F1 | 100 years of the Monza National Autodrome celebrated

A great party, an unmissable occasion. Today, Saturday 3 September, the first hundred years of the Monza National Autodrome were celebrated in the region hall of the racetrack, or rather, the first day of the new century. In fact, exactly 100 years ago, the first competition took place inside the brand new Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Since September 3, 1922, at the instigation of the Milan branch of the Automobile Club, Italian motorsport has found its home.

One hundred years later, authorities and fans gathered around the Temple of Speed ​​to celebrate its historic anniversary and its unchanged projection into the future. An innovator right from its origins, it was in fact the third fixed facility built in the world, the Autodromo has kept all its innovative characteristics intact, projecting itself today with absolute vigour, having just completed its first hundred years, into the future as he underlined in his speech the president of the Automobile Club of Italy Engineer Angelo Sticchi Damiani: “The pride with which we are preparing to celebrate the first 100 years of the Monza Autodrome is extraordinary. 100 years as a protagonist of world motorsport and symbol of Italian motoring, of its ability and competitiveness. The Monza circuit is not just an asphalt track, it is the life, the history, the epic of many men and women who, challenging themselves on it, as drivers, builders, designers, technicians, mechanics, have fueled our passion and contributed to the technological progress of our cars. With these celebrations we pay homage to all this and launch the Monza Autodrome towards the next equally extraordinary 100 years."

The Autodromo is therefore a suspended bridge between the past, the present and above all the future, which will see it as an increasingly protagonist in the world of motoring and in its own territory. A beautiful celebration that began in the morning with the descent of a group of athletes from the parachuting sports activities department of the Italian Army who handed over the flag celebrating the 100 years of the Autodromo into the hands of the ACI President Angelo Sticchi Damiani, a gesture highly symbolic as underlined by the words of Giuseppe Redaelli, President of Autodromo Nazionale Monza: “We organized a celebratory event in grand style to adequately celebrate the hundred years of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, highlighting two souls that coexist on the circuit: history and passion. The ceremony will open on the straight where the greatest champions of international motorsport have raced and will continue to race. The paratroopers of the Italian Army will deliver three flags to the authorities present that represent tradition and propensity for the future. In fact, September 3rd is not a finish line but a starting point towards a future even richer in activities in which the Autodromo will not only remain the temple of sport but will also be that of innovation, with the ability it has always had to look with foresight towards the future. It will be the fans of tomorrow who will discover what has been done in these first hundred years through a physical time capsule that we will keep at the Autodromo and a virtual one open to anyone who wants to contribute their own memories. I want to imagine that even in 2122 when two centuries of life of the Temple of Speed ​​will be celebrated, probably in other forms, there will be other enthusiasts like us who will take the baton from the past and carry it into the future".

The celebrations then continued with a happening masterfully hosted by Carlo Cavicchi, the historic voice of Italian motoring. A story opened with the auspicious greeting via video from the Deputy Minister of the MISE, the Senator Gilberto Pichetto Fratin continued by showing, with an exciting video montage, the future implementations of the racetrack. A two-voice presentation with the President of ACI retracing together with Cavicchi anecdotes and stories from the 100 years of the racetrack. An exciting and engaging ride, but with space to also present the numerous initiatives planned for the anniversary.

Among the main ones, the minting of a commemorative coin with a high symbolic value, the minting mold of which was then donated to President Sticchi, presented by Professor Antonio Palma, President of the State Printing and Mint Institute: “Exactly 100 years after the day in which the temple of speed hosted the first race in 1922, the State Printing and Mint Institute dedicates a coin and a stamp to this icon of Italy in the world. Each piece of the numismatic collection is unique and represents an important celebratory moment: each coin contributes to passing on, enhancing and sealing the historical memory of our country. The Monza Autodrome is a symbol of Italianness and celebrating the centenary of the circuit which represents the history of Formula One was a must. For a century now, cars have been racing along the straights of this circuit and are the visible symbol of evolution and change. A tribute meant to signify a stage, a thin thread that links past, present and future."

Emotion and applause also for another symbolic initiative, the issuing of the commemorative stamp dedicated to the Centenary with the related philatelic cancellation carried out by Doctor Giovanni Accusani representing Poste Italiane directly on stage, in the presence of all the guests.

“Poste Italiane is pleased to participate in the celebrations of the centenary of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, - declared Giovanni Accusani, North-West Macro Area Manager for the Private Market of Poste Italiane - a historic car circuit that over the years has seen great drivers and great teams compete and today a stamp has been dedicated to it. The Autodromo is a place that represents Italy in the world and which attracts hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts and fans every year, and the stamp issued today freezes in time an absolute excellence for sport and the Italian economic system".

The representatives of the territory could not be missing, with the greetings of the regional councilor Fabrizio Sala and the warm greeting of the Mayor of Monza Paolo Pilotto, to seal the indissoluble bond between the circuit and the territory. In the evening at 19.00 pm, weather permitting, the Guardia Di Finanza musical band will be busy on the starting grid with its fantastic repertoire and will conclude the celebrations, as always with the national anthem. The National Autodrome of Monza has turned 100 years old, in 100 years the emotions of today preserved by the specially prepared timecapsule will return to light to reveal, to our posterity, what the national autodrome was and what it is. There is still one year for all of us to leave our memories, our emotions relating to the circuit on the site www.monzacento.it which will fuel the time capsule for an entire year before consigning it to history, a history to which the most prestigious of the world's autodromes rightfully belongs: the Monza national circuit.