Mogadiscio circuit

Corso Vittorio Emanuele, where was done the "Circuito Mogadiscio" in 1938 and 1939. The stands where near the "Arch" dedicated to Umberto II

Mogadiscio circuit (called even "Circuito di Mogadiscio" in Italian language) was a car race done in the main streets of Mogadiscio,[1] that was created in 1938 Italian Somalia.

History

A late version of the Alfa Romeo 1750 (winner of the 1938 Circuito Montecarlo) in a Museum

The main Italian newspaper of Mogadiscio and the Italian colonies, Il Littoriale,[2] reported that on mid-August 1938 was done the first car race circuit of Mogadiscio.

Indeed, on August 15 the Governor Francesco Saveno flagged the start of a car race followed by many thousands in the "Corso Vittorio Emanuele" (actual "Somalia Boulevard") of Somalia's capital, where there were the main stands. On Mogadiscio streets many Somalis enjoyed enthusiastically to the first car race in their country.

It was followed even by a motorcycle race, done with 250 cc and 350 cc category and won respectively by Girotto on Benelli and by Pontiggia on Guzzi.

The car race was similar (even if smaller) to those done in other Italian colonies: the Circuito Asmara in Italian Eritrea and the worldwide famous Tripoli Grand Prix in Italian Libya. The "Circuito di Mogadiscio" was repeated in 1939, but the edition of 1940 was not done because of the beginning of World War II.

The race was done without accidents and registered the following results: Battaglia on "Alfa Romeo 1750" was the winner for Category Sport at 111 km/h, while Lombardi won on "Fiat Balilla" the Category 1500cc and Ciccotti won the Category Tourism on "Lancia DiLambda"....Il Littoriale

The most important category was dominated by the Alfa Romeo 1750, a race car built under Enzo Ferrari supervision that won in many other circuits (like the Christmas Asmara circuit of 1938).

An early version of the Alfa Romeo 1750 (white car in second line) in a 1950 Asmara Race

According to Gianluca Gabrielli there were 7 stands (2 stands only for the autochthonous population) and the magazine/newspaper "Corriere della Somalia" reported that in 1938 more than 10,000 spectators enjoyed the two sets of races (cars and motorcycles)[3]

Those race cars were also promoted by the Italian government to increase the image of Italy (inside the colonial populations and in the world) as a technologically country with state-of-the-art mechanical industry. Indeed, Italian Mogadiscio in 1938 was the second manufacturing city -after Italian Asmara- in the Eastern Africa's Italian Empire. The triangle Mogadiscio-Genale-Villabruzzi was the most developed area of the Italian colony, with one of the biggest vehicles concentration (per inhabitants) of all Africa: nearly 3000 vehicles in 1939.[4]

Motorcycle races after World War II

After World War II the "Circuito Mogadiscio" was done only with motorcycles races and was called Gran Premio Motociclistico della Somalia (GP Motorcycle of Somalia). It was celebrated from 1950 until 1954, when the italian governmnent obtained the "Somalia Trusteeship" from the ONU. The race was done on the coastal streets of Mogadiscio, near the port and on "Lungomare Corni", and was more than one mile long.

Attilio Di Nunzio won the 500cc category from 1950 to 1952 with his self-improved Guzzi.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Photo of the circuit stands
  2. ↑ Il Littoriale on the Circuit of Mogadiscio at page 5 (in Italian)
  3. ↑ Gianluca Gabrielli. "L'attivita' sportiva nelle colonie italiane". I SENTIERI DELLA RICERCA rivista di storia contemporanea. p. 118-123
  4. ↑ L'automobilismo in Africa Orientale (in Italian); p.3 (in Italian)
  5. ↑ Di Nunzio victories, with photo (in Italian)

Bibliography

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.