The

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo, Sicily, Palermo. Founded in 1906 Targa Florio, 1906, it was the oldest sports car ra ...

was a

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motor race Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms ''automobile ...

held on the 108km Medio Circuito Madonie in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 25 April 1926. There were two separate races held simultaneously, one for up to 1100cc

Cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the ca ...

held over 3 laps for a total distance of 324km, and the main race for

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppo ...

cars over 5 laps for a total distance of 540km. The longer race also featured the 1926

Coppa Florio The Coppa Florio (or Florio Cup) was a motorsport race for automobiles first held in Italy in 1900. It was renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50,000 Lira prize money and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The cup was to be aw ...

which was open only to factory entered cars. The Cyclecar race was won by Baconin Borzacchini driving a

Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

, while the longer race and Coppa Florio were won by Meo Costantini in his factory entered

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

Report

Competitors were divided into four classes based on engine capacity. Class I were the up to 1100cc

cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the ca ...

, Class II was for cars up to 1500cc, Class III for cars up to 2000cc, and Class IV for cars over 2000cc. Cars started the race individually in order of race number, with a three minute interval between each car starting with class II, then class III, class IV and finally the class I competitors who only needed to complete 3 laps. During his first lap, 2-time Targa Florio winner Giulio Masetti's Delage overturned, severely injuring him. He died shortly afterwards. The main race was dominated by Meo Costantini's Bugatti, who lead from the start and never lost the lead, setting a fastest lap of 1 hour and 26 minutes on his fifth and final lap. Behind him, fellow factory Bugatti driver

Ferdinando Minoia Ferdinando "Nando" Minoia (2 June 1884 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian racing driver with an exceptionally long, distinguished and varied career. In 1907, he won the Coppa Florio driving an Isotta Fraschini. In 1923, he drove the world’s ...

drove to a mostly unchallenged second place. Behind them the race was much closer. After the first lap, third to eighth place were separated by less than two minutes, with Emilio Materassi's

Itala Special The Itala Special was a special custom-built Grand Prix race car, designed, developed, produced, and raced by Emilio Materassi, which competed between 1924 and 1927. It with an Isotta Fraschini chassis and Itala bodywork, and used half of an Hisp ...

in third followed by Wagner, Dubonnet, Divo, Goux and Maserati. Dubonnet and Goux charged up the order on the second lap, moving up to third and fourth places respectively, making it a Bugatti 1-2-3-4, while Materassi dropped to sixth due to a pit stop. By the end of lap three, Materassi had pushed back up to third place, while Dubonnet had dropped to seventh as he made a pitstop. Factory Delage drivers Divo and Benoist would then retire, mourning the loss of teammate Masetti. Goux was able to pass Materassi on the fourth lap, giving the Bugatti factory team a 1-2-3 which they would hold until the end, with Materassi finishing fourth, while Dubonnet was fifth, and first in Class II. After setbacks which dropped him as low as 12th, Maserati finished 8th and won Class III.

Results

1100cc Class

Targa Florio

''Entrants who competed for the Coppa Florio shown in bold.''

Sources

{{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race =

, Year_of_race = 1926 , Previous_year's_race =

1925 Targa Florio Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, Next_year's_race =

1927 Targa Florio The 1927 Targa Florio was a Grand Prix motor race held on the 108 km Medio Circuito Madonie in Sicily, Italy on the 24th of April 1927. There were two separate races held simultaneously, one for up to 1100cc Cyclecars held over 3 laps for a ...

Targa Florio