On May 16, 2012, 25 SLR Club Members, set out from Stuttgart-Untertürkheim on this year’s Mille Miglia. They headed off to join the main field of classic cars at this year’s Mille Miglia. This marks the 8th time that SLR Club members are taking part in the traditional Italian race. The exclusive field is comprised five SLR Coupés, seven Roadsters, three Roadster 722 S models and ten SLR Stirling Moss models. Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, was on hand to wave off the main field of vehicles.
This year’s Mille Miglia is taking place from May 17 to 20 and will cover a route that goes clockwise from Brescia to Rome and back, on the fabled Mille Miglia roads crossing six regions: Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Umbria and Lazio on the way down, adding Tuscany on the way back.
The 2012 route will pass through some of the most beautiful cities of Italy. Along with Brescia and Rome, the Mille Miglia will be going through Verona, Vicenza, Padova, Ferrara, Gambettola, Sansepolcro, Spoleto, on the way, and Viterbo, Siena, Firenze, Bologna, Reggio Emilia and Cremona on the way back.
New time trials will be scheduled for Umbria on the way, and also in Tuscany on the way back.
Each road has its history, its anecdotes, its traditions. The eighty some years since the first Mille Miglia have seen changes along the roadside, as has Italy, but something unchangeable and unchanging remains: the passion inspired by the Freccia Rossa, symbol of the Mille Miglia.
As with past years, Mercedes-Benz is again acting as a sponsor of the historical Italian race. The Stuttgart works team is taking part with a Mercedes-Benz SS, an SSK, and a 300 SLR (W 196 S) racing car, evoking memories of Mercedes-Benz’s great victory in the famous 1000-mile race: in 1955, Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia at the wheel of a 300 SLR in the fastest time ever achieved – their record still stands to this day.
