# 1957 Mille Miglia

The 24. edizione Mille Miglia (Italian for "One Thousand Miles") was an auto race held on a course totalling 992.332 miles (1,597.004 km), made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on 11–12 May 1957. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish in Brescia. It was the 3rd round of the 1957 World Sportscar Championship season.
As in previous years, the event was a race against the clock, as the cars were released at one-minute intervals. In the Mille Miglia, the smaller displacement, slower cars started first. Each car number related to their allocated start time. For example, Wolfgang von Trips's car had the number 532, he left Brescia at 5:32am, while the first cars had started late in the evening on the previous day. Some drivers went with navigators, others did not; a number of local Italian drivers had knowledge of the routes being used and felt confident enough that they would not need one.
This race was won by Scuderia Ferrari driver Piero Taruffi without the aid of a navigator, the 3rd time in the past 4 years that a driver won the race without a navigator. He completed the 992-mile distance in 10 hours, 27 minutes and 47 seconds- an average speed of 94.841 mph (152.632 km/h). The Italian finished three minutes in front of his second-placed team-mate, the German driver, von Trips. Olivier Gendebien and Jacques Washer were next, ensuring Scuderia Ferrari finished 1-2-3. The race is marked with fatal crashes of drivers Alfonso de Portago and Josef H. Göttgens, the former involving in an accident that claimed the lives of nine spectators near the road.

## Report
### Entry

A total of 391 cars were entered for the event, across 25 classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0-litre, for Grand Touring Cars, Touring Cars and Sport Cars. Of these, 310 cars started the event. The limit on the number of starts was reduced from previous years. The Auto Club of Brescia took steps to try to combat the unsportsmanlike tactics by which some competitors sought to negate the procedure of drawing lots for departure times.
Even though the event continued to count towards the World Sportscar Championship, only Ferrari and Maserati entered works teams. Officine Alfieri Maserati was in receivership but still managed to have two 450Ss for Stirling Moss and Jean Behra, a brand new 350S for Hans Herrmann and older 300S for the Italian Giorgio Scarlatti. Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari entered four Sports cars, to be driven by Taruffi, von Trips, Peter Collins and Alfonso de Portago. They also entered Olivier Gendebien in a Grand Touring car. Britain was represented by a single semi-works Jaguar D-Type, entered by the Scottish team Ecurie Ecosse for Ron Flockhart.
One of the more unusual entrants was a Kurtis Kraft roadster for Akton Miller, a car constructed in the US, with a powerful 6.4 litre Chrysler engine, mounted on a space-frame single seat chassis, designed for use on American oval circuits.

## Race

Soon after the race started, Maserati's hopes vanished. Before the event even started, Behra was out, having crashed his 450S during pre-test. Moss was forced to retire soon after the start having rather dangerously snapped a brake pedal. Herrmann did not get as far as the Ravenna checkpoint.
In Guidizzolo, less than 40 miles from the finish in Brescia, de Portago's front tyre exploded. He lost control of the car; it hit a telephone pole, jumped over a brook, then hit several spectators. The Ferrari then bounced back on the road, hitting more spectators, slid over the road, spinning, and ended up, wheels down, in a brook at the other side of the road. In addition to de Portago, his American navigator Edmund Gunner Nelson and nine spectators – among them five children – lost their lives. A further 20 were injured. De Portago's body was found near the car, severed in half.
Enzo Ferrari was prosecuted on 11 counts of manslaughter. He was acquitted in 1961 after a panel of automobile engineers retained as experts by the court opined that the blowout was caused when de Portago's front tyre struck a cat's eye.
Dutchman Josef Göttgens crashed his Triumph TR3 near Florence and later died of his injuries in a Florence hospital.
When Taruffi arrived back in Brescia, he was dueling with von Trips but had a three-minute advantage over him due to a later start time. Gendebien finished third, completing a top three sweep for Ferrari. Maserati experienced a debacle with only Scarlatti arriving in Brescia in fourth place overall, followed 15 minutes later by the Porsche 550 RS of Umberto Maglioli. Taruffi reached Brescia after racing for 10 hours and 27 minutes after he left Brescia at 05:35.
Three days after the race, the Italian government decreed the end of the Mille Miglia and banned all motor racing on the public roads of Italy. Taruffi thus became the last winner of this famous event.

