The Road to Success:
Pirelli’s Debut in Racing
Organised by the Automobile Club di Milano, the Carovana Automobilistica Milano-Roma was set in motion in April 1904. It was a great test for Pirelli, which fitted its Ercole tyres, the first model of which was patented in 1901, on Eisenach and Isotta Fraschini cars. The following year came the Susa-Moncenisio race: Giuseppe Tamagni’s Marchand was fitted with Pirelli tyres and had a good race, although it unfortunately ended early due to a broken gearbox. Bruno Corbetta’s Darracq fared better, coming third in Category 2, and so did Giovanni Piena’s little Peugeot Bébé, which was second in Category 3. Witnesses said they crossed the finish line “with their pneus intact”: “pneus Pirelli”, of course.
Ever since the dawn of motor racing, the Long P logo has been part of the action. March 1906 saw the first Settimana Automobilistica di Sanremo, in which Tamagni, again in his Marchand with Ercole tyres, took top spot in Category 1. This was Pirelli’s first real victory in motor racing. 1907 marked the start of a mammoth international undertaking: the Itala with Pirelli tyres triumphed in the Peking-Paris Motor Race. The sensational feat became headline news and the following year Pirelli took on the New York-Paris – almost right round the world – fitting out Emilio “Giulio” Sirtori’s Züst. At his side was the journalist Antonio Scarfoglio of Il Mattino of Naples. The race went from coast to coast, from New York to San Francisco, and then up to Alaska, before crossing the ocean and, from Siberia, reaching all the way to the finish in Paris.
Alberto Pirelli was there on the morning of 12 July 1913, at the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, where Jacques Boillot was not among the favourites and yet was the first to cross the finish line on the Picardie Circuit. The runner-up was Louis Goux: both of them in Peugeots with “Pneumatiques Pirelli”. 1913 was an amazing year: from the Gulf of Palermo to the hairpin bends of the Madonie, the Targa Florio was a furious challenge for the drivers and for their cars and equipment. Felice Nazzaro took the podium, winning aboard his Pirelli-tyred Fiat. On the same day, Boillot triumphed in the speed race at the Meeting de la Sarthe at Le Mans. Pirelli clocked up victory after victory in car racing across the world and the history of Pirelli became intertwined with that of a track that is now preparing to celebrate its first century: the Monza racing circuit.
Organised by the Automobile Club di Milano, the Carovana Automobilistica Milano-Roma was set in motion in April 1904. It was a great test for Pirelli, which fitted its Ercole tyres, the first model of which was patented in 1901, on Eisenach and Isotta Fraschini cars. The following year came the Susa-Moncenisio race: Giuseppe Tamagni’s Marchand was fitted with Pirelli tyres and had a good race, although it unfortunately ended early due to a broken gearbox. Bruno Corbetta’s Darracq fared better, coming third in Category 2, and so did Giovanni Piena’s little Peugeot Bébé, which was second in Category 3. Witnesses said they crossed the finish line “with their pneus intact”: “pneus Pirelli”, of course.
Ever since the dawn of motor racing, the Long P logo has been part of the action. March 1906 saw the first Settimana Automobilistica di Sanremo, in which Tamagni, again in his Marchand with Ercole tyres, took top spot in Category 1. This was Pirelli’s first real victory in motor racing. 1907 marked the start of a mammoth international undertaking: the Itala with Pirelli tyres triumphed in the Peking-Paris Motor Race. The sensational feat became headline news and the following year Pirelli took on the New York-Paris – almost right round the world – fitting out Emilio “Giulio” Sirtori’s Züst. At his side was the journalist Antonio Scarfoglio of Il Mattino of Naples. The race went from coast to coast, from New York to San Francisco, and then up to Alaska, before crossing the ocean and, from Siberia, reaching all the way to the finish in Paris.
Alberto Pirelli was there on the morning of 12 July 1913, at the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, where Jacques Boillot was not among the favourites and yet was the first to cross the finish line on the Picardie Circuit. The runner-up was Louis Goux: both of them in Peugeots with “Pneumatiques Pirelli”. 1913 was an amazing year: from the Gulf of Palermo to the hairpin bends of the Madonie, the Targa Florio was a furious challenge for the drivers and for their cars and equipment. Felice Nazzaro took the podium, winning aboard his Pirelli-tyred Fiat. On the same day, Boillot triumphed in the speed race at the Meeting de la Sarthe at Le Mans. Pirelli clocked up victory after victory in car racing across the world and the history of Pirelli became intertwined with that of a track that is now preparing to celebrate its first century: the Monza racing circuit.
