8 Tazio Nuvolari
Scuderia Nuvolari
Bugatti T35C

4 Achille Varzi
Scuderia Nuvolari
Bugatti T35C

5 Federico Valpreda
G. Aymini
Delage 2LCV

Nuvolari conquers Alessandria Circuit. Materassi and Brivio class winners

By winning the Circuito di Alessandria, Tazio Nuvolari with his Bugatti captured his third victory of the season after the Tripoli Grand Prix and the Pozzo Circuit. From 26 cars at the start, 13 finished the race. Materassi led initially with his 1500 Talbot but Nuvolari passed him on the second lap. Despite making three pit stops, Varzi maintained second place from lap three onwards after the rain had started. When Materassi lost time in the pits, Arcangeli in the second Talbot led the 1500 cc category till he ran out of fuel on lap six. Clerici (Salmson), Brivio (Derby) and the Salmson of Biondetti exchanged the lead in the 1100 cc category. Nuvolari finished with an average speed of 101.520 km/h in 2h31m18s which was a new record, ahead of Varzi (Bugatti), Valpreda (Delage) and Materassi (Talbot) who also won the 1500 cc category in 2h40m20s while Brivio (Derby) headed the 1100 cc category in 2h52m51.5s.

The Alessandria race had been held annually since 1924 and this was the fifth in the series, held on the circuit Alessandria - Valenza Po - San Salvatore - Castelletto - Alessandria. The drivers had to cover eight laps of the winding 32 km circuit, a total of 256 km. After Tripoli and Pozzo, this was the third race counting towards the Italian Automobile Championship. The popular race at Alessandria was a prelude to the upcoming Targa Florio in two weeks.       Pietro Bordino who was an absolute favorite for this race, succumbed in a fatal practice accident at Alessandria the weekend before. He had wanted to be present at all costs and had assured his closest friends that he wanted to win the Alessandria Circuit race with his new T35C Bugatti, which he had picked up in Molsheim the month before. He had received an offer from the Bugatti works to represent them at Alessandria and the upcoming Targa Florio. This race was to be the resurrection of Pietro Bordino, the unbeatable fast driver, idolized by the Italian crowds. Bordino with his mechanic, Pietro Lasagni, had died here on Sunday, April 15, near the mill of the San Michele settlement near Alessandria during practice for the following week's Circuito di Alessandria. Bordino was driving at a speed of about 70 km/h when a large Alsatian dog ran into his car, jamming the Bugatti's steering mechanism. Despite desperate attempts, the driver lost control of the car, which spun off the road and tumbled down a ravine into one of the deep unnamed tributary channels of the Tanaro River, which ran along the course. During the fall, Bordino was ejected from his seat and was swept away by the current of the rivulet for a short stretch. He was found lifeless while his mechanic, who was trapped in the car, died a short time afterwards as a result of a fractured skull. In honor of this great Italian driver, La Stampa named the 1928 Alessandria Circuit race unofficially Circuito automobilistico "Pietro Bordino" while Gazzetta dello Sport and L'Auto Italiana called it "circuito Pietro Bordino". But only in 1929 did the Automobile Club di Alessandria organize the event in memory of Pietro Bordino and named the race Circuito Pietro Bordino.

