Save Monza!
March 21st, 2006
She resembles a pistol, and loaded F1 cars race around her like bullets. The Monza track is one of the oldest and most celebrated venues on the F1 calendar, and she reminds the viewer of incredibly fast cars and red-clad, hollering Tifosi screaming louder than Ferrari engines.
Constructed in 1922, she has seen some of F1’s finest moments. It was at Monza that Niki Lauda returned to racing in 1976, just weeks after his near-fatal crash at Nurburgring. He went on to become one of the F1’s greatest drivers. Peter Collins executed what might be called the ‘first team order ‘ when he allowed team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio to overtake him and win the world championship. Needless to say, Collins did so voluntarily. Monza also played host to a couple of Europe Vs America races, also known as “The Races of the Two Worlds” in which Indycar roadsters jousted their Formula One counterparts. Berger, Alboreto and the entire Ferrari team saluted the deceased Enzo Ferrari just weeks after his death with a brilliant 1-2 finish in 1988, a season in which McLaren won all the other races.
On the darker side, it was at Monza that the sport’s pre-eminent driver, Alberto Ascari died in 1956 while testing at the turn that now bears his name. Rindt, in 1970, died on his way to becoming World Champion, crashing his Lotus into the parabolica. Emilo Maserati, in 1928, crashed his Talbot into the stands, killing himself and twenty-seven spectators.
Having played host to such important and nostalgic moments, it is indeed tragic that she should meet her end at the hands of a judge who has banned “the use of vehicles not fitted with an appropriate silencing system” at the Autodromo, following the complaint received from two families residing in the hamlet of Biassono who says their lives had been transformed into a ‘living hell’ by the roaring of racing car engines at the circuit. It might be of little importance that the families constructed their houses long after engines were first gunned at Monza.
We as fans cannot afford to let Monza wane into oblivion. An online petition has been created to save the Autodromo, and I urge one and all to sign the petition and save the most romantic track on earth.
Entry Filed under: Formula 1
11 Comments Add your own
1. Administrator | March 21st, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I love how people who live beside circuits/airports/stadiums lodge objections. Monza has been there for nearly a 100 years, it’s not like they didn’t realise the circuit was there when they moved into the area.
2. Bealzbob | March 22nd, 2006 at 7:51 am
Regardless of the 2 or 3 c*nts who want it stopped, what about the thousands who dont want it stopped who also live beside it. Why let these noisy f**kers cause so much of a stir. The silent majority has to stand up and tell them naysayers to shut up, put up and sit down. I’m fed up with noisy minority groups like that who want to be heard making more noise than apathetic bystanders.
By all accounts the defence has names of people who live as close or closer to Monza who have no objections to the noise. Hopefully their case will work and their opinions will be as valid as some pr*ck who moved there seemingly oblivious to the fact it would be a bit noisy - that’s what I call a stupidity tax.
3. Koushik VS | March 22nd, 2006 at 8:02 am
I wish some big Mafioso F1 fan from Sicily would simply “do the job” on the pr*cks
4. Ankit Sud | March 22nd, 2006 at 9:27 am
FIA is losing it, imagine the f1 calendar w/o monza, this is insane.
Ankit Sud
http://blogf1.blogspot.com
5. Marc | March 22nd, 2006 at 11:57 am
It isn’t the FIA Ankit, it’s one activist judge who was quoted as saying, motor racing was a “superfluous, dangerous and socially useless activity that had a major impact on the environment”.
6. Sven | March 22nd, 2006 at 4:45 pm
I think you omitted a very talented F1 driver that died at Monza, namely Ronnie Peterson in a Lotus 79 in 1978.
7. Koushik VS | March 22nd, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Other events Monza is known for:
The film ‘Grand Prix’, a must watch for any F1 buff was based on this track.
The fastest and the closest F1 race ever - the 1971 Italian GP and Monza where Peter Gethin won by a margin of 0.01 seconds.
Well, the list is long, longer than at any other circuit sans Indianapolis!
8. Alf | March 23rd, 2006 at 5:52 am
What nonsense ! Fistly Spa and now Monza
Come on guys (Bernie etc) who fills you coffers?
9. Full Throttle&hellip | March 26th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Monza’s Troubles Continue
(GMM) The fate of September’s Italian GP continues to look uncertain, after a civil court last week refused to overturn a ban on noisy cars at Monza.
Although the historic grand prix might be protected, one junior-category event at the track …
10. Mark Boudreau | March 27th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
It looks like the Mayor of the town and the residents complaining about the noise have come to an agreement. The town will probably erect some kind of sound barrier and they may restrict the days cars are allowed to run on the track. Apparently the mayor made it clear to the residents that if they impeded events like the Italian Grand Prix that bring in untold millions of Lira to the region their neighbors and other Italian residents might not be so “happy” with their actions making them pariahs in the region.
11. Snoskar | March 30th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I lived close to the Monza track for 8 years, close to Lesmo and then to Parabolica. I dont’t think it’s a problem of noise. Formule 1 is louder than other competition, but not that much, and you can stand it for few days. The heart of the matter consist in the fact that the Monza park is beautiful, one of the very few green oasis nearby Milano, really ramakable for all the people who lives in that area. It can make sense to stop all the motor competitions (including superbike, formule 3 and so on), but… it is too charming to be abandoned. Motor races and the park could contininue to survive side-by-side, as it was in the past 85 years.
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