In March this year, I was lucky enough to plan a short trip to Milan, with the hope of visiting Monza, home to the Italy’s Ferrari and land of the Tifosi. This is every Ferrari fan’s dream and is a definite must for any racing fan. The Monza circuit is one of the oldest racing circuits along with Silverstone and provides some exhilarating action with the highest speeds possible along the straights and heavy braking on tricky chicanes. The circuit has a rich history and some of the best racing drivers the world has ever known have raced here. This is one day I will never forget…

Monza is situated about 10Km North of Milan in Italy’s Lombardy District. There are many ways to get to Italy, by road, train, or flight. I chose to fly with budget airline Buzz (see opinion - if further details required). If you are flying, the nearest city to fly to is Milan. Milan has two airports, Malpensa and Linate. Linate is the city airport and this is the nearest airport to city of Milan and Monza. I decided to stay in Milan, which has an abundance of Hotels to suit any pocket. My Hotel was near the Stazione Centrale (railway station), so I was within easy travelling distance to many locations. I made a short train journey (about 20 minutes) to Monza on a Sunday afternoon. The ticket costs 2,700 IL which is about 90p for a single trip, (approx 3000IL = £1).

I initially thought the Monza race circuit would be within walking distance from Monza train station. However, after speaking to a few locals they pointed out that it is too far to walk and directed us to the nearest bus stop. Luckily, we met a very smart Army cadet who could speak some English and was heading the same direction as the Monza circuit. He guided us onto the right bus, and told us where to get off. One point to mention about travelling in buses in Italy on a Sunday is you must purchase your bus tickets in advance – we didn’t know that and boarded the bus without a ticket!

The Monza racing Circuit (Autodromo di Monza) is situated in the centre of a royal Park; which is known to be one of the largest parks in Europe. It covers an area of 7300sq. metres and contains polo fields, tennis courts and even an 18-hole golf course and masses of woodland. The first building that hits you straight away upon approach to the park is a very impressive Palace like building known as Villa Reale, which had housed royal families, but in recent times, it is used for exhibitions and art collections. Trekking through the courtyards and private residents back yards I found myself finally in Monza Park. I think you gathered I missed the main entrance to this Park and obviously got off the bus too early.

The original track was built in 1922, which provided a high-speed track with a dangerous banked oval section. The oval banked part was removed in the 1960’s after some serious accidents. Since then many modifications have been made to the track to take into account current F1 regulations, re-designing chicanes in a bid to slow speeds down and improve safety. Though with modern technology of today and technical developments the cars are just getting faster and faster.

At the start drivers are presented with a long straight stretch where F1 cars will be doing speeds of up to 215mph and driving flat out only to brake heavily down to about 55mph on approach to the tough 1st chicane, this is one point one can see a lot of cars spin out. On approach to the 2nd Chicane Curva Grande cars are seen accelerating with speeds of up to 190mph on leaving the speed is 200mph. The 2nd chicane is where race marshal Paolo Ghislimberti lost his life after flying tyre and debris following a multiple car accident in the 2000 Grand Prix. The next major chicane is the Curva Di Lesmo the first part cars take at about 100mph downshifting to 3rd/4th gears and the second part of the corner is taken slower in 3rd gear. After the Lesmo is long straight downhill stretch reaching speeds of 205mph through partly dark track due to heavy forest on either side. The next chicane to approach is the famous Ascari chicane, where speeds drop to about 85mph on entering and accelerate back up to 100mph. The next major chicane is the Curva Parabolica, which is a very LONG right hand turn, almost like a ‘U’ turn and completes the circuit. This is where Ascari died in 1955 after an accident during testing.

Watching the series of cars braking hard and downshifting on approach to this winding bend almost a U –shaped Curva Parabolica was fun. Although this was not a F1 race, so the speeds were slower, the sound and action was very enjoyable. Cones where placed on approach to the bend, which the cars had to manoeuvre around, some cars knocked over the cones..this just gave the marshal plenty of work to do till the cars came round again! Each time the cars came around, some knocked the cones over giving the marshal something to do, other times while waiting for the cars to come round again we had views of the marshal relieving himself, much to the applaud of the crowd!

Ticket Prices ~

Overall, Monza is a stunning fast racing circuit enriched in history, style, and passion for Motorsport; it is a definite must for any racing fan. Even if you don’t enjoy Motorsport, so much you wont be disappointed as the circuit is situated in acres of forested park. The town of Monza is small and charming and if that doesn’t appeal them the Fashion capital of the World, Milan is only 20 minutes away.