Entries: While other countries had trouble attracting as many as 20 competitors for their races, in sports-oriented Italy 36 entries signed up with the Automobile Club di Alessandria. The over 1500 cc category included last year's winner Gaspare Bona with a 2000 Bugatti. The Scuderia Nuvolari arrived with two similar cars for Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi. Additional 2000 cc Bugattis were entered by Ugo Degioanni, Ogniben Alverà and Alfredo "Dilly" Cereseto. Giulio Aymini arrived with two Delage 2LCVs for himself and Federico Valpreda. Aymini had raced his 12-cylinder 1925 grand prix Delage earlier at Tripoli where he retired. Now with two cars, the Delage with their chassis were not given a great chance over the six Bugatti entries.       The 1100-1500 cc category received 17 entries of which only 11 appeared at the start. Scuderia Materassi had the most important cars, two Talbot 700s, 1927 grand prix cars, for Emilio Materassi the 1927 Italian Champion and Luigi Arcangeli. These cars had not been allowed to start on March 11 at Tripoli. Since then Materassi had made many changes to the cars, especially to the chassis which used to have several deficiencies. The Alessandria Ciruit was not the most favorable for this first test of the Talbots because it was a very harsh circuit and the cars were not fast enough to challenge the Bugatti of Nuvolari. From the many Bugatti 1500s, the Scuderia Nuvolari entry stood out as the most interesting as it heralded the debut of the Genoese motorcycle rider Pietro Ghersi. Giovanni Canestrini reported that during the morning test drive on the unfamiliar Bugatti Ghersi offered irrefutable proof of his exceptional ability. The muddy slippery road surface forced Ghersi into a spectacular skid with the car pointing towards the fence in front of of the timekeepers, but with no damage done. Cleto Nenzioni in a Bugatti 1500 was joined by his brother Giampietro, his only race in 1928, with a similar Bugatti 1500 which he might have had on loan. There was a single 1500 Maserati entry for Giuseppe Vittoria and Tommaso Grasso entered an Alfa Romeo 6C-1500.       Among the small 1100 cc category four of the 11 entries did not appear. Pietro Cattaneo with a 6 cylinder Amilcar and Abele Clerici with a 6 cylinder Salmson, both had the means to race significantly faster than the others in their class. Clerici was more experienced and was given the better chance. But Antonio Brivio in the Derby and Giuseppe Bianci with the new Lombard might spring a surprise. A complete list of entries is shown at the beginning of this report.       Two days before the race Giovanni Canestrini expressed his thoughts in Gazzetta dello Sport about the third battle for the Italian championship at Alessandria. The difficult Alessandrian terrain will answer the question of superiority between the Italian champion Emilio Materassi and Tazio Nuvolari who has every intention of overthrowing him. Nuvolari won the first point in the standings, then a second win in Verona where he had the great fortune to beat Pietro Bordino, the great, who has disappeared. Now Nuvolari comes to Alessandria in a strong position in the Italian Championship and two strong victories that have consolidated his confidence in himself. Therefore, morally Tazio Nuvolari is in a better position than his most direct opponent in this race. Emilio Materassi did not yet pass a test with his fast Talbot that he can have full confidence in his car. In the duel that confronts the two leaders for the first time, you must necessarily take account of these factors to properly forecast a victory for Nuvolari.

Race: On Sunday the sky looked sullen, full of rain clouds and did not bode well. In fact, half an hour after the start, it began to rain. From the 26 starters, the category over 1500 cc comprised eight cars, 11 cars in the category from 1100 to 1500 and 7 in the category up to 1100 cc. The drivers lined up their cars at the start according to their race numbers in rows of three. Only the first 13 numbers are known with certainty, the remaining numbers are extremely likely but could not be verified. The first nine cars were identified from a photograph, lined up as follows.

1 Degioanni Bugatti 2 Alverà Bugatti 3 Aymini Delage 5 Valpreda Delage 4 Varzi Bugatti 6 Bona Bugatti 7 Cereseto Bugatti 8 Nuvolari Bugatti 9 Materassi Talbot