## Classification
### Official results

Of the 310 starters, 172 were classified as finishers. Therefore, only a selection of notable racers has been listed below.
Class Winners are in Bold text.
| Pos. | No. | Class | Driver | Driver | Entrant | Car - Engine | Time | Reason Out |
| 1st | 535 | S+2.0 | Piero Taruffi | | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 315 S | 10hr 27:47 | |
| 2nd | 532 | S+2.0 | Wolfgang von Trips | | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 315 S | 10hr 30:48 | |
| 3rd | 417 | GT+2.0 | Olivier Gendebien | Jacques Washer | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | 10hr 35:53 | |
| 4th | 530 | S+2.0 | Giorgio Scarlatti | | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati 300S | 11hr 00:58 | |
| 5th | 349 | S1.5 | Umberto Maglioli | | | Porsche 550 RS | 11hr 14:07 | |
| 6th | 441 | GT+2.0 | Camillo Luglio | Umberto Carli | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato | 11hr 26.58 | |
| 7th | 431 | GT+2.0 | Paolo Ferraro | | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | 11hr 30:55 | |
| 8th | 451 | S2.0 | Gino Munaron | | | Ferrari 500 TRC | 11hr 32:04 | |
| 9th | 430 | GT+2.0 | Albino Buticchi | | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Zagato | 11hr 44:27 | |
| 10th | 458 | S2.0 | Gotfrid Köchert | | Gotfrid Köchert | Ferrari 500 TRC | 11hr 49:02 | |
| 11th | 354 | S1.5 | Heinz Schiller | | Ecurie La Meute | Porsche 550 RS | 11hr 54:24 | |
| 12th | 453 | S2.0 | Siro Sbraci | | | Ferrari 500 TRC | 12hr 02:08 | |
| 13th | 507 | S2.0 | Jean Guichet | | | Ferrari 500 Mondial | 12hr 08:22 | |
| 14th | 225 | GT1.6 | Paul-Ernst Strähle | Herbert Linge | | Porsche 356A Carrera | 12hr 10:08 | |
| 15th | 442 | GT+2.0 | ”Kammamuri” | Vincenzo Bellini | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | 12hr 21:21 | |
| 16th | 435 | GT+2.0 | Erasmo Crivellari | Oscar Papais | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | 12hr 22:08 | |
| 17th | 224 | GT1.6 | Dieter Lissmann | | | Porsche 356A Carrera | 12hr 29:45 | |
| 18th | 217 | GT1.6 | Hans-Joachim Walter | R. Reinhold | | Porsche 356A Carrera | 12hr 33:18 | |
| 19th | 422 | GT+2.0 | Guido Mario Terzi | | | Lancia Aurelia B20 | 12hr 35:45 | |
| 20th | 105 | GT1.3 | Henry Convert | Raul Martin | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | 12hr 39:44 | |
| 21st | 122 | GT1.3 | Pietro Laureati | | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | 12hr 44:50 | |
| 22nd | 450 | S2.0 | Odoardo Govoni | | | Maserati A6GCS | 12hr 46:07 | |
| 23rd | 504 | S2.0 | Nando Pagliarini | | | Maserati 200SI | 12hr 47:47 | |
| 24th | 102 | GT1.3 | Kostas Spiliotakis | S. Zannos | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | 12hr 48:54 | |
| 25th | 439 | GT+2.0 | Ovidio Capelli | | | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | 12hr 49:28 | |
| 26th | 325 | S1.1 | Giulio Cabianca | | | Osca S950 | 12hr 51:46 | |
| 27th | 403 | S1.5 | Harald von Saucken | Georg Bialas | | Porsche 550 RS | 12hr 54:05 | |
| 28th | 410 | TS+2.0 | Albert Heuberger | | | BMW 502 | 12hr 54:33 | |
| 29th | 109 | GT1.3 | Bruno Grazioli Vicenza | Paolo Grazioli | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | 12hr 54:47 | |
| 30th | 117 | GT1.3 | Rocco Lanzini | Gianfranco Stanga | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | 12hr 55:16 | |
| 31st | 357 | GT1.3 | Robin Carnegie | | Fitzwilliam Racing Team | MG A | 12hr 55:21 | |
| 33rd | 121 | GT1.3 | Carlo Mario Abate | | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SVZ | 13hr 00:04 | |
| 34th | 308 | GT2.0 | Luigi Nobile | Pietro Cagnana | | Fiat 8V Zagato | 13hr 00:49 | |
| 37th | 414 | GT+2.0 | Tommy Wisdom | Cecil Winby | | Austin-Healey 100/Six | 13hr 04:10 | |
| 41st | 230 | GT1.6 | Carel Godin de Beaufort | | | Porsche 356A Carrera | 13hr 06:58 | |
| 46th | 409 | TS+2.0 | Walter Löffler | Carsten Johansson | | BMW 502 | 13hr 18:27 | |
| 50th | 012 | GT1.1 | Luciano Mantovani | | | Lancia Appia GT Zagato | 13hr 20:22 | |
| 54th | 024 | GT1.1 | Enrico Anselmi | | | Lancia Appia GT Zagato | 13hr 23:39 | |
| 58th | 138 | S750 | Giancarlo Rigamonti | | | Osca S750 | 13hr 29:41 | |
| 59th | 505 | S2.0 | Roberto Montali | | | Ferrari 500 Mondial berlinetta | 13hr 29:44 | |
