Winter Marathon 2016 – 28th edition

The Brescia-based crew of Franco Spagnoli and Giuseppe Parisi won the UBI Banco di Brescia Trophy, reserved for the winner of the 28th edition of the Winter Marathon, which concluded on Saturday 23 January with the traditional parade in Piazza Righi in Madonna di Campiglio. The Franciacorta Motori team representatives, winners of the 2015 Italian championship in the Top Car category, delivered a flawless performance that took them to the top step of the podium, finishing just a few penalties ahead (255 versus 261) of the 1965 Volvo PV544 driven by Antonino Margiotta and Bruno Perno, once again runners-up after achieving the same result in the previous edition; slightly further behind was the 1938 Fiat 508 C of Giuseppe and Francesco Di Pietra (309 penalties).

Among the teams, victory went to Franciacorta Motori, which managed to place 3 crews in the top 6. Emanuela Cinelli and Elena Scaramuzzi won the BST Tubi Trophy, reserved for female crews, in a 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250 SL, finishing ahead of Gabriella Scarioni and Ornella Pietropaolo in a 1961 Porsche 356 B Coupé. The best all-foreign crew was the Japanese pairing Kenji Nakahara and Kazuo Ishii in a 1965 Porsche 356 C Coupé; the friendly duo from Saitama, taking part in the race for the first time, finished ahead of the British crew made up of “Steve Clark” and “Nik Nalim” in a 1939 MG TB and the Swiss duo Luca Prencipe and Roberto Felici in a 1968 Porsche 911 S.

The Winter Marathon spectacle then resumed on Saturday afternoon with live streaming of the two special trophies held on the frozen lake: the first, reserved for pre-war cars entered in the competition (MA-FRA Trophy), was won for the second consecutive year by Giuseppe and Francesco Di Pietra in a 1938 Fiat 508 C, while the second, reserved for the top 32 finishers of the 2016 Winter Marathon (TAG Heuer Trophy), was won by Fontanella-Malta in their 1955 Porsche 356 A Coupé, who defeated Massimo and Andrea Zanasi in a 1961 Volvo P1800 in the final; third place went to Scarabelli-Adorni in a 1968 Lancia Fulvia Coupé 1.3.

A special mention goes to the fine victory of Bresciani-Coen in the APT Trophy in a 1967 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 TI, achieved on Thursday evening on the brightly illuminated frozen lake.

The images show the top three crews of the 2016 Winter Marathon: Spagnoli-Parisi #1 Margiotta-Perno #17 and Di Pietra-Di Pietra #65 (photo Pierpaolo Romano)