The dry dirt roads for the most part were narrow and dusty which made passing difficult. For this reason the cars were started one at a time, at intervals of 30 seconds. Commendatore Felice Nazzaro, the now retired famous race driver, acted as starter and gave the first signal at 2:20 PM for the fastest cars in the order of #1 Bugatti of Degioanni followed by #2 Alverà (Bugatti), #3 Aymini (Delage), #4 Varzi (Bugatti), #5 Valpreda (Delage), #7 Cereseto (Bugatti) and #8 Nuvolari (Bugatti), again fitted with the anti-mud shield, a boxlike sheet metal frame around the windscreen as seen at Pozzo Circuit. The #6 Bona (Bugatti) should have left before Cereseto, but the car retired from the starting line with a faulty oil pump that could not be repaired in time. It was a real shame because last year's winner would have been a strong competitor.       After 30 seconds the 1500 cc category was started with #9 Materassi (Talbot) first, followed by #10 Arcangeli (Talbot), who was wearing a white overall, Cracchi (Bugatti), Giampietro Nenzioni (Bugatti), Beccaria (Bugatti), Ghersi (Bugatti), Zampieri (Bugatti), Valle (Bugatti), Grassi (Bugatti), Vittoria (Maserati) and Cleto Nenzioni (Bugatti). Beccaria and Zampieri were delayed because their engines would not start. Beccaria eventually left but Zampari stopped after 100 meters and retired.       The drivers of the 1100 cc category started last after another 30 seconds. The first away was Clerici (Salmson), followed by Biondetti (Salmson), then Cattaneo (Amilcar), Basadonna (Fiat), Brivio (Derby), Caviglia (Fiat 509) and the last car was Giovanardi (Giovanardi) with a 500 cc Guzzi engine.       Shortly after the 1100 Giovanardi had left, a trumpet announced the first car returning at the end of lap one when Degioanni's Bugatti emerged from the curve at the finish arriving with a lap in 19m45.4s. He was followed very closely by Varzi with a time of 18m47.6s; he stopped at the pits and re-started immediately. Valpreda, who had started fifth, was hard pressed by Nuvolari who had already passed Cereseto. Arcangeli followed a short distance behind Materassi. The parade of drivers continued. Nuvolari completed the first lap in 18m40.4s but Materassi with a time of 18m33 was over six seconds faster at an average speed of 103.424 km/h. This was to be the best lap time of the Talbot but the fight between Nuvolari and Materassi was still uncertain with Materassi in the lead over his rival. In the 1100 category Brivio was leading ahead of Clerici and Biondetti. Giampietro Nenzioni retired his Bugatti on the first lap with a breakdown while the Bugattis of Bona and Zampieri were already stranded at the start, which reduced the field to 23 cars. According to each driver's individual time, the cars were in the following order: 1. Materassi (Talbot) 18m33.8s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 18m40.4s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 18m47.6s 4. Ghersi (Bugatti) 19m35s 5. Arcangeli (Talbot) 19m40s 6. Degioanni (Bugatti) 19m45.4s 7. Brivio (Derby) 20m00.6s 8. Valpreda (Delage) 20m09s 9. Beccaria (Bugatti) 20m18.4s 10. Cereseto (Bugatti) 20m42s 11. Valle (Bugatti) 21m05.4s 12. Alverà (Bugatti) 21m12.8s 13. Aymini (Delage) 21m24s 14. Vittoria (Maserati) 21m28s 15. Cleto Nenzioni (Bugatti) 21m30s 16. Grasso (Bugatti) 21m52.8s 17. Clerici (Salmson) 22m39.2s 18. Biondetti (Salmson) 22m50s 19. Cattaneo (Amilcar) 22m54.4s 20. Basadonna (Fiat) 24m38s 21. Cracchi (Bugatti) 25m14s 22. Giovanardi 27m24s 23. Caviglia (Fiat) 27m24s During the second lap the top positions changed fundamentally. Nuvolari passed with a better time, covering the 32 km lap in 17m56.6s, an average speed of 107,003 km/h, which was the best time of the day placing him 50 seconds ahead of Materassi who was second overall and first in his 1500 class. The Materassi-Nuvolari duel was not the only cause of great interest in the race because Varzi and Valpreda also drove very well. In the 1500 class Ghersi, Beccaria, Nenzioni, Cracchi and Vittoria chased after Arcangeli who was second in category behind Materassi. The race was very fast and all records were broken. Brivio, who at the end of the second lap was still first in the 1100 class, stopped at the pits with a ruptured fuel tank. It took about 15 minutes to repair it and then he rejoined the race. In the meantime Biondetti passed into first place, ahead of Clerici and Cattaneo. At the end of the second lap Nuvolari was leading Varzi by 95.4s, when the order was as follows: 1. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 36m37.4s 2. Materassi (Talbot) 37m27.4s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 38m12.8s 4. Ghersi (Bugatti) 38m54.6s 5. Arcangeli (Talbot) 38m57.0s 6. Degioanni (Bugatti) 39m08.2s 7. Valpreda (Delage) 39m29.0s 8. Beccaria (Bugatti) 39m34.4s During the third lap strong rain was falling in certain places around the circuit. Nuvolari, who drove beautifully, was first overall, followed by Varzi, who had passed all the cars in front of him, while Nuvolari who had started further behind, passed three cars ahead. Materassi stopped at the pits to change all his spark plugs, losing five minutes and Brivio followed for the same reason. Both restarted after brief stops. Excellent racing was also seen between Valpreda and Degioanni. In the 1500 class Arcangeli had inherited the lead while Materassi drove strongly after his stop, threatening Ghersi who was second in his class behind Arcangeli, with Cleto Nenzioni, Beccaria and Cracchi driving with regularity. In the 1100 class Biondetti was now in first place while Cattaneo regained lost