Winter Marathon 2017 – 29th edition

Two years after their first victory, Franciacorta Motori representatives Alberto Aliverti and Alberto Maffi claimed their second Winter Marathon win, bringing to a perfect close a race in which they consistently remained among the leading positions and made very few mistakes, emerging as the best crew among the 106 competitors who officially started yesterday at 2:00 pm from Piazzale Brenta in Madonna di Campiglio.

Completing the podium were Andrea Belometti and Emanuele Peli (second) in the sporty 1932 Fiat Siata 508 S Balilla Sport, bravely facing the cold just like Luca Patron and Massimo Casale, who finished third at the wheel of the oldest car in the field, a 1925 Bentley 3 Litre. Both crews represented the Loro Piana Classic Car Team, which finished the event as the top-ranked team.

There was no shortage of surprises along the more than 440 km of the demanding race route designed by the organisers, featuring 51 timed trials, 50 of which counted towards the final classification. These included some notable retirements, such as Lorenzo and Mario Turelli (competing in a 1937 Lancia Aprilia) and Moceri-Bonetti (Lancia Fulvia Coupé, 1967), as well as route interpretation errors such as that of Francesco and Giuseppe Di Pietra (1938 Fiat 508 C), who accumulated a decisive delay at the Andalo timed trial which effectively ruled them out of contention for the top positions.

The first female crew was Gabriella Scarioni and Ornella Pietropaolo, who completed the race in 36th place aboard a 1960 Porsche 356 B Coupé; among the all-foreign crews, victory went to the Swiss pairing Manoel and Aurelie Jolly, who finished 48th in their 1967 Morris Mini Cooper.

A special mention goes to the fine victory of Alessandro and Francesca Molgora in the APT Trophy in a 1954 Triumph TR2, achieved on Thursday evening on the brightly illuminated frozen lake.

The images show the top three crews of the 2017 Winter Marathon: Aliverti-Maffi #6 Belometti-Peli #3 and Patron-Casale #2 (photo Pierpaolo Romano)