| 63rd | 52 | GT750 | Alfonso Thiele | | | Fiat-Abarth 750 GT Zagato | 13hr 32:33 | |
| 66th | 040 | TS1.3 | Roger Delagenste | | | Peugeot 403 | 13hr 34:17 | |
| 68th | 40 | GT750 | Marino Guarnieri | | | Fiat-Abarth 750 GT Zagato | 13hr 38:40 | |
| 73rd | 015 | GT1.1 | Giorgio Lurani | | | Lancia Appia GT Zagato | 13hr 40:52 | |
| 77th | 46 | GT750 | Vittorio Gianni | Luciano Gianni | | Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato | 13hr 45:57 | |
| 78th | 208 | TS1.6 | Joachim Springer | | | Ford Taunus 15 M | 13hr 46:54 | |
| 79th | 348 | S1.5 | Georges Berger | René Foiret | | Maserati 150S | 13hr 47:28 | |
| 81st | 73 | GT1.0 | Jean-Claude Vidilles | | | D.B-Panhard HBR | 13hr 47:42 | |
| 83rd | 64 | TS1.0 | Paul Frère | | | Renault Dauphine | 13hr 47:55 | |
| 86th | 256 | TS2.0 | Jean Aumas | Willy Brandt | | Alfa Romeo 1900TI | 13hr 56:24 | |
| 87th | 244 | T2.0 | Achille Fona | Amletto Della Fona | | Alfa Romeo 1900TI | 13hr 56:30 | |
| 91st | 006 | TS1.1 | Ersilio Mandrini | Luigi Bertassi | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 14hr 16:55 | |
| 93rd | 212 | TS1.6 | Peter Harper | Jackie Reece | | Sunbeam Rapier | 14hr 06:16 | |
| 95th | 206 | T1.6 | Paul Guiraud | G. Chevron | | Peugeot 403 | 14hr 12:28 | |
| 98th | 257 | TS2.0 | Claude Bourillot | Pierre About | | Citroën DS19 | 14hr 15:16 | |
| 99th | 032 | T1.3 | Alberto Massari | Pier Luigi Gatti | | Peugeot 403 | 14hr 12:28 | |
| 103rd | 253 | TS2.0 | Louis Chiron | André Testut | | Citroën DS19 | 14hr 22:01 | |
| 108th | 2348 | T1.1 | Dino Faggi | | | Fiat 1100/103TV | 14hr 31:23 | |
| 110th | 71 | TS1.0 | Maurice Michy | | | Renault Dauphine | 14hr 32:53 | |
| 141st | 63 | T1.0 | Robert Chancel | Bergonoukoux | | Panhard Dyna 54 | 15hr 22:40 | |
| 154th | 14 | TS750 | Louis Chardin | | | Renault 4CV | 15hr 59:47 | |
| 161st | 3 | T750 | Carl Lohmander | Harald Kronegård | | Saab 93 | 16hr 40:22 | |
| 172nd | 77 | GT1.0 | Gerard Parmentier | | | D.B.-Panhard HBR | 18hr 34:03 | |
| DNF | 534 | S+2.0 | Peter Collins | Louis Klemantaski | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 335 S | 5hr 03:11 | Drive shaft |
| DNF | 531 | S+2.0 | Alfonso de Portago | Edmont Nelson | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 335 S | 5hr 17:43 | Fatal accident (de Portago & Nelson) |
| DNF | 448 | S2.0 | Franco Bordoni | | | Maserati 200SI | 6hr 32:24 | DNF |
| DNF | 337 | S1.1 | Gregor Grant | | | Lotus-Climax Eleven | 6hr 58:42 | Split fuel tank |
| DNF | 437 | GT+2.0 | Piero Scotti | Adalberto Parenti | | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | | DNF |
| DNF | 69 | TS1.0 | Jean Lucas | | | Renault Dauphine | 7hr 18:43 | DNF |
| DNF | 39 | GT750 | Jean Rédélé | | | Alpine A106 MM | 7hr 26:49 | DNF |
| DNF | 309 | GT2.0 | Joseph H. Göttgens | | | Triumph TR3 | 7hr 56:12 | Fatal accident |
| DNF | 141 | S750 | René Philippe Faure | | | Stanguellini Efac Sport 750 | | DNF |
| DNF | 213 | TS1.6 | Sheila van Damm | David Humphrey | | Sunbeam Rapier | | Accident |
| DNF | 227 | GT1.6 | Gunnar Blomqvist | | | Porsche 356A Carrera 1500 GS | | DNF |
| DNF | 301 | GT2.0 | Ludovico Scarfiotti | | | Fiat 8V Zagato | | DNF |
| DNF | 339 | S1.1 | Bruno Ferrari | | | Lotus-Climax Eleven | | DNF |
| DNF | 428 | GT+2.0 | Bengt Martenson | Wittigo von Einseidel | | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | | DNF |
| DNF | 440 | GT+2.0 | Wolfgang Seidel | Helmut Glöckler | | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | | DNF |
| DNF | 506 | S2.0 | Luigi Bellucci | | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati 200SI | | Oil leak |
| DNF | 518 | S+2.0 | Ron Flockhart | | Ecurie Ecosse | Jaguar D-Type | | Loose fuel tank |
| DNF | 524 | S+2.0 | Ak Miller | Douglas Harrison | Akton Miller | Caballo de Hiero-Chrysler Mk II | | Broken exhaust |
| DNF | 115 | GT1.3 | Henry N. Manney III | | | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | | DNF |
| DNF | 533 | S+2.0 | Hans Herrmann | | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati 350S | | Holed sump |
| DNF | 537 | S+2.0 | Stirling Moss | Denis Jenkinson | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati 450S | | Broken brake pedal |

