15 Pietro Bordino
Fiat SpA
Fiat 806

12 Giuseppe Campari
G. Campari
Alfa Romeo P2

24 Aymo Maggi
Count A. Maggi
Bugatti T35C

Bordino wins the Milan Grand Prix with the new Fiat

The 1927 Milan Grand Prix at Monza is noteworthy for the one and only appearance of the 12-cylinder 1500 Fiat. This new car won its first race with the Italian ace Pietro Bordino at the wheel. The Milan Grand Prix was the supporting race for the important 500 km European Grand Prix which took place on the same day. The Milan Grand Prix comprised four 50 km elimination races, where the first three finishers of each heat qualified for the Final. All races were held throughout intermittent rain showers. The first elimination race for 1100 cc cars was won by Zampieri (Amilcar). Bordino (Fiat) won the 1500 cc race while Maggi (Bugatti) won the 2000 cc event. After these preliminaries the European Grand Prix took place over 500 km, where the result after the first five laps also counted as a qualification for the Milan Grand Prix Final, which was also over 50 km. Cirio crashed on lap two and was injured when his car left the track. Bordino (Fiat) won the race ahead of Campari (Alfa Romeo), Maggi (Bugatti), Zampieri (Amilcar) and Clerici and Lipman in Salmsons. Materassi and Cirio in Bugattis retired as did Kreis in Earl Cooper's Miller. Nuvolari (Bugatti) also retired in his elimination race.

Two races were held on the same day on the Monza Circuit, the European Grand Prix as the main event, and the supporting Gran Premio Milano, which consisted of four 50 km elimination races and a 50 km Final.       The Commissione Sportiva des RACI and the Società Autodromo di Monza was in charge of carrying out the organization under the supervision of Arturo Mercanti, the Director of the Società who also was President of the Milan AC.       The first Heat for 1100 cc cars was scheduled for 9:00 AM to be followed at 10:00 AM by the second Heat for 1500 and 2000 cc cars. At 11:00 AM saw the start of the European Grand Prix over 500 km, of which the first five laps, equal to 50 km, counted as an additional qualifying event for the 50 km Final of the Milan Grand Prix, which was started at 4:00 PM to finalize the day's activities.

Entries: The European Grand Prix included three Americans, Souders that year's winner of the Indianapolis 500 with his Duesenberg, and Cooper and Kreis with front-wheel-drive Millers. All were potential entries for the Milan Grand Prix.       After a break of several years, Fiat entered their new 1500 cc car with a 12-cylinder supercharged engine, which was the sensation of this event and the dark horse for the race. During early tests at Monza Bordino and Salamano had reached fantastic speeds, however suddenly Fiat withdrew their entry from the 500 km European Grand Prix, supposedly due to tire problems. However, it was assumed that the new Fiat racecars were not yet ready and eventually the factory entered only the car which they had tested before at the 50 km Milan Grand Prix.       The victorious Delage of Benoist was not entered in the Milan Grand Prix to the common disappointment of many. The French cars were evenly matched with the Fiat which had achieved slightly faster times but had done so only over shorter distances. The OM 8-cylinder racecar from the European Grand Prix driven by Minoia was also not entered for this 50 km sprint race after having just completed the 500 km endurance event. A complete list of entries showing many of the great Italian drivers is arranged at the beginning of this report.

Heat 1: After an entire month of beautiful weather, it began to rain on Saturday before the race. When spectators arrived on Sunday early in the morning it rained and continued to do so until near the end of the race. Despite the bad weather about 50,000 spectators came to watch these popular races.       The 1100 cc cars started at 9:00 AM. From nine entries only five appeared: Clerici, Lipman and d'Havrincourt in Salmsons, Zampieri's red Amilcar and the BNC of Seujacq. They lined up as follows:

7 d'Havrincourt Salmson 6 Zampieri Amilcar 5 Lipman Salmson 1 Clerici Salmson 9 Senjacq BNC

