THE GREATEST DRIVE? From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
Fifty years ago this week, on May 1st 1955, the racing driver Stirling Moss, accompanied by a bespectacled and bearded journalist, Denis Jenkinson, became the only British driver ever to win one of motor racing's greatest challenges, the Mille Miglia. The bald fact of their achievement is totally inadequate to describe the measure of their achievement for this was one of, if not the greatest drive in motorsport history.
Moss himself once described the Mille Miglia thus: "To me the Mille Miglia was the finest road-race of them all, but although I loved it, I was always afraid of taking part. Afraid because I was never really able to learn the circuit, and afraid because of the very high speeds we were getting."
Moss was right to be afraid of the Mille Miglia. During the 30 years of its existence from 1927 to 1957 this tough 1,000 mile race over public roads saw speeds of up to 200 mph achieved as the cars sped over mountain roads and through villages, the race followed by millions worldwide while thousands of tifosi lined the route to cheer their heroes to victory.
In the 1955 race there were 521 starters from Brescia, of which just 281 would reach the finish, also at Brescia. The 1,000 mile route took the cars in a clockwise direction via Verona, Ravenna, Pescara, Rome, Bologna and Piacenza. Only production sports cars were eligible, although this being Italy this rule was often overlooked in favour of more powerful machinery. In 1954 the rule that a driver had to be accompanied by a co-driver was dropped but Moss, having already competed without success in the race on three previous occasions decided one was essential.
In 1955 Moss was invited to drive for the Mercedes works team in a 300SLR. It was after a test drive at Hockeinheim with Denis Jenkinson when he realised the diminutive Jenkinson was quite fearless that Moss decided to ask him to accompany him in the race. Jenkinson had been a professional sidecar motorcycle passenger, winning the world championship with Eric Oliver in 1949, before turning to writing about motorsport. "Jenks" had also trained as an engineer and was the perfect person to accompany the young Moss. For the race they devised a system of what we today would call 'pace-notes', which would allow them to tackle the entire route at their maximum possible speed. To do so required a level of confidence and commitment which was quite extraordinary. The Mercedes 300SLR was a big car, but still relied on drum brakes rather than the newly introduced disc brakes. Its greatest virtue other than its bullet-proof reliability was its ability to be 'drifted' at high speed through corners. This, combined with the pair's absolute faith in each other enabled them to gain seconds on each corner over their rivals.
The story of the race itself will no doubt be retold many times elsewhere on this 50th anniversary, but suffice to say here that Moss and Jenkinson won the 1956 Mille Miglia in a total time for the 1,000 mile course of 10 hrs 7 mins 48 secs - an average of more than 157 km/h (nearly 98 mph) and on the 87 mile section between Cremonia and Brescia the pair averaged an astonishing 125 mph. Their team-mate Fangio, no slouch himself, finished second, 32 minutes behind the duo and himself some 13 minutes ahead of the third placed Ferrari of Maglioli.
This epic drive of Moss and Jenkinson has rightly passed into motorsport legend and stands comparison with the epic drive of the Breton driver Fernand Gabriel in the tragic 1903 Paris to Madrid race. As for the fearsome Mille Miglia, it was to survive for only two more years coming to a tragic end in 1957 with the fatal crash of Fon de Portago.