La Pelligrino in Sicilia, Part 1

By Patricia Lee Yongue, Associate Professor of English, University of Houston

Photos by Dr. Giuseppe Valenza

Alitalia Flight 1785 from Rome, June 8, scooted neatly--and on time--into Palermo, Sicily's small Punta Rais International Airport. It was a short flight, but I was thoroughly enjoying the luxurious seat and leg room afforded every passenger. I inhaled the view as the aircraft swooped low over the clear blue Tyrrhenian Sea and hit land.

Excited as I was about the XVI Giro di Sicilia-Targa Florio historics race, to which I had been invited by the Veteran Car Club Panoramus, the race's organizers since 1999, I admit to a moment's hesitation. Le Mans, Goodwood, the Mille Miglia were familiar events in familiar countries. I knew the original Targa Florio academically, from my research on Czech Elizabeth Junek, the first woman to complete the Targa. She raced to a fifth place finish in 1928, in her yellow Bugatti T35B. Despite Junek's extensive notes describing the grueling Medio Cicuito Madonie, which I knew by heart, Sicily itself was beyond my ken. My friends offered no encouragement, in fact were dubious.

What had I got myself into?

Map of Sicily in hand, our intrepid correspondent goes forth.

I had met members of the Giro-Targa Committee at Retromobile in Paris, at the club's fabulous stand, centered always around a representative winning race car from the vintage Targa Florio years--Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, etc. Unlike the cramped quarters of most Retro stands, the Giro-Targa stand was spacious and colorful. Large pots of live lemon and orange trees that committee executives themselves transported from Sicily lined the automotive exhibit. Sicilian wines, cheeses, breads, and marinated olives and tomatoes were served to guests. It was hospitality unmatched.

But that was Paris.

Nonetheless, on June 8, I dragged my inflight bag down the steep porta-steps of the aircraft and out into the burning Sicilian sunlight. Halfway to the terminal, I turned wistfully to look back at Alitalia. And I am glad I did. The unexpected sight of the white, green, and red plane propped blithely against a huge brown mountain, itself flanked by the bluest of skies and seas, was more stunning than any photograph of it could possibly be. I trekked happily to the terminal, surrendering to the experience I had so generously been invited to have.

Ragusa Ibla, one of the cities on the Targa route, southwest of Syracuse.

My host in Paris and Palermo, Dr. Giuseppe Valenza, one of the busy Giro-Targa organizers and author of its catalogue, took the time to meet me at the airport. Courtesy and attentiveness to each participant and guest is a mark of the VCCP, a volunteer group of Sicilian and Italian business and professional men and women and other enthusiasts, including a princess or two. The day after the finale of one Giro-Targa race, and regularly throughout the year, the committee assembles to plan and publicize the next event. During the race they remain tireless, as they cater freely to everyone’s needs and requests. The more well-known Mille Miglia is orchestrated from conception to marketing to finish by a paid company.

In Palermo, food is served before the start.

Having given me two kisses, one on each cheek, and retrieved my overloaded suitcases, Dr. Valenza piled us into a spiffy new Alfa Romeo coupe and took to the road. Expecting a routine trip to the hotel, I learned fear. All the while he was introducing me to Palermo and talking about the upcoming race with gusto, Dr. Valenza was calmly careening through the crowded, narrow, twisty streets in a style that would unhinge New York City cabbies. It was, I discovered when I had the nerve to open my eyes again, identical to other drivers'. But we made it to the genial San Paolo Palace hotel, where we Targa folk would spend our first night--alive, if we were lucky.

"You have twenty minutes to refresh," Dr. Valenza said, nonplussed. "I will finish some errands, pick up Vic Elford, then return to take you to the dock. We’ll watch the cars unload off the ferry at 6:30 pm."

Twenty minutes? For errands and another pick up? This was speed, Sicilian style.

In twenty minutes, Dr. Valenza piled me once again into the Alfa and off we caromed eventually into the mob of traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, awaiting the ferry from Genoa. "La Superba" is a massive, year-old craft jammed with passengers, eighteen wheelers, buses, and all sorts of other service and private vehicles.

Classical Jam. Jorge Ferreira Basso guides the Alfa of Hugo Belcastro through the maze.

The ten cars in the first Targa Florio, held May 5, 1906, had arrived by ferry from Genoa. Today we were waiting for some 65 cars and more than 100 drivers from 10 countries.

This was history.

Darn! I had left my camera at the hotel. No matter, Danny Soukup, motorsport film-maker, Dino owner, and the only other American among the Targa entourage, would get photos. Besides, I was too busy dodging Vespas to take photos. Danny was in Palermo to film a documentary on honoree Vic Elford, one-time Alfa racer and 1968 Targa Florio winner (in a Porsche 907). Danny was one of our version of the paparazzi. He was joined by a team of film-makers from Paris and numerous Italian and local television and newspaper reporters, all giving the Vespas and police a run for their money, as everyone jockeyed for position during a lengthy wait. Finally, an exuberant Danny yelled to me that THE cars were descending. That they were, spilling out from "La Superba" like warriors from the Trojan Horse.

This was, as the ancient poets wrote, mirabile dictu, a marvel to relate.

First off the ramp, ex-Formula 1 racer Clay Regazzoni's sparkling red 1969 Ferrari Daytona said it all. Regazzoni, like Elford one of the honored guests, drove the entire race in the Daytona, which is modified to accommodate his special physical needs. Partially paralyzed from a crash in a Long Beach, California, race, Regazzoni now actively promotes his educational programs and school for drivers with physical disabilities.

Oldest car entered in the 2004 Targa Retro was this 1907 Mercedes 45 CV of Juri Jacques and Juri Alexandre, both from France.

The oldest of the official entrants, a 1907 Mercedes (45 cv), as large as the Daytona was small, appeared soon after. Then, interspersed among the street vehicles, as they would be for much of the race, the rest of the grand marque representatives emerged: Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Ferrari, Bugatti, Jaguar, Porsche, Lotus, Maserati, MG, Bentley, Triumph, Sunbeam, Fiat, Riley, Lagonda, Abarth, Austin Healey, Bizzarini, Morgan, Talbot, McLaren, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette, and a 1974 Lancia Stratos, gleaming in yellow and black. I was glad to see that the Stratos held no grudges.

Much like the Targas of yore, a Sunbeam Tiger, Ferrari GTO, and a Lancia Stratos. The GTO was piloted by the team of Williams/Williams.

After all, it was a Stratos that came in second to Porsche in 1973, the final race of the regular competition Targa Florio.

The 2004 Giro di Sicilia-Targa Florio had begun.