When Felice Nazzaro waved the starting flag, it was raining. Clerici's Salmson took the lead, while Zampieri in his fast Amilcar was delayed and lost a few seconds. But after half a lap, when the cars returned to the grandstands, the Amilcar champion had recovered from his initial disadvantage and taken the lead. During the first lap at the Lesmo turn, the Salmson of Frenchman d'Havrincourt slid off the track without any serious consequences though he had to retire.       Zampieri maintained the lead and pulled away from the small field. His Amilcar and Clerici's Salmson were much faster than the other three opponents. On the third lap the fourth placed Senjacp reached the pits slowly and retired his BNC with engine trouble. Zampieri gained progressively on his opponents until he had an advantage of around half a lap over Clerici after five laps. Clerici, whose Salmson misfired followed in second place with Lipman third.

Heats 2 and 3: While waiting for the start of the 1500 and 2000 cc elimination heat, it was announced that Bordino would be allowed some test laps. When the famous ace from Turin appeared on the track, he was received with great applause from the spectators in the grandstands crowd. Bordino made two fast laps then stopped at the pits. In the meantime, some other competitors, taking advantage of the permission granted to the Turin driver, also completed a few laps.       The second race for 1500 and 2000 cc cars was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM with both categories racing simultaneously. For safety reasons, at the last minute, the General Commissioner Arturo Mercanti ordered a gap of two minutes to be placed between the starts of the two categories. From the six 1500 cc entries only three started: Bordino (Fiat), Serboli (Chiribiri) and Cirio (Bugatti) while from the nine 2000 cc entries all but one appeared: Campari (Alfa Romeo) and the seven Bugattis of Bona, Alverà, Maggi, Probst, Rosti, Materassi and Nuvolari. The 1500 cc cars lined up as follows:

15 Bordino Fiat 14 Serboli Chiribiri 12 Cirio Bugatti After a two-minute interval the 2000 cc category lined up, ready for the start. 25 Campari Alfa Romeo 24 Maggi Bugatti 23 Alverà Bugatti 22 Bona Bugatti 32 Nuvolari Bugatti 31 Materassi Bugatti 27 Rosti Bugatti 26 Probst Bugatti

At 10:10 AM Felice Nazzaro once again lowered the flag and Bordino took the immediate lead while the rain continued to fall. Bordino had no difficulty beating his two opponents in much slower cars. At the exit of the curve of the track, the Turin champion's car was sliding, but he controlled the Fiat into the straight line. At the end of the first lap, Bordino led by about 600 meters from Cirio, with a further gap to Serboli's Chiribiri. After three laps Bordino was about half a lap ahead of Cirio. Bordino won the race after 20m04s, 2m51s ahead of Cirio's Bugatti and 3m54.8s ahead of Serboli's Chiribiri.       At the start of the 2000 cc category, Maggi took the lead closely followed by Campari and Bona. Next Materassi passed Bona and went after Campari. On lap two Maggi drove the fastest lap of his category in 3m59.8s. On lap three Maggi was still ahead of Campari who was now threatened by Materassi while Nuvolari retired on the third lap with an engine problem. The cars were leaving behind them a heavy spray of rain water thrown up by the wheels. In this condition the track was dangerous and hardly any records were expected to be lowered.       On lap four Materassi managed to pass Campari for second place and approached Maggi, but the Milanese driver defended his lead. On lap five, Campari was able to repass Materassi. While Bordino won the 1500 category, Maggi was able to stay ahead of Campari, who had Materassi right behind him. Alverà reached the finish after the maximum allowable time and did not classify. Bordino in the 1500 Fiat had been faster than Maggi's Bugatti, the winner of the 2000 cc category.

