  
CIRCUITO DEL GARDA
Circuito del Garda - Salo (I), 18 October 1925.
20 laps x 12.236 km (7.603 mi) = 244.7 km (152.1 mi)
Maggi wins the Garda Circuit with Bugatti
by Hans Etzrodt
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The 24 starters were divided into three categories at this minor race over 20 laps, where 10 Bugatti battled with 4 OMs, two 1500 Chiribiris, a 1500 Fiat and a 1500 C.D. Simultaneously six small 1100 cars
had their own duel. Maggi (Bugatti) and Minoia (OM) battled for the lead in the 2000 Category throughout the race. Serboli (Chiribiri) and Montanari (Bugatti) were fighting for the lead in the 1500 Category
while Brambilla (Gar) battled with Clerici (Salmson) for first place in the 1100 Category. Conelli (Bugatti) and the OMs of Morandi and Balestero dropped far behind and lost their chance for one of the front
places. Maggi in the fastest car, eventually regained the lead, winning the race as Minoia spun off the track, losing time to change a broken wheel. Serboli, winner of the 1500 category, placed third,
followed by 15 other finishers.
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The Reale Automobile Club Brescia organized this fifth race on Circuito del Garda, driving 20 laps over a 12.236 km course, a total of 244.720 km. In 1922 and 1923 the circuit length was increased to
12.360 km. The first event dated back to 1921. The race was held near Salo on the western shores of Lake Garda. Starting in Salo the circuit headed south, snaking up the curves of the Zette hill, reaching
Cunettone after 4.3 km. Then the course headed north-west past Villa for 4.5 km to Tormini, where the road dropped back to Salo after 3.4 km.
The entries were divided into three categories, 1100, 1500 cc and 2000 cc. The prize money was the same for each category, first place received 5,000 lire, second 3,000 and third 2,000. The overall winner
would be awarded the Brescia AC Cup. The driver who established the fastest lap during the race was presented a large gold medal by Commandor Pietro Wuhrer.
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Entries:
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the teams of Bugatti, OM and Gar were officially registered for the Coppa del Re. Maggi raced in his T35A Bugatti, so plausibly it was self-entered and not an official entry.
Maggi had just financed the Bugatti Agency for Italy in Milan. Historian Alessandro Silva stated that Franz Conelli had not raced since 1922 and this was a one-off appearance. His brother Caberto, the Grand Prix
driver, was still racing for Sunbeam and Talbot and acted at the Garda race as Franz's riding mechanic. This car probably was to be Caberto's for the next season.
The Chiribiri of Serboli was a modified Monza type with oil cooling obtained by means of a special radiator and the engine fitted with roller bearings.
The Gar of Brambilla, and his teammates Cattaneo, Buzio and Sartorio was of a new type with a 4-cylinder 12-valve engine (three per cylinder), and a special chassis reinforced front with 4-wheel brakes.
Alessandro Silva explained that the GAR cars were made in Milan under license. These were factory entered by Alceo Verza. His company was named C.A.R. for Costruzioni Automobilistiche Riunite. A complete
list of entries is at the beginning of this report.
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Race:
Many spectators surrounded the entire circuit and the grandstand at the Salò curve was filled by an elegant crowd, anxious to follow the drivers in their exciting battle. The circuit was closed on Sunday at
10:00 AM and all road blocks were manned by race officials and Carabinieri, the local police. Non-starters included the 1500 Chiribiris of Fiume, Tassara and Panerai. Consonno did not start with the 2000
Bugatti but left with a Derby cyclecar, while Rosti and Mazzotti, including the number 21 car, did not appear. As a result, only 24 cars lined up at the Vittorio Emanuele Square of Salo between the grandstand
on one side and the row of pits opposite. The cars were released separately with 20 seconds intervals from each other by categories. The 1100 cars started first at 11:30 AM when Attilio Teruzzi assisted by
the time keeper Ottolini lowered the starting flag.
