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Event Information:
The
Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio
d'Italia) is one of the longest
running events on the motor racing
calendar. The first Italian Grand
Prix motor racing championship took
place on 4 September 1921 at Brescia.
However, the race is more closely
associated with the course at Monza,
which was built in 1922 in time for
that year's race, and has been the
location for most of the races over
the years.
The
1923 race included one of Harry A.
Miller's rare European appearances
with his single seat "American
Miller 122" driven by Count Louis
Zborowski of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
fame. The Italian Grand Prix counted
toward the European Championship
from 1935 to 1938. It was designated
the European Grand Prix seven times
between 1923 and 1967, when this
title was an honorary designation
given each year to one grand prix
race in Europe. The Italian Grand
Prix was also one of the inaugural
Formula One championship races in
1950, and has been held every year
since then. The only other
championship race for which this is
true is the British Grand Prix.
The
Italian Grand Prix in recent years
has been labelled as a jinx to the
winning driver. Over the past two
decades, only Ayrton Senna and
Michael Schumacher have won the
Italian Grand Prix and gone on to
win the world championship in the
same year. The last year that the
winner of the Italian Grand Prix won
the world championship in the same
year is 2003. The Autodromo
Nazionale Monza is a race track
located near the town of Monza,
north of Milan, in Italy. The
circuit's biggest event is the
Formula One Italian Grand Prix,
having hosted the event since the
sport's inception, and is known as
the home of the Tifosi, supporters
of Italian team Scuderia Ferrari.
Built
in the Royal Villa of Monza park in
a woodland setting, the site has
three tracks – the 5.793 kilometres
(3.600 mi) Grand Prix track, the
2.405 kilometres (1.494 mi) Junior
track, and a decaying 4.250
kilometres (2.641 mi) high speed
track with steep bankings. Major
features of the main track include
the Curva di Lesmo, the Curva
Parabolica, and the Variante Ascari.
The high speed curve, Curva Grande,
is located after a slow corner, but
usually taken flat out by Grand Prix
cars.
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