4 Robert Benoist
Automobiles Delage
Delage 15 S8 1927

12 Giuseppe Morandi
Officine Mecchaniche SA
OM 8C GP

10 E. Cooper/P. Kreis
Cooper Engineering Co.
Cooper-Miller Special

Benoist with Delage wins the European Grand Prix

The 1927 European Grand Prix at Monza offered neither a great participation of racecars nor the classical nice weather of earlier events. As the fourth race of the 1927 World Championship, it was held to the international 1.5-Liter formula and took place during continuous rain. Since Bugatti withdrew their entry and Fiat would not start with their new model, only six cars appeared at the start. Half of them were American cars: Souder (Duesenberg) plus Kreis and Cooper in front-wheel-drive Cooper Specials judged as "Millers" for the championship. The other half comprised one French Delage for Benoist and two Italian 8-cylinder OM racecars for Minoia and Morandi. At the start Benoist immediately took the lead which he increased continuously, unchallenged until the end of the 500 km race. The Americans, from whom one had expected so much, failed substantially. Kreis in the Miller retired with engine failure, not even finishing half of his first lap. Souders who held a leisurely second place with his Duesenberg, retired on lap 12. Benoist increased his advantage constantly and on lap 40 was four laps ahead of Morandi in second place. The OM drivers Minoia and Morandi held alternating second and third positions, while Kreis who relieved Cooper in his Miller was last but raised his pace during the final five laps to overhaul Minoia's OM. The monotonous race in miserable weather lacked excitement. Besides the repeated stops of the OM cars and the passing maneuver of Kreis overhauling Minoia's OM on the second to last lap, nothing dramatic happened.

The Gran Premio d'Europa was held for the fifth time and was part of the 1927 World Championship. It was also the eighth Italian Grand Prix counting towards the Italian Championship. The Commissione Sportiva des RACI and the Società Autodromo di Monza carried out the organization under the supervision of Arturo Mercanti. It was the 5th time that the European Grand Prix took place and was the fourth event of the 1927 World Championship at Monza over 50 laps of the 10 km circuit, a total of 500 km. Strangely, this distance was less than the minimum 600 km demanded by AIACR regulations which was reduced to 500 only at the last moment in view of the bad weather.       This year's race at Monza was not achieved without difficulties, although Bugatti was expected at the start and Fiat's entry was uncertain. After the promoters accepted the entries of the three Americans, Souders this year's winner of the Indianapolis 500 with his Duesenberg and Cooper and Kreis with front-wheel-drive Millers, Ettore Bugatti declared that he would only participate in pure road races, because of his cars' excellent road holding. Clearly his cars had more chance of winning in those races than in the more or less pure speed adjusted race tracks. With these remarks Bugatti avoided another confrontation, this time in Monza.       Then Fiat had not completed the preparation of their racecars and the date for closing entries had silently been extended to just before the race to enable Fiat's participation. Eventually the organizers had to deny the postponement of the race. The Americans had declared that they were committed to a race on September 28 in America and therefore could not agree to a postponement. Fiat had assured their participation only if the race was postponed from September 4 to the 18th, but now had to forgo the start but entered the only car they finished for Bordino to race in the 50 km Milan Grand Prix. Although Bordino had practiced in length with the new Fiat and attained average lap speeds of 168 km/h, the Turin factory withdrew their entries from the European Grand Prix. Their reason was that it was not possible to complete any other cars and with only one car the risk would have been too great at such a difficult race.       The Automobil World Championship was being held for the third time in 1927. Participation at the European Grand Prix at Monza was mandatory. The competitors also had to participate in two of the following races: The Indianapolis 500, the French Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix. The reward for the first place finisher was 1 point, the second 2 points and the third 3 points. All classified from fourth place back received 4 points. Those who did not finish received 5 points and those who did not start 6 points. The present standings were: Delage with 8 points, Duesenberg 13 points, Miller and Bugatti equal with 14 points, Talbot 16, Halford and Maserati both with 17.

