Tazio Nuvolari at the 1930 Monza Grand Prix

The Monza Grand Prix (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Gran Premio di Monza'') was an automobile race held at the

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza The Monza Circuit ( Italian: ; ) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Euro ...

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

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 ...

. Following the terrible accident during the 1928 Italian Grand Prix, where Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators lost their lives, the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

was cancelled in 1929 and 1930. Not wanting to abandon racing at the Monza track completely, the Monza Grand Prix was held as a substitute during these years. Even when the Italian Grand Prix returned to the racing calendar, the Monza Grand Prix was retained as a separate event. The competition was typically divided into three short (~30 minutes) heats according to engine size, one

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

and a longer final. The 1933 event was to be known as the Black Sunday, due to 3 top drivers (

Giuseppe Campari Giuseppe Campari (8 June 1892 – 10 September 1933) was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver. Racing career Born near the city of Lodi southwest of Milan, as a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile com ...

, Baconin Borzacchini and

Stanisław Czaykowski Count Stanisław Michel Frederic Marie Czaykowski, also known as Stanislas Czaykowski and Stanislaus Czaykowski (10 June 1899 – 10 September 1933) was a Polish Grand Prix motor racing driver. In 1930 Grand Prix season, 1930 and 1933 Grand Prix ...

) getting killed in two separate accidents at the south banking of the high speed loop. The racing world was stunned and this spelled the end, not only for the Monza Grand Prix, but also for Monza's original 10 km circuit. The Italian Grand Prix continued on during the following years, using a number of different layouts, with chicanes put in to slow down the speed. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the ''Gran Premio dell'Autodromo di Monza'' was run in five editions between 1948 and 1952. The first of these was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race and the rest

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

. None of them counted towards the World Championship. The race was resumed in 1980, when the Italian F1 Grand Prix was raced in "Dino Ferrari" circuit in Imola, a

race was arranged. Today, the Italian Grand Prix is sometimes referred to as "the Monza Grand Prix" since it is so closely associated with the Monza track.

Winners of the Monza Grand Prix

These are the winners of the Monza Grands Prix.

References

{{reflist Pre-World Championship Grands Prix Auto races in Italy

Winners of the Monza Grand Prix

See also

References