Winter Marathon 2014 – 26th edition

Giuliano Canè and Lucia Galliani are the overall winners of the 2014 Winter Marathon. The Bologna-based couple, claiming their sixth personal victory in the competition, came out on top at the end of a very closely fought race, tackled in their usual 1938 Lancia Aprilia. In second place were Ezio and Francesca Salviato, also in a Lancia Aprilia (1939), ahead of last year’s winners Antonino Margiotta and Bruno Perno in a 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S. First among the Brescia crews were Franco Spagnoli and Giuseppe Parisi, who finished eighth overall with the oldest car at the start, a 1932 Fiat 508 S.

On Thursday evening – for the very first time ever – the APT Trophy took place, reserved for the first 32 crews entered in the Winter Marathon. As well as being a recognition for the “loyal regulars”, it was also intended as a thank you and tribute to the local Tourist Promotion Agency, which had supported the organisation since the very first edition by handling the event logistics. Emerging victorious in the snow, after a series of thrilling knockout rounds, was the crew made up of Andrea Belometti and Stefano Cadei , who defeated only in the tiebreak the Brescia-based crew of Marco Gatta and Luigi Maffina in a 1959 Porsche 356 A Coupé.

Very much appreciated by the public and the media were the rally cars admitted to the event for the first time, starting with the highly sought-after Lancia Stratos cars of Amenduni (1976) and Tonoli (1974), the Fiat 131 Abarth (1976) of Brunori, the two Renault Alpine A110 cars of Tanfoglio (1972) and Brusciotti (1974), the rare Saab Sonett III (1974) of Pellegrino and the Porsche 911 RS Carrera of 1973 entered by Porsche Italia General Manager Pietro Innocenti. A special mention must finally go to the splendid BMW 507 of 1957 of the German crew Stoschek-Brasch.

In the afternoon the event resumed with the trophy reserved for open-top cars built before 31 December ’45, in which Spagnoli-Parisi in a 1932 Fiat 508 S took victory. It was then time for the now classic TAG Heuer Barozzi Trophy, in which victory went to Guido Barcella and Ombretta Ghidotti in a 1963 Porsche 356 C Coupé. The Bergamo-based pair prevailed in the final over the consistent Spagnoli-Parisi, while in the final for 3rd-4th place it was the Alfa Romeo Museum crew Gamberini-De Marco who got the better of Belometti-Cadei, who had to settle for the “wooden medal”.