After the first lap, Franz Conelli, who had his brother Caberto as a mechanic on board, lost about eight minutes to change eight spark plugs on his Bugatti. Masperi and Sartorio also stopped to change oiled
spark plugs. Clerici (Salmson) stopped for over 15 minutes when he drove with just two cylinders due to a carburetor problem. Tebaldi, Scarfiotti and Sartorio stopped with tire punctures, an indication that
several nails were on the route. In the 1500 cc category Serboli, Montanari and Valpreda chased each other in that order. Platè retired on the first lap when the engine of his Chiribiri Monza seized after
losing its oil, due to negligence in pre-race preparation.
On the second lap, Clerici stopped again at the pits to change the carburetor choke tube and spark plugs on his Salmson in five minutes as the daring Brambilla, who did not have the smallest incident with
his fast-paced Gar, was now leading the 1100 Category. Two 1500 Bugattis were eliminated when Compagnoni was hit in the back by Ancillotto who wanted to overtake and spun off the road. The car of Compagnoni
was undrivable, Ancillotto was slightly injured, but his mechanic was transported to the hospital to undergo the amputation of four toes.
On the third lap Minoia overtook Maggi, but only for a short time when Maggi took the lead again on the fourth lap. Tebaldi punctured a tire on the third lap when he crashed against a parapet. Morandi had
to stop at the pits for about 25 minutes to replace the broken left front brake tie rod.
On the fifth lap Sartorio changed a tire including Cattaneo and Dall'Olio who did so likewise. Balestrero was still not comfortable with the course that he had never driven before.
On the sixth lap Maggi drove the fastest lap of the race in 8m18.2s at 88.417 km/h average. Meanwhile, Balestrero on the sixth and seventh lap punctured two tires consecutively and the most direct opponent of
Maggi and Minoia was therefore out of action. Consonno with a Derby cyclecar, Dall'Olio (C. D.) car and Sartorio (Gar) retired on the 6th and 8th lap.
On the 8th lap Maggi was 1m30s ahead of Minoia, but then stopped to change sparkplugs and lost the lead. Minoia accelerated, made a fast lap in 8m40s with his OM and went into the lead.
On the 9th lap Maggi stopped again for the same spark plugs and dropped 1m50s behind Minoia. Meanwhile, Buzio also stopped for sparkplugs. At the halfway mark, the times were as follows after ten laps:
| 1. | Minoia (OM) | 1h28m25s |
| 2. | Maggi (Bugatti) | 1h30m22s |
| 3. | Serboli (Chiribiri) | 1h32m39s |
| 4. | Tebaldi (Bugatti) | 1h33m34s |
| 5. | Montanari (Bugatti) | 1h34m04s |
| 6. | Valpreda (Fiat) | 1h34m38s |
| 7. | Conelli (Bugatti) | 1h35m35s |
| 8. | Brambilla (Gar) | 1h37m37s |
| 9. | Laviosa (Bugatti) | 1h37m58s |
| 10. | Balestrero (OM) | 1h39m55s |
| 11. | Nino Cirio (OM) | 1h41m47s |
| 12. | Clerici (Salmson) | 1h42m07s |
| 13. | Giovannini (Bugatti) | 1h45m11s |
| 14. | Buzio (Gar) | 1h47m39s |
On the 12th lap Tebaldi stopped again for sparkplugs. On the 15th lap Minoia lost his lead as he was chased by Maggi. Due to locking brakes, Minoia skidded at the Salò curve and crashed damaging a wheel and
lost about three minutes. Maggi regained the lead and could no longer be threatened by his fearsome opponent. Conelli meanwhile progressed considerably and lapped very fast in 8m30s and 8m32s.
On the 17th lap Conelli was only 1m40s behind Minoia. But the duel for second position did not happen due to a new incident to the clutch collar of Conelli's Bugatti, causing a great time loss.
