Every year, the Mille Miglia slowly creeps up upon our news feeds and populates the websites that we frequent. It’s an automotive event that is part classic car concourse and part targa rally, combining the virtues of restoration with those of a road race. It’s safe to say that not everyone who competes in the Mille Miglia is out for blood, but there are still a few serious contenders among the pack who are willing to risk life and limb for glory.
The route runs through Europe, and this year more than 460 contenders have registered to partake in this annual ritual. BMW is fielding 5 teams in the endurance race, all of which will be running various variants of the historic BMW 328. Not to be confused with the 328i, the 328 was launched back in 1936 and proved itself a competent fighter in 1938.
BMW Group Classic has provided excellent support to their teams in this race, with their 328 contender taking overall victory back in 2004. For the Mille Miglia, entrants may only use cars that competed in the race between 1927 and 1957, making it exclusively classic car centric.
The 2015 Mille Miglia starts in Brescia on Thursday, 14 May 2015. More than 460 historic automobiles have registered for this year’s rendition of the round trip. The opening stage begins in the afternoon and runs via Verona, Ferrara and Ravenna to Rimini. The destination of Friday’s second stage is Rome, whence the field continues its journey the following day to take in Siena and Pisa before rolling up in Parma. During the final stage on Sunday, 17 May 2015, the historic racing cars and their escorts will negotiate the Autodromo di Monza race track, among other points en route, before finishing at the event’s starting point in Brescia.
BMW Group Classic is fielding the following teams in the 2015 Mille Miglia:
133 Ian Robertson / Jim Holder BMW 328 Berlin-Rome Touring Roadster
146 Alexander Bilgeri / Scott Hughes BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster
125 Ulrich Sanne / Wang Wei BMW 328
123 Peter van Binsbergen / Wolfgang Wieland BMW 328
132 Sergio Solero / Michele Lupi BMW 328
