Mum guides son to second Targa victory... in an 1100cc Fiat

| 22 Oct 2012

A 1957 Fiat 1100 humbled a 135-strong field of diverse and rally-prepared exotics to win the Targa Florio Classic component of this year’s Eco Targa Florio from 11-13 October.

Giordano Mozzi won the 977km retrospective Targa tribute for the second time running after amassing a mere 423.44 points.

He was just 196 points ahead of the Jaguar XK120 driven by Marco Gatta and Mara Pelizzari while Eugenio Picccinelli and Ottorino Pellini brought their 1954 Triumph TR2 home after racking up just 629.86 points.

Top scorer in the Ferrari Tribute – the dedicated marque-only event that ran alongside the Targa Florio Classic – was a 1992 Ferrari 512 TR piloted by Gino Verghini and Lamberto Fuso.

The pair clocked up 675 points and were comfortably ahead of Enrico Zobele and Ivana Trentinaglia Zobele, who finished with almost double the points.

Mozzi’s victory in the classic event came thanks to the efforts of his mother Irene Guarnieri who rode as navigator in the 1957 Fiat, which was totally standard.

“Last year I won in my 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans but this year my mum needed to be comfortable,” said Mozzi who bought the suicide door saloon five years ago from its second owner.

Also taking part were several famous names including 1968 Targa winner Vic Elford and Gijs van Lennep – who won in 1974 and took part this year in a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder – while two-time Targa hero Arturo Merzario (two below) was behind the wheel of a 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 ti.

His 1975-winning Alfa Romeo T33 (two above) was on display at the start of the event at the beginning of the original Targa circuit.

And there were plenty of cars with a connection to the famous Sicilian mountain course including Simon Kidston’s recently acquired ex-works 1964 Austin-Healey 3000 which was competing for the first time since 1965.

“It was driven by Timo Makinen and Paul Hawkins but they lost time after an ignition problem and Hawkins ran back to get a spare only to be told there was one in the car,” explained Kidston who bought the car at this year’s Goodwood Revival. “They still managed to come second in their class.”

Other ex-works cars included John and Rutger Houtkamp’s 1955 Jaguar XK140 Roadster which took part in the hands of the 1955 Mille Miglia in the hands of Alpine winner Ian Appleyard.

The Dutchman finished sixth with 752.08 points and ahead of 11th-placed Argentinians Juan and Alberto Tonconogy, who were in the lead after the first day before being held up by clutch problems in their 1927 Bugatti Type 40.