Entries: All six cars that took part in the race had supercharged 8-cylinder 1500 cc engines with magneto ignition. The 1927 regulations allowed single-seater cars and as a result three Americans had entered. When the cars arrived in Milan they stayed in town at the Officine Isotta-Fraschini factory to carry out changes to widen the cars. Although single-seater cars were allowed in 1927, they had to have a minimum width of 80 cm - 31.5 in - at the seat area and over a minimum height of 25 cm - 9.8 in. For that reason the three beautiful pencil-thin single-seat American racecars had to be widened to 80 cm by adding a rounded sheet metal box at the seat area to each side of the frame. Besides those revisions they also reduced the compression to extend engine life of the Millers. But the results were not satisfactory during tests in Monza.       George Souders, the 24-year old native of Indiana with his Duesenberg Special had won the 1927 Indy 500, which was also the first race of the 1927 World Championship. Souders was a dirt track driver and an unknown newcomer to the AAA racing scene with no experience in long distance racing. He was considered a dark horse and his victory at Indianapolis was a big surprise. He placed third in the 1927 AAA championship. The small Cooper Engineering Co. team entered Earl Cooper and Peter Kreis with their Cooper-Miller racecars which were modified front-wheel-drive Millers.       Two Delage racecars arrived at Monza but only one was entered for Robert Benoist. He had already won the Grands Prix of France and Spain. The very low Delage was known to be the fastest and most reliable car and Benoist was the absolute favorite.       Two OM 8-cylinder racecars from the Brescia factory were entered for Nando Minoia and Giuseppe Morandi. Previously only one car had raced in 1926 at the German Grand Prix in Berlin where Minoia failed to finish but had claimed the fastest lap at 161 km/h. After the 1927 European Grand Prix in Monza, one car plus at least one spare engine was sold to R.F. Oats in England to be raced at the JCC 200 in Brooklands where the car was primarily raced until 1933.       The dark horse for this race was the new Fiat with a 12-cylinder 1500 cc supercharged engine. During early tests at Monza Bordino and Salamano had reached fantastic speeds, however suddenly Fiat withdrew their entry, supposedly due to tire problems but it was assumed that the new Fiat racecars were not yet ready. Eventually the factory had one of their cars entered at the 50 km Milan Grand Prix.

Practice: At the end of August the Fiat race drivers Bordino and Salamano had been driving for days at Monza. To the surprise of everyone, Fiat decided one week before the race not to take part in the European Grand Prix as their cars were not yet ready to run in a long race. Although the new car proved able to reach a good speed there was concern about the tires. Also at the end of August two Delage race cars with a group of mechanics had arrived at the Milan railroad station.       During practice on Tuesday before the race Souders had an accident. He had driven several laps at a good speed and when he arrived too fast at the notorious Lesmo turn, he locked the brakes and spun, followed by a rollover. He ended up at the inside of the turn, removing a few meters of a fence. But Souders suffered a severe shoulder contusion while his Duesenberg was just slightly damaged.       On Thursday the Autodromo di Monza was quiet. Fiat, had left on Wednesday for Turin and announced their return for Thursday evening and on Friday was expected to be back on the track. The American Souders was resting and the condition with his shoulder improved, so his presence at the start on Sunday was assured. Kreis with his Miller practiced on Thursday, as did Minoia and Morandi with O.M. All left the racetrack pleased with their results.

Race: After an entire month of beautiful weather, it began to rain on the Saturday before the race. When spectators arrived on Sunday early in the morning it rained and continued to do so until near the end of the race. Despite the bad weather about 50,000 spectators came to watch the popular races. Amongst the crowd were the German race drivers Rosenberger and Caracciola. In view of the bad weather, the reduction of the race distance from 600 km to 500, which was arranged shortly before the start, was certainly not consistent with the sporting regulations, nevertheless it was very welcome. Four different races were held on Sunday, starting with two 50 km heat races for the Milan Grand Prix, the first at 9:00 AM for the 1100 cc cars followed at 10:00 AM by the race for the 1500 cc and 2000 cc cars. At 11:00 AM the European Grand Prix over 500 km was started and at 4:00 PM there was the Final for the Milan Grand Prix over 50 km. It was generally expected that the French driver Benoist would win the European Grand Prix.       At 10:50 AM in pouring rain six cars lined up on the starting grid, which was determined by drawing lots. The drivers were greeted by the Marcia Reale and the American and French National anthems. The grid shows how the cars lined up as seen in photographs. Souders was ready to start despite his injured shoulder.