### Class winners

| Class | Winners | | |
| Sport +2000 | 535 | Ferrari 315 S | Taruffi |
| Sports 2000 | 451 | Ferrari 500 TRC | Munaron |
| Sports 1500 | 349 | Porsche 550 RS | Maglioli |
| Sports 1100 | 325 | Osca S950 | Cabianca |
| Sports 750 | 138 | Osca S750 | Rigamonti |
| Grand Touring +2000 | 417 | Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti | Gendebien / Washer |
| Grand Touring 2000 | 308 | Fiat 8V Zagato | Nobile / Cagnana |
| Grand Touring 1600 | 225 | Porsche 356A Carrera | Strähle / Linge |
| Grand Touring 1300 | 105 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV | Convert / Martin |
| Grand Touring 1100 | 012 | Lancia Appia GT Zagato | Mantovani |
| Grand Touring 1000 | 73 | D.B.-Panhard HBR | Vidilles |
| Grand Touring 750 | 52 | Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato | Thiele |
| Touring Special +2000 | 410 | BMW 502 | Heuberger |
| Touring Special 2000 | 256 | Alfa Romeo 1900 TI | Aumas / Brandt |
| Touring Special 1600 | 208 | Ford Taunus 15 M | Springer |
| Touring Special 1300 | 040 | Peugeot 403 | Delageneste |
| Touring Special 1100 | 006 | Fiat 1100/103 | Mandrini / Bertassi |
| Touring Special 1000 | 64 | Renault Dauphine | Frère |
| Touring Special 750 | 14 | Renault 4CV | Chardin |
| Touring Prep 2000 | 244 | Alfa Romeo 1900 TI | Fona / Della Tore |
| Touring Prep 1600 | 206 | Peugeot 403 | Guiraud / Chevron |
| Touring Prep 1300 | 032 | Alf Romeo Giulietta | Massari / Gatti |
| Touring Prep 1100 | 2348 | Fiat 1100/103 TV | Faggi |
| Touring Prep 1000 | 63 | Panhard Dyna 54 | Chancel / Bergonoukoux |
| Touring Prep 750 | 3 | Saab 93 | Lohmander / Kronegård |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Championship | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 19 |
| 2 | Maserati | 17 |
| 3 | Jaguar | 7 |
| 4 | Porsche | 2 |
| 5 | O.S.C.A. | 1 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.

## In popular culture

* The race is dramatized in the 2023 film Ferrari, including a gory depiction of de Portago’s fatal crash.