When Maggi crossed the finish line, he was applauded and celebrated, also Minoia who followed five minutes behind. Both drivers with Serboli in third place were congratulated by Attilio Teruzzi. The teams of
Bugatti, OM and Gar officially registered for the Coppa del Re which was won by Bugatti.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 24 | Aymo Maggi | Count A. Maggi | Bugatti | T35A | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 2h55m41.4s |
| 2. | 25 | Ferdinando Minoia | Officine Meccaniche SA | OM | 665 | 2.0 | S-6 | 20 | 3h00m42.4s | + 5m01.2s |
| 3. | 18 | Roberto Serboli | R. Serboli | Chiribiri | Monza S | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h04m21.4s | + 8m40.0s |
| 4. | 9 | Supremo Montanari | S. Montanari | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h06m06.4s | + 10m25.0s |
| 5. | 8 | Federico Valpreda | F. Valpreda | Fiat | 501 S | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h06m47.2s | + 11m05.8s |
| 6. | 15 | Nino Laviosa | N. Laviosa | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h10m36.6s | + 14m55.2s |
| 7. | 4 | Cesare Brambilla | Alceo Verza | Gar | Chapuis-Dornier | 1.1 | S-4 | 20 | 3h13m32.2s | + 17m50.8s |
| 8. | 23 | Giacinto Tebaldi | G.Tebaldi | Bugatti | T30 | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 3h16m32.0s | + 20m50.6s |
| 9. | 6 | Abele Clerici | A. Clerici | Salmson | GS AL | 1.1 | S-6 | 20 | 3h18m20.8s | + 22m39.4s |
| 10. | 17 | Luigi Scarfiotti | L. Scarfiotti | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h19m49.0s | + 24m07.6s |
| 11. | 29 | Nino Cirio | Officine Meccaniche SA | OM | 665 | 2.0 | S-6 | 20 | 3h21m49.8s | + 26m08.4s |
| 12. | 27 | Franz Conelli | Automobiles Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti | T35 | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 3h24m39.6s | + 28m58.2s |
| 13. | 3 | Carlo Alberto Buzio | Alceo Verza | Gar | Chapuis-Dornier | 1.1 | S-4 | 20 | 3h26m24.4s | + 30m43.0s |
| 14. | 20 | Corrado Giovannini | C. Giovannini | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h29m14.6s | + 33m33.2s |
| 15. | 30 | Giuseppe Morandi | Officine Meccaniche SA | OM | 665 | 2.0 | S-6 | 20 | 3h30m06.4s | + 34m25.0s |
| 16. | 16 | Antonio Masperi | A. Masperi | Bugatti | T35 | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h31m00.6s | + 35m19.2s |
| 17. | 2 | Pietro Cattaneo | Alceo Verza | Gar | Chapuis-Dornier | 1.1 | S-4 | 20 | 3h45m34.2s | + 49m52.8s |
| 18. | 28 | Renato Balestrero | Officin e Meccaniche SA | OM | 665 | 2.0 | S-6 | 19 | flagged |
| DNF | 1 | Arrigo Sartorio | Alceo Verza | Gar | Chapuis-Dornier | 1.1 | S-4 | 7 | tires, spark plugs |
| DNF | 7 | Giovanni Dall'Olio | La Società C. D. | C. D. | | 1.5 | S-4 | 5 |
| DNF | 5 | Alessandro Consonno | A. Consonno | Derby | | 1.1 | S-4 | 5 |
| DNF | 10 | Carlo A. Ancillotto | C. A. Ancillotto | Bugatti | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | crash | |
| DNF | 11 | Gino Compagnoni | G. Compagnoni | Bugatti | T13 | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | crash | |
| DNF | 12 | Gigi Platè | G. Platè | Chiribiri | Monza S | 1.5 | S-4 | 0 | engine | |
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Fastest lap, 2000 cc: A. Maggi (Bugatti) on lap 6 in 8m18.2s = 88.4 km/h (54.9 mph).
Fastest lap, 1500 cc: R. Serboli (Chiribiri) on lap 12 in 9m02.6s = 81.2 km/h (50.4 mph).
Fastest lap, 1100 cc: A. Clerici (Salmson) on lap 17 in 9m25s = 78.0 km/h (48.4 mph).
Winner's average speed 2000 cc, Maggi: 83.6 km/h (51.9 mph).
Winner's average speed 2000 cc, Serboli: 79.6 km/h (49.5 mph).
Winner's average speed 2000 cc, Brambilla: 75.9 km/h (47.1 mph).
Weather: sunny, dry.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
ACI - rivista, Torino
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Berlin
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
Domenica Sportiva, Milano
La Gazetta dello Sport, Milano
L'Impero, Roma
Venezie Sportive, Venice
Special thanks to:
Alessandro Silva
Giuseppe Prisco
Giancarlo Cavallini for his book Circuito del Garda
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