Heats
 
1975 Monza  Go 1977 Monza 
1976 Salzburg 
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Trofeo Mario Angiolini

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy

Date: 28/3/1976
Track length: 5.770 m
Attendance: 15.000
Entries accepted: 40 (ETCC)
Starters: 28 (ETCC); 24 (G2 500); 12 (G2 500-700); 12 (G2 +700)
Finishers: 20, of which 8 with less than 70% distance covered (ETCC);

Pole position: Xhenceval/Dieudonné in 1.52,06 (ETCC)
Fastest lap: Wisell in 1.51,65 (ETCC); Travarin in 2.36,8 (500); Carena in 2.27,6 (700); Cappellini in 2.14,8 (1150)

Distance: 4 hours (ETCC), 14 laps
Average speed: 176,595 kmh (ETCC); 129,523 kmh (500); 137,817 kmh (700); 149,484 kmh (1150)
Weather: Nice
Ruleset: Group 2/76
Car info: 1976 Cars

 

It should have been the glorious start of a new era in touring car racing. Two-times Francorchamps winners Luigi racing brought a BMW 3.0 CSL to Monza, with the wet sump 2-valve engine (the 4-valve homologation no longer valid, just like the 2002's head), but with batmobile wings. The car was comparable with an early '73 car plus wings. Its only serious opposition was the Zakspeed Escort II, a 1.8 litre 4-valve car which should be quite competitive, not only in its own division.
That was about it; of Wisell's Camaros, only one was in full group 2 trim - and we all know how reliable a Camaro is for long-distance racing; the second 4-valve Escort was a lot slower than the Zakspeed car but did not seem to have the same oil starvation problems; the Autovama Alfetta too was outclassed by the Zakspeed Escort.
The new rules, which were supposed to make racing cheaper, proved to be a disaster for Zakspeed. Dry sump no longer being allowed, the team used two engines in practice, which were slaughtered by oil starvation problems.

The story of the race is best kept short. The Luigi BMW took the lead, and after Wisell had passed the Zakspeed Escort the Camaro passed the BMW, trying to build a gap for the necessary extra tank stop. After the first round of stops, Cochesa (Escort) lost the clutch. Finotto had a ... blown engine, and after two hours the Camaro was still in the lead, second the BMW, third the Alfetta, fourth the second Camaro. Finally, Wisell's Camaro became fuel feeding problems, leaving the race to Luigi, but the other Camaro moved into second.

Apart from the ETCC race there were three national Group 2 races counting for the Italian championship.

The first race for 500 cc cars saw Aimaro in the lead but in lap 8 he retired. "El Bravo" took over but cruised to a halt in lap 12. Travagin, "Giorda" and Fortuna now sprinted to the line, only tenths of seconds between them.

Twelve cars took the start for the next race for 600 and 700 cc cars. Carena, Padrone and Gaina took turns in leading the race, but Carena dropped back while Padrone won the race.

The third race (1000 and 1150 cc) had 12 starters as well, with Battistini in command leading Certini and Cappellini. The order remained unchanged to the end, while Gatti won the 1000 cc class. Three cars were disqualified for technical infringements.

