The Autodromo di Monza Part Two: Alta Velocità Magic

For those of you who didn’t read part one of my Monza adventure http://lovelifeandferrari.blogspot.com/2012/02/autodromo-di-monza-part-one-perilous.html I decided to visit the legendary Autodromo di Monza for the very first time this summer. After hitting a few humorous bumps along the way, I finally found myself on the pit lane side of the track and my Monza experience truly began.

Although I was standing right beside the pit lane, I decided to try and find the famous Alta Velocità banking before doing anything else. The Pista di Alta Velocità is surely towards the top of every Formula 1 fan’s list of must-see places. At some point we have all watched racing documentaries where various presenters struggled to climb the steep banking and secretly told ourselves that we could reach the top easily. Call it the ultimate armchair enthusiast’s challenge, being able to say that you too have conquered the Alta Velocità banking comes with major bragging rites amongst fellow fanatics. Of course, this is just the superficial reason for wanting to visit the historic relic.

To the average person, the Pista di Alta Velocità is little more than a decaying piece of track with incredibly steep sides. In fact the city of Monza itself has threatened numerous times to have the banking destroyed in order to make way for new developments in the park. As a Formula 1 enthusiast, I find this idea almost sacrilegious as the Pista di Alta Velocità, which stopped hosting Grand Prix after 1961, is a physical reminder of the courage and talent that it took to be a race car driver during the sport’s infancy. Here is a video link to give you some idea of what drivers who tackled it were facing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QDWj1IRQc

I had read that the best place to get onto the banking was at the first corner. The Pista di Alta Velocità intercepts the modern-day Formula 1 circuit at this point and it is only a short distance away from the pit lane. As I walked amongst the woods around the track, the sounds of nature surrounded me. Birds chirped happily, bees buzzed about noisily and I became an all-you-can-eat buffet for a gang on hungry mosquitoes. At this point my stomach began to growl like an angry beast and I also was in desperate need of the facilities. Sweating, starving and now covered in mosquito bites, I was contemplating turning around when finally I arrived at the grandstand that overlooks the first corner. Much to my amusement I immediately noticed a large path that was both free of overgrown bushes and mosquitoes. Surely taking it would have been much easier than clambering through the woods on my quest to find the Alta Velocità banking. Oh well, at least no one can ever accuse me of not being committed.

As I approached the grandstand, it was not immediately obvious where the Pista di Alta Velocità began. I climbed up onto it, hoping to get a better view and then suddenly it became obvious to me, the Pista di Alta Velocità passed directly beside the foot the grandstand itself. When I looked down, there it was! I felt triumphant and took a million photographs as I excitedly rushed onto the old circuit for the first time.

The thing that instantly struck me was just how high the banking really is. Photos and films do not really do it justice and it is in fact so steep in some places that it appears to be almost vertical. I was only able to get just over halfway to the top and I did it mostly by shuffling on my bottom awkwardly. I have no idea how on earth classic Formula 1 cars managed to negotiate it at racing speed and it is no wonder that the Pista di Alta Velocità’s demise was due to its dangerous nature. Looking upon its weathered surface invoked images of the great men who lost their lives at the Autodromo di Monza and the banking harboured a ghostly presence. Maybe the only reason for this was because the area was spookily still and quiet, but personally I think that it is the circuit’s history of tragedy that gives its silence meaning. As I wandered along the banking, I took a moment to pay my respects to men like Alberto Ascari and Wolfgang Von Trips. The rusted metal siding creaked from time to time in the wind and I couldn’t help but feel that if there is such a thing as ghosts, many of them haunt the Autodromo where their mortal lives ended.

After soaking up the Autodromo di Monza’s history, I decided to make my way back to the pit lane to see where the modern-day magic happens. As I approached the entrance, I noticed a collection of small stores selling Formula 1 merchandise as well as a café that was open. Although I had momentarily forgotten about my hunger with the discovery of the Pista di Alta Velocità, it suddenly became unbearable and I went inside the little café to see if I could buy something to eat. On the walls were photos of Ferraris and several people were watching a small television screen in the corner. I ordered a pizza in broken Italian and the man behind the counter became instantly fascinated. Where was I from and why was a woman exploring the Autodromo all by herself in the middle of July? When I mentioned that I was a tifosa from Canada the man became extremely animated, he was a huge Ferrari fan and loved Gilles Villeneuve. After talking for a long time, he disappeared into the back room and emerged carrying a small bundle of Monza merchandise. Apparently meeting someone with as much passion as I have is a rarity and he wanted me to have some souvenirs to remember my day at the circuit. I absolutely loved the fact that the employees at the Autodromo di Monza were enthusiastic about racing and especially Ferrari. Talking to someone who understood what it was like to have a life-long obsession with the scarlet red cars was one of the highlights of my trip.

After finishing my pizza and saying goodbye to the café tifoso, I made my way to the Monza pit lane. Although it was obviously less colourful then it is during a race weekend, I still had a fun time wandering around and checking out the view that the team personnel have of the grandstands on the other side. I even managed to climb on to a marshal’s post near the start/finish line and took some wonderful photos of the phantom grid.

As the sun sunk lower in the sky, I decided to bid farewell to the Autodromo di Monza, at least for that particular day. What started off as a shaky excursion had ended up turning into the perfect afternoon and I would definitely recommend a visit to the circuit during any time of the year.