ground. Brivio however chased powerfully with his new plugs and visibly made up ground. Aymini retired the Delage with a ruptured fuel tank on the third lap and Basadonna also ended his race. At mid-race, after the fourth lap, Nuvolari was resolutely in the lead at an average speed of 105.436 km/h. Varzi stopped at the pits with a broken ignition wire but started promptly, maintaining his second place. The shiny wet road revealed all its pitfalls. Arcangeli spun his Talbot around dangerously in front of the pits and grandstands, launching the car against the wooden staircase of a footbridge packed with spectators. The Talbot made a tremendous impact against the fence on the inside of the corner where it remained entangled. By mere luck, the scary incident ended without serious consequences. The bold Arcangeli freed his car and restarted quickly to the applause of the crowd. Biondetti stopped his Salmson at the pits. Degioanni abandoned the race on lap four when the order was as follows: 1. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 1h12m50s 2. Varzi (Bugatti) 1h15m24s 3. Arcangeli (Talbot) 1h18m34s 4. Valpreda (Delage) 1h18m35s 5. Ghersi (Bugatti) 1h19m54s 6. Materassi (Talbot) 1h20m04s 7. Beccaria (Bugatti) 1h20m14s 8. Alverà (Bugatti) 1h20m18s 9. Valle (Bugatti) 1h24m00s 10. Cleto Nenzioni (Bugatti) 1h27m21s 11. Cereseto (Bugatti) 1h27m27s 12. Cracchi (Bugatti) 1h28m11s 13. Vittoria (Maserati) 1h28m51s 14. Grasso (Bugatti) 1h29m40s 15. Clerici (Salmson) 1h30m52s 16. Biondetti (Salmson) 1h33m24s 17. Caviglia (Fiat) 1h42m37s 18. Giovanardi (Giovanardi) 1h47m14s 19. Degioanni (Bugatti) 1h56m10s 20. Brivio (Derby) not shown 21. Cattaneo (Amilcar) not shown At the end of the fifth lap Nuvolari was still in the lead after 1h31m50.8s with a six minute advantage over Varzi, who was ahead of Valpreda by two minutes. Nuvolari now seemed immune to any attack and controlled the race wonderfully. Varzi stopped for the third time at the pits but did not lose his second position. Valpreda still had the better of Arcangeli and Materassi, who was a minute behind his teammate. In the 1100 cc category after a good start by Biondetti, Clerici took the lead. Between the fourth and fifth laps Brivio again secured first place in his class. Now the positions were clearly settled with the order after five laps as follows: 1. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 2. Varzi (Bugatti) 3. Valpreda (Delage) 4. Arcangeli (Talbot) 5. Materassi (Talbot) 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 7. Beccaria (Bugatti) 8. Cleto Nenzioni (Bugatti) 9. Cracchi Bugatti) After six laps Nuvolari was leading at an average speed of 108.437 km/h with a time of 1h51m20s. The two Bugattis of Nuvolari and Varzi were still followed by the Delage of Valpreda in third place, which confirmed his remarkable skills as a safe driver. The latter had never been able to steal the victory from Nuvolari. The rain had slackened since the third lap and the race pace increased as the course improved slowly. The Talbot team leader passed in front of the grandstands gesticulating incomprehensibly, at least for the crowd. Shortly afterwards it was learned from reports that Arcangeli had retired when he ran out of gasoline at Valencia, a banal cause depriving the good "Gigione" with well-deserved success. Materassi was followed by Ghersi and Beccaria. Further back were Nenzioni and Cracchi. In the 1100 class Clerici attempted in vain to catch Brivio who appeared unshakable.       At the end of lap eight enthusiastic ovations greeted Tazio Nuvolari as he arrived at the finish after 2h31m18s, followed over six minutes later by Varzi, with a large gap to Valpreda, Materassi and Beccaria. All the others had been lapped and were beginning their final lap to qualify as finishers, which were Cleto Nenzioni, Valle, Brivio, Alverà, Clerici, Cattaneo, Vittoria and Biondetti. Grasso, Caviglia and Giovanardi were flagged off because they had exceeded the allowable time. Pietro Ghersi, while holding a good position, went off the road on the last lap, a trivial road incident. Cracchi's Bugatti also left the road and crashed no more than two kilometers from the finish line but only his mechanic was slightly injured. The rain had stopped - too late! - A brief break for the drivers. The sky, however, remained overcast.       Last year Bona won the Alessandria circuit at an average of 91.798 km/h. Nuvolari had exceeded this by ten kilometers with his magnificent performance improving the race average to 101.520 km/h. Nuvolari also established the fastest lap at an average of 107.003 km/h. All records were broken. No tire problems were noted throughout the race. Materassi secured first place in the 1500 cc category and finished in fourth position in the overall standings. The Talbot was not in its element, since the circuit was full of curves and poorly suited to high speeds. The fight between Brivio and Clerici in the category up to 1100 sealed the victory for the former. A complaint against the classification of Brivio was put forward, questioning the displacement of his Derby but was considered regular and the complaint was rejected.       Tazio Nuvolari had achieved three clean victories in the first three rounds of the Italian championship. He could not have done better with this impressive beginning. When Nuvolari was questioned immediately after his triumphant arrival he gave simple answers. "Perhaps my colleagues are of the opposite opinion but I find the Alessandria circuit quite easy. I am pleased and proud to have won a trophy that bears the name of the unforgettable Bordino".