Division 1-4
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 1 Luigi Racing
BMW 3.0 CSL		 Jean Xhenceval, B
Pierre Dieudonné, B
 3196 L6 Div. 4 123 laps, 4:01.13,8 1 1.52,06    
2 2 4? Wisell Racing Team
Chevrolet Camaro		 Rune Tobiasson, S
Rudy Host ("MacIntosh"), B
 5736 V8 Div. 4 117 9 2.03,40    
3 1 15 Autovama Firenze
Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV		 Amerigo "Joe" Bigliazzi, I
Vittorio Ciardi, I
 1985 L4 Div. 2 117 5 2.00,63    
4 3 5  
Ford Mustang		 Josef "Sepp" Reiter, D
Alfons Reiter, D
   V8 Div. 4 110 17 2.08,58    
5 2 36 Bassano Corse VI
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV		 Angelo Chiapparini, I
Carlo Franchi ("Gimax"), I
 1570 L4 Div. 2 109 12 2.04,74    
6 1 54 Bassano Corse VI
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior		 Ruggero Premoli, I
Giampiero Chiapparini, I
Bonora, I
 1290 L4 Div. 1 108 25 2.12,23    
7 3 19 Jolly Club Switzerland
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV		 Tarcisio Fornera, CH
Ruedi Franz, CH
 1962 L4 Div. 2 107 16 2.06,32    
8 4 37  
BMW 1602		 Luigi Pellanda, I
Ubaldo Smittarello, I
 1600 L4 Div. 2 104 21 2.11,12    
9 2 55 Torino Corse
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior		 Pietrino Tali, I
P.P. Pozzo, I
 1290 L4 Div. 1 102 27 2.15,18    
10 5 39 Junior Corse
Opel Ascona 16 S		 Gianpaolo Toia, I
Paolo Pozzi, I
 1584 L4 Div. 2 96 28 2.21,57    
11 6 16 Scuderia Città dei Mille
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV		 Duilio Ghislotti, I
Romeo Camathias, I
 1962 L4 Div. 2 94 13 2.04,92    
12 7 24  
BMW 2002		 Cesare Garrone, I
Antonio Vallebona, I
 1990 L4 Div. 2 93 15 2.06,25    
NC   8 Arian Automotive Developments
Mazda Savanna RX-3		 David Palmer, GB
John Markey, GB
 2 x 491 R2 Div. 3   22 2.11,38   Gearbox casing
DNF   9  
Opel Commodore GS/E Gr. 1		 Salvatore Ferlito, I
Walter Dona, I
 2784 L6 Div. 3   24 2.11,52    
DNF   21 Jolly Club
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV		 Giacomo Ricci, I
Paolo de Leonibus, I
 1962 L4 Div. 2   11 2.04,74    
DNF   32  
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV		 Alfredo Santulli, I
Mercatelli, I
 1962 L4 Div. 2   26 2.14,30    
DNF   7  
BMW 3.0 CSi		 Jean-Marie Detrin, B
Roland De Jamblinne, B
 2985 L6 Div. 3   8 2.03,17    
DNF   34 Jolly Club
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV		 Ademaro Massa, I
R. Colzani, I
Matteo Cormio, I
 1570 L4 Div. 2   18 2.09,63    
DNF   52 Scuderia Città dei Mille
Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior		 Luigi Rossi, I
Crippa, I
Giulio Rossi, I
 1290 L4 Div. 1   23 2.11,44    
DNF   18 Rodondendri
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV		 Luigi Pozzo, I
Giordano Perego, I
 1962 L4 Div. 2   7 2.02,11    
DNF   33 Scuderia Città dei Mille
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV		 Rossi, I
Crippa, I
 1570 L4 Div. 2   19 2.09,79    
DNF   35 Jolly Club
Alfa Romeo 1600 GTV		 Giancarlo Galimberti, I
Gaudenzio Uboldi, I
 1570 L4 Div. 2   10 2.03,92    
DNF   26 Derek McMahon racing
Ford Escort II RS		 Alec Poole, IRL
Juan Cochesa, YV
 1840 L4 Div. 2 30 3 1.57,71   Clutch
DNF   59 Leinberger Racing
Fiat 128 coupé 1300		 Henning Schmidt, D
Heinz Tubbesing, D
 1290 L4 Div. 1   20 2.09,82   Head gasket
DNF   3 Reine Wisell
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Reine Wisell, S
Stuart Graham, GB
 5736 V8 Div. 4 ca. 90 4 1.58,55 1.51,65 Fuel pump
DNF   27 Castrol Team Zakspeed
Ford Escort II RS		 Siegfried Müller Jr, D
Martino Finotto, I
 1840 L4 Div. 2 30 2 1.55,37   Engine
DNF   22 Franz Prentzel
BMW 2002		 Wolfgang Dimmendaal, D
Jeroen van der Ploeg, NL
Franz Prentzel, D
 1990 L4 Div. 2   6 2.01,93    
DNF   23 Faltz-Alpina Essen
BMW 2002		 Peter Ochs, D
Wolfgang Gunetsreiner, D
 1990 L4 Div. 2   14 2.05,11    

