.Steyr VI Sport15/90 HP4.5S-665h48m51.0s 
2.25Giulio MasettiSA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & CAlfa RomeoRLTF233.2S-665h50m44.6s+ 1m53.6s
3.26Antonio AscariSA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo & CAlfa RomeoRLTF233.0S-666h00m17.0s+ 11m26.0s
4.33Giovanni CaprioneFabbrica Automobili NazzaroNazzaroTipo 5 Sport4.4S-466h12m32.6s+ 23m41.6s
5.30Vittorio ForoniV. ForoniItala SplHispano-Suiza5.8S-466h18m17.4s+ 29m26.4s
6.27Gulielmo TurnerG. TurnerDiattoCS2H2.6S-466h19m59.6s+ 31m08.6s
7.29Abele Augusto TarabusiFabbrica Automobili NazzaroNazzaroTipo 5 Sport4.4S-466h21m36.0s+ 32m45.0s
8.1Ferruccio CercignaniF. CercignaniWanderer5/15 W41.3S-466h51m49.6s+ 1h02m58.6s
9.12Albino MarinoniAutomobili AnsaldoAnsaldo4CS2.0S-466h57m20.0s+ 1h08.29.0s
10.9Massimiliano LancellottiSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-467h05m06.0s+ 1h16m15.0s
11.6Vasco SbraciV. SbraciFiat501 S1.5S-467h06m48.0s+ 1h17m57.0s
12.13Dante NoviD. NoviC.M.N.2.0S-467h08m44.6s+ 1h19m53.6s
DNC7Romeo GuardianiR. GuardianiOMTouring1.5S-457h24m58.4s 
DNF16Ferruccio ZanirattiF. ZanirattiBianchi182.0S-45  
DNF20Guido MeregalliSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-45  
DNF11Alete MarconciniAutomobili AnsaldoAnsaldo4CS2.0S-44  
DNF18Giorgio RubbiettiSA Automobile e Velocipd. E. BanchiBianchi182.0S-43  
DNF10Giulio BacciniG. BacciniDiatto20 S2.0S-43  
DNF21Alfieri MaseratiSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto SplHispano-Suiza5.8S-42  
DNF19Tulio VespriniSA Autocostruzioni DiattoDiatto20S2.0S-42  
DNF22Enzo FerrariE. FerrariAlfa RomeoRLTF233.0S-61  
DNF15Corrado LottiC. LottiAnsaldo4CS2.0S-41  
DNF24Emilio MaterassiE. MaterassiItala 51S2.8S-40  
Fastest lap over 2000 cc: Brilli Peri (Steyr) on lap 2 in 54m47.6s = 71.1 km/h (44.2 mph).
Winner's average speed Racecar (Masetti): 66.6 km/h (41.4 mph).
Winner's average speed > 3000 cc (Brilli-Peri): 67.0 km/h (41.6 mph).
Winner's average speed 3000 cc (Ascari): 64.8 km/h (40.3 mph).
Winner's average speed 2000 cc (Marinoni): 56.0 km/h (34.8 mph).
Winner's average speed 1500 cc (Sbraci): 54.7 km/h (34.0 mph).
Winner's average speed 1350 cc: (Cercignani): 56.732 km/h (35.253 mph).
Weather: very hot
In retrospect:
The available reports contained primarily general information and failed to mention any intermediate times or driver progress during the six laps of the race, including reasons for the many retirements.

Primary sources researched for this article:
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Berlin
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Wien
Automobil-Welt, Berlin
La Gazzetta dello Sport, Milano
La Nazione, Firenze
La Stampa, Torino
L'AUTO, Paris
L'Auto-Sport, Milano
L'IMPERO, Roma
MOTOR der Flug, Wien
Stadium, Barcelona
Special thanks to:
Alessandro Silva
Giuseppe Prisco
Michael Müller


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© 2020 Leif Snellman, Hans Etzrodt - Last updated: 28.10.2020