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Motor Valley Virtual Tour 26 to 29 December 2020
Report by Margaret Campbell
Not
able to visit our family in Norway for Christmas this year we were
de-lighted to be able to join our Italian friend Achille Tresoldsi and
his C20H team from CLUB DEI VENTI ALL'ORA TRIESTE on a wonderful 4 day
Motor Valley Virtual Tour which began on Boxing Day.
In 2013
the CCHMSC’s Continental Tour “Trans Italia” followed
the route of the Mille Miglia down the coast of the Adriatic and
visited some of the towns, museums and factories that we encountered on
this virtual tour bringing back wonderful memories.
Day 1
 We
were faced with a map that had no definite starting point but some
clues as to where it was - it turned out to be the Grand Hotel in
Rimini from where we travelled the 31 miles to the second question
which was where the map was marked from.
 Our route for the day took us from Rimini to Imola and along the way we visited  museums,
restaurants, vineyards and racing circuits and investigated the
“Prancing Horse”, Fellini’s films, good food and
wine, the Mille Miglia, bearings and Pirelli Tyres. Mileages were
also required.
(Photos are: the Grand Hotel, Mille Miglia Cars, a
Piadina, Bottle of L’Albana, the Cavallino Rampante (prancing
horse) and advert for tyres)
Day 2
We
leave the Imola circuit, having driven counterclockwise round it,
and head towards Bologna learning about Desmodromic valves and
“Mike the Bike” en route. Today we also visit the
museum dedicated to Ferruccio Lamborghini and learn about the
association with the Bull symbol of the company and how there is a red
wine named after the Miura “Sangue di Miura”.
 We
also visit the Lamborghini factory and discover the only model not
named after bulls or bullfighting is the Countach, which is named after
a curious expression by an employee of the company when he first saw
the design. Our day finishes at the  little
town of Castelfranco Emilia, west of Bologna, at the Pagani factory
where we learn that Horacio Pagani was designing and making models of
sports cars out of balsa and tin cans at the age of 12. Finally
we have to identify a photograph of Alberto Ascari and another Pirelli
tyre. A different model this time.
(Photos: Lamborghini Marzal,
Lamborghini Logo, Bottles of Sangue di Miura, Alberto Ascari, Mike
Hawthorn on his Ducati 900 SS, a Pagani and the Imola circuit).
Day 3
We
leave Castelfranco Emilia and head to the heart of Motor Valley where
we see the monument dedicated to Enzo Ferrari in Maranello and visit
the Fiorano Circuit (Ferrari’s test track). We also learn
that the Fountain of Neptune in the city of Bologna  was the inspiration for the Trident logo of Maserati.
Today is a shorter day of driving as there is much to  explore
and by lunch time we find our selves in Modena where we visit the
Osteria Francescana restaurant and sample Massimo Bottura’s
famous “Dropped Lemon Tart”.
After lunch we
head for the Ferrari museum and factory discover-ing all sorts of
information from small details such as Enzo always used a fountain pen
with violet ink for writing to learning that all 6-cylinder Ferraris
are badged  Dino. We also discovered that the beautiful Ferrari car transporter was bodied by Carrozzeria Bartoletti.
(Photos: Enzo monument, Dropped Lemon Tart, Maserati Logo, Ferrari Transporter, visiting Ferrari and the iconic Dino 246).
Day 4
 A
longer mileage today so left Modena heading north west towards
Parma. En route we visit the impressive Maserati collection of
Umberto Panini including the Maserati Tipo 420 M/58 Eldorado.
Panini is probably better known as being the man who is famous for
producing sticker book collections. We learn that Italian driver
Maria Teresa De Filippis was the first woman to participate in Formula
1.
Moving on, we pass the now abandoned “Blue Factory” the site of the re-birth of Bugatti cars.
 We
are now in the land of Parmigiano Reggiano which is produced
exclusively in the province of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and in some
areas near Mantova and Bologna, in plains, hills and mountains between
the Po and Reno River.
Passing through Verano we see the motor
racing circuit Riccardo Paletti named after the Italian F1 driver who
was tragically killed at the start of his second race. The track
hosts stage rounds for nu-merous racing series including Formula 3,
prototypes and GT cars, plus a variety of motorcycle classes. The
course is also regularly used for testing, primarily by Dallara, the
race car constructor based in Varano.
Having
travelled 185 km today we end our day and the tour just south of
Piacenza at the home of the racing team AF Corse who won their class at
the 24 hour Le Mans twice with the Ferrari 458 Italia.
(Photos: Maserati Eldorado, Maria Teresa De Filippis, Parmigiano Reggiano, Dallara P217 and the Riccardo Paletti Circuit).
A big thank you to all involved in making this an informative and entertaining way to spend post Christmas.
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Alberto Ascari
Enzo Monument