Gare Nazionale - Group 2 under 500 cc
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Italo Travagin, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 37.29,9     2.36,8  
2 2    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 "Giorda", I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 37.30,1        
3 3    
Fiat 500		 Fortuna, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 37.30,6        
4 4    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Motta, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 38.01,7        
5 5    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 ? Rosario Pezzella, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 38.43,1        
6 6    
Fiat 500		 Enzo Amighini, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 14 laps, 39.16,5        
7 7    
Fiat 500		 Chiavacci, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 13        
8 8    
Fiat 500		 Vanni, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 13        
9 9    
Fiat 500		 Scarsi, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 13        
10 10    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Vincenzo Busi, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 12        
11 11    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 "El Bravo", I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 11        
12 12    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Vincenzo Laganà, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 8        
13 13    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Giorgio Zorzi, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 8        
14 14    
Fiat Giannini 500 TV		 Aimaro, I
 499 L2 Group 2 500 7        

Gare Nazionale - Group 2 500-700 cc
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1    
Fiat Abarth 695 SS		 Antonio Padrone, I
 695 L2 Group 2 700 14 laps, 35.10,1        
2 2    
Fiat Abarth 695 SS		 Giovanni Carena, I
 695 L2 Group 2 700 14 laps, 35.10,5     2.27,6  
3 1    
Fiat Abarth 595 SS		 Guiseppe Capano, I
 594 L2 Group 2 600 14 laps, 35.35,5        
4 3    
Fiat Abarth 695 SS		 Menapace, I
 695 L2 Group 2 700 14 laps, 37.06,5        
5 4    
Fiat Abarth 695 SS		 Valente, I
 695 L2 Group 2 700 14 laps, 37.07,3        
  5    
Fiat Abarth 695 SS		 Gaina, I
 695 L2 Group 2 700 13        
  -    
Fiat Abarth 595 SS		 Luigi Laschi, I
 594 L2 Group 2 600 13        
  -    
Fiat Abarth 595 SS		 Predonzan, I
 594 L2 Group 2 600 8        
DNF      
Fiat Abarth 595 SS		 "Tibeli", I
 594 L2 Group 2 600       2.32,2  

Gare Nazionale - Group 2 700-1150 cc
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1    
Fiat 128		 Giuliano Battistini, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 14 laps, 32.25,4        
DSQ      
Fiat Giannini 128 NP		 Adriano Certini, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 14 laps, 32.28,3       Wheels larger than allowed
2 2    
Fiat 128		 Cappellini, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 14 laps, 32.28,5     2.14,8  
3 3    
Simca 1000 EC		 Gianfranco Riccitelli, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 14 laps, 33.49,8        
4 4    
Fiat 128		 Giacinto Caio, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 14 laps, 33.54,5        
5 1    
Fiat Abarth 1000 TCR		 Giampiero Gatti, I
 982 L4 Group 2 1000 14 laps, 34.55,8     2.25,1  
  5    
Fiat 128		 Luisa Fogliano, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 13        
DSQ      
Fiat Abarth 1000 TCR		 Vittorio Scala, I
 982 L4 Group 2 1000 13       Gearbox not homologated
  2    
Autobianchi A112 Abarth		 Busso, I
 982 L4 Group 2 1000 13        
  3    
NSU 1000 TTS		 Gino Trolese, I
 996 L4 Group 2 1000 13        
DSQ      
Fiat Giannini 128 NP		 Francesco Pacetta, I
 1140 L4 Group 2 1150 11       Wheels larger than allowed