On a side note, if you are interested in the plight of the Pista di Alta Velocità, there is an online petition that can be signed by those who would like to see it saved and even restored. http://www.petitiononline.com/petitions/m0nz4/signatures? Let’s conserve this amazing piece of Formula 1 history for future generations!

The Autodromo di Monza Part One: A Perilous Journey

If you are a fan of Formula 1 or even motorsports in general, chances are the name Monza gives you goose bumps. Of all the circuits in the world, the picturesque Italian track is one of only four that have featured in the World Championship since its inception and of those four, it is arguably the greatest. It is at Monza that both the beauty and tragedy of motor racing collide and the circuit invokes the emotion of passion like nowhere else.

For those of you tifosi who have always fantasized about attending a Grand Prix weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, I can tell you from experience that it is every bit as fantastic as you can imagine. The history, the atmosphere and yes of course, the racing, are all well worth the 250 Euros that it will cost you to purchase a decent seat. But what if your holiday in Italy brings you within close proximity of the track on one of the other 362 days of the year? Is making the pilgrimage to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in the ‘off-season’ a good idea? This summer, I determined to answer that question when I began my journey to view the legendary circuit for the very first time.

When it comes to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, getting there is about three quarters of the battle. The circuit’s name is in itself rather misleading since it implies that it is located inside the town of Monza when in fact it is situated on the outskirts, nestled within the enormous Monza Park. Although one can reach the track by foot from the Monza train station, do not fool yourself into thinking that it will be just a leisurely stroll down the block. The walk will take you over an hour in total and you will be an exhausted, sweat-coated mess by the time that you reach your destination. While it is possible to travel to the Autodromo di Monza by taking a bus from Monza station (the Z221, departs just up the hill from the exit of the station), the less-complicated route, which is also the one recommended on the Autodromo’s official website, involves disembarking the train at Biassono-Lesmo station and walking a short way to join the Lesmo area of the circuit.

Being almost hopeless with directions, I elected to follow the website’s advice. It seemed straightforward enough and indeed most people would have likely arrived at their destination as planned. Unfortunately for me, I am not most people and when the train that I was travelling on made an unscheduled stop right before Biassono-Lesmo, I got off only to realise that I was in Buttafava as the doors slammed shut. Standing on the platform, I lamented my mistake as the train pulled away and quickly realised that there was no sign of life for miles around, aside from a very noisy bird and several bemused goats. Reluctantly I started walking along a nearby gravel road. With the scorching July sun beating down upon me and only half a bottle of water remaining, I surmised that it was going to be a very long day.

Thankfully after only a few minutes a car pulled up alongside me and a friendly Italian woman asked where I was going and if I needed a ride. Now, normally I would never accept a ride from a stranger but in this case, I figured that if she wanted to murder me and feast upon my carcass, she could easily do so regardless of whether I got into her car or kept walking aimlessly along the gravel road. Luckily for me the woman was not a homicidal maniac and she took me as close as she could to the circuit before letting me out and even gifted me a map of the park. Who knows how long it would have taken me to walk to The Autodromo from Buttafava if she had not been kind enough to pick me up. I was truly grateful!

The woman had dropped me off at the campground entrance to Monza Park. This is the entrance that is closest to the pit lane and it was the perfect place to begin my tour of the circuit. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to get past the multiple layers of fencing that prevented me from making my way close to the track and started to wonder if I would even be allowed to get that far. The park was bustling with activity and yet most of the visitors seemed to be locals enjoying their day, no one seemed to be interested in the Autodromo itself. Not one to be easily deterred, I patrolled the perimeter. This was Monza, home of the tifosi, surely there had to be a human-sized hole in the fence somewhere! After only a short time looking, I hit the jackpot. A small hole had been torn into the side of the fencing and I managed to contort my body through the narrow gap, eventually ending up on the ground. I already felt as though I had been through an epic adventure even though I hadn’t so much as looked upon the hallowed Monza tarmac. After returning to my feet and adjusting my trousers in an unladylike manner, I walked towards the giant grandstands before me and finally caught my first glimpse of the Autodromo di Monza.

There was something quite eerie about the empty seats around me and as I explored the area, taking pictures from different vantage points, I felt as though I was the only person left on earth. Soon curiosity took over and I longed to venture to the other side with the hope of wandering the pitlane and making it onto the fabled Alta Velocita banking. Surveying the grass beside the circuit, I noticed a passageway that seemed to lead under the track. There were no signs, but I assumed that following it would take me to the pit lane. The passage was dimly lit and I felt a little uneasy entering it, after all who knew what or who was lurking within its depths. Still, I figured, making traditionally unsound decisions seemed to be the theme of the day and so I took a deep breathe and began my descent into the passage.

Once I was inside, the passage became a lot less creepy than it initially seemed and there were even yellow lines that had been painted on the floor, pointing people in the right direction. When I emerged on the other side, I was indeed right behind the pit lane just as I had hoped to be. I smiled to myself as I overlooked the empty lot where the Formula 1 paddock normally resides. The real adventure was finally about to begin.

To be continued…

Be sure to check out my blog tomorrow for part two of my Monza adventure.