6 Minoia OM 4 Benoist Delage 2 Kreis Miller 12 Morandi OM 10 Cooper Miller 8 Sauders Duesenberg

At 11:00 AM the RACI president, senator Silvio Crespi, gave the starting signal by lowering the flag when Benoist immediately shot to the front, followed by Minoia, Souders, Kreis and Cooper while Morandi was delayed for about 15 seconds as he had stalled the engine of his OM.       After the first lap Benoist arrived at the grandstands in the lead, 300 m ahead of Souders who was followed after about 200 m by Minoia. Kreis did not complete the first lap; he retired after only 4 km, driving slowly at the exit of the inner circuit near the grandstands with a seized piston or a broken crankcase of his Miller. At the end of lap two, Benoist had increased his lead over Souders to 500 m. The OM of Morandi who finally caught up with Cooper's Miller on lap three, was able to pass the American in front of the grandstands to the ovation of the crowd. Cooper with his front-wheel-drive Miller was severely handicapped by the rain since his rear wheels tended to skid sideways. On lap four Benoist drove the fastest lap of the race in 3m57.2s at an average speed of 151.770. After 50 km the leading group was in the following order after 5 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 20m30.6s 2. Souders (Duesenberg) 21m35.0s 3. Minoia (OM) 23m18.6s 4. Morandi (OM) 23m21.8s 5. Cooper (Miller) 24m16.2s After the fifth lap the drivers had qualified for the Final of the Milan Grand Prix, a regulation that had been decided by the organizers in the last moment. In other words, the first 50 km of the European Grand Prix counted as a special heat race for participation in the Milan Grand Prix. Ironically, only Kreis in his Miller, who hadn't completed the mandated 50 km, would start in the Final of the Milan Grand Prix. The car qualified and the driver must have been less important. The sky remained dark and the drivers had a hard time while it rained in a downpour. After 100 km Benoist was still in first place at an average speed of 147.441 km/h with the cars in the following order after 10 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 40m41.6s 2. Souders (Duesenberg) 45m47.4s 1 lap behind 3. Minoia (OM) 45m55.2s 1 lap behind 4. Morandi (OM) 47m41.2s 1 lap behind 5. Cooper (Miller) 47m56.2s 2 laps behind After lap 12, Souders, whose engine had started to run irregularly, retired somewhere on the circuit after holding second place with his Duesenberg. After having lost the cap of the fuel tank during the race, water from the continuous rain had entered unchecked into the tank causing incurable carburetion problems and forced his retirement. Minoia now advanced into second place. Of the three Americans only Cooper remained in the race. When it began to rain heavily, Cooper slowed down to a lap in 4m45s, equal to 126 km/h average speed. On lap 15 he stopped at his pit and the rain soaked Cooper was relieved by Kreis. With only four cars, the race would have been a complete bore, except that the two OMs were separated by less than three seconds. After 150 km the leader, Benoist, held an average speed of 147.937 km/h with the field down to only four cars after 15 laps. 1. Benoist (Delage) 1h00m50.2s 2. Minoia (OM) 1h09m13.8s 2 laps behind 3. Morandi (OM) 1h09m16.4s 2 laps behind 4. Cooper /Kreis (Miller) 1h17m47.6s 4 laps behind On lap 17 Minoia stopped his OM for three minutes at his pit with a defective valve. Despite the long pit stop, Morandi lost little time to his team mate. On lap 19 Morandi stopped to refuel and re-joined after a short time. Benoist maintained a steady pace in these difficult conditions with continuous rain and hindering strong west winds. He had passed the two OMs yet again. After 200 km the order had not changed and Benoist led at 147.002 km/h average speed after 20 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 1h21m37.8s 2. Minoia (OM) 