VINTAGE RACING IS BEST RACING

Drivers are already in their cars, helmets on, both hands firmly on the steering wheel, their immutable gaze concentrated forward. Mechanics moving around the cars like in a thousand times reversed choreography, executing the last checks before giving the “good to go” sign of approval. Engines are fired up, making every single hair stand up,  and also making you wonder for a moment if these history-laden walls will withstand the powerful and deep reverberations. 

It’s an adrenaline rush like never experienced before. The Alfas are leaving the intimacy of the paddocks and are rushing out in the open, on the big straight with its iconic muretto separating the even more iconic grandstand marked in huge capital letters: MONZA.

And then it hits you: this is the Temple of Speed, and for all of us forever infatuated with the myth of the Biscione it doesn’t get better than this.

We’re in Monza for the Peroni Race Weekend together with OKP Racing Club and their partners Alfa Delta, attending the inaugural leg of the 2021 season of Alfa Revival Cup. The championship, now on its 10th edition, is open to vintage GT and Touring Alfa Romeos built between 1947 and 1981. The cars are divided into different classes according to their period,  category and engine size, allowing gentleman drivers to leverage with only their talent and with the mechanics zeal the otherwise relatively similarly calibrated weaponry.

A good fifth of the 30 cars lined up at the start belong to OKP Alfa Delta Racing Team: the Bavarian company’s founding partners Ondrak Chistian and Mathias Körber are driving a 1971 GTA 1300 Junior, respectively a 1970 GTAm, while their sons Niclas and Fabian are proving how the future of vintage racing is in good hand by running on even more venerable Alfas: a 1965 Giulia Ti respectively a 1962 Giulietta SZ. Roberto Restelli, head of Alfa Delta, whose team is responsible for the pre-race set up and race assistance, is here with a Gr. 4 1968 Giulia Sprint GTA. Joining the ranks are also Zamuner Fabrizio and Bachofen Peter on 1968 built GTA and GTAm. If in real life getting up close to a GTA or a GTAm is like meeting a unicorn, here are a bunch of them, doing brilliantly what they’ve always been supposed to do: no holding back racing. Yes, these guys really put their money where their mouth is, and their company name becomes self explanatory. It may seem crezy and irrational, but history does teach us that selling street cars (or in this case parts) only to finance a racing programme can be a successful recipe.

 As gentlemanly as this series is, it’s still serious business. Almost defying physics and most surely their age, these Biscioni are reaching speeds of well over 200 km/h, running on 102 octane FIA approved fuel. Occasionally on two wheels. But the fight for grip doesn't always end well - a beautiful Gt. 5 Alfetta GTV crashed in qualifying. Another GTV rushed furiously to the pits, with jets of smoke coming out from under the hood. In total, 6 cars withdrew from the race, a reminder that Monza is a most demanding circuit, with engines running at the very limit for the most time spent on track, and brakes put to momentous stress. It takes skill and dedication and maybe even a bit of Quadrifoglio magic to bring home a good result, and this is what Mathias Körber flawlessly did, finishing third in his white/gold GTAm.

There’s no alfista out there who hasn’t cried already “Make Alfa Romeo race again.” They, and maybe even the powers to be, should look no further than this series: the hall of fame of Alfa GT and Touring racing, where the partecipants are the very people which succesfully fused the spirit of Biscione into their livelihood and very beeing.

Photography by Daniela Pirnbaum.