page_title: Centenari
section_title: International Sports Racing Series
hierarchical_section_title: Centenari / Racing history / International Sports Racing Series
caption_attribution_description: Arturo Merzario driving a Centenari M1-Alfa Romeo at Donington Park on 5th July 1997
context_page_description: Centenari Racing SRL, usually referred to as Centenari, was an Italian racing team and chassis constructor company based in Italy, predominantly building sports prototypes. The team were active in international events between 1997 and 2006, having started off in national events in 1991.
context_section_description: In 1997, Centenari entered the new International Sports Racing Series (ISRS), using their own Centenari M1 chassis. This featured an Alfa Romeo-sourced 3-litre V6 engine, and was classified as a SR2 car. The team made its debut in the season opener at Donington Park, with Merzario and Giovanni Li Calzi hired as drivers, and won their class at the first attempt; as the only other SR2 class entry, a Didier Bonnet Racing-entered Debora LMP297-BMW, retired from the event. Although they retired from the following round at Zolder, having entered under the "Symbol Team" banner, they took an overall win at Brno (competing in the CN class as no other SR1 or SR2 entries were present) for the only time in the team's history. The entry for the final race at Jarama was made under the Centenari name once more, and the team took the SR2 class victory, and finished second overall.
  For 1998, a new car, the Centenari Mac3, was developed, and the team expanded to a two-car effort, with the M1 being retained. The team started their season at the 1000 km Monza, which was part of the GT Italian Challenge and the Challenge Endurance Italia, with Loic Depailler, Xavier Pompidou, Giovanna Amati and Marco Lucchinelli driving the new Mac3, and Merzario, Giovanni Li Calzi, Robin Donovan and Fulvio Ballabio driving the older M1. Although the two cars were qualified in seventh and twelfth respectively, neither car had a successful race; the Mac3 didn't make the start, and the M1 retired after 73 laps. Both cars finished the ISRS season opener at Paul Ricard, with the M1 finishing fourth, and the Mac3 finishing sixth; both cars were classified in the CN category, and they were the only cars in that category to finish the race. This was followed by a ninth and tenth overall finish (second and third in the CN class) for the Mac3 and M1 at Brno. For Misano, Centenari entered three cars; two M1s, and a Mac3. Both M1s retired, but the Mac3 finished twelfth, and fifth in class. At Donington Park, only one of the M1s was classified as finishing, in last place overall; the other M1 did not start the race, and the Mac3 completed too few laps to be classified. Anderstorp once more saw only one M1 finish, in last place overall; the Mac3's gearbox failed after 31 laps, and the other M1's differential failed after a single lap. Nürburgring saw a small improvement; the Mac3 and one M1 both finished, in twelfth and thirteenth overall; however, these were the bottom positions in the CN class. At the penultimate round at Le Mans, the Mac3 finished tenth overall and second in class, whilst one of the M1's engines expired before it completed a lap, and the other experienced an engine failure after 30 laps. A single M1 was the only entry in the season finale at Kyalami; however, it retired with clutch issues after 32 laps. Centenari were classified joint-second in the CN Team's Championship, and eleventh overall, at the end of the season.
caption: Arturo Merzario, driving the Centenari M1-Alfa Romeo at Donington Park, 5 July 1997
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