1h35m01.6s 3 laps behind 3. Morandi (OM) 1h35m07.6s 3 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 1h43m18.8s 5 laps behind On lap 24 Benoist had three laps or 30 km advantage to Morandi who in turn had passed Minoia when he stopped to refuel. At mid-race, after 250 km, it would soon be time for Benoist's refueling stop. His average speed had slowed to 146.484 km/h with the four cars in the following order after 25 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 1h42m23.8s 2. Morandi (OM) 1h58m15.2s 3 laps behind 3. Minoia (OM) 1h59m41.2s 4 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 2h07m03.8s 6 laps behind The race carried on in a procession while Benoist, who was never challenged, stopped after lap 28 for the first time to refuel within one minute; neither the hood nor tires were touched. On lap 30 Minoia stopped for the third time with one valve spring broken and the engine down on seven cylinders. Minoia also had to change plugs continuously but he was sent away very quickly not to be caught by Kreis in the Miller. After 300 km Benoist's average speed had further dropped to 144 km/h after 30 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 2h05m21.6s 2. Morandi (OM) 2h20m30.6s 3 laps behind 3. Minoia (OM) 2h27m34.2s 5 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 2h31m21.2s 6 laps behind Benoist maintained his pace which was so much faster than his closest opponent Morandi who had now fallen four laps behind. After 350 km Benoist's average speed was 144 km/h with the same order after 35 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 2h25m36.6s 2. Morandi (OM) 2h42m12.0s 4 laps behind 3. Minoia (OM) 2h50m43.6s 6 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 2h56m08.6s 7 laps behind The situation had not changed after 400 km with everyone settled in their position and Benoist leading at an average speed of 144.144 km/h after 40 laps: 1. Benoist (Delage) 2h46m30.0s 2. Morandi (OM) 3h06m51.8s 4 laps behind 3. Minoia (OM) 3h13m51.4s 6 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 3h19m20.0s 7 laps behind The end was nearing and the cars proceeded in their settled places. The only passing was done by Benoist when he lapped one of his three opponents. His victory looked very likely because a failure on his Delage was not expected since the car had proven its reliability before. Minoia progressively slowed down with his stricken engine. His lead over Kreis in the Miller, which had been over five minutes, was now less than two minutes and Kreis received signs from his pit to attack. After 450 km Benoist's average speed was 144.529 km/h with the standings after 45 laps as follows: 1. Benoist (Delage) 3h06m48.6s 2. Morandi (OM) 3h27m51.4s 4 laps behind 3. Minoia (OM) 3h39m16.4s 8 laps behind 4. Cooper/Kreis (Miller) 3h41m03.8s 8 laps behind At the end of 50 laps Benoist crossed the finish line after 3h26m59.8s. He had now won three races of the World Championship and was looked upon as the 1927 World Champion despite the fact that it was a World Championship for makes and not for drivers. After Benoist had passed the finish line as victor, the remaining drivers were still many laps behind and carried on driving to complete the full distance to be qualified. Morandi in second place was 5 laps behind while Kreis and Minoia were each 8 laps behind. During these last laps Kreis in the Miller improved his pace and closed upon the ailing OM of Minoia. For two laps both drivers raced close together. Could Kreis catch Minoia before the end? He managed it with only one lap to go on lap 49 when Kreis was able to pass the Italian on the finish straight to capture third place. That was probably the most exciting aspect of a dreary race.

48 Malcolm Campbell
M. Campbell
Bugatti T39A

45 "Sabipa"
Louis Charavel
Bugatti T37A

43 George Eyston
G.E.T. Eyston
Bugatti T39A

Malcolm Campbell wins the Boulogne Grand Prix