BMW Group Classic Prepares for the Mille Miglia
Auto NewsIt's that time of year again when a bunch of classic car enthusiasts pull the covers off of their priceless machines, get them cleaned up and serviced, and prepare themselves for the Mille Miglia endurance rally. This historic event was known as the toughest endurance race for 3 decades, and the route stretches over 1000 miles of road through Northern Italy.
There are many people who participate in the Mille Miglia, with the estimated number of entrants this year sitting at the 450 mark. There are very strict rules for entering the rally: only models that ran during the original Mille Miglia races are allowed to compete, and there must be historical proof of this. In more recent times this has led to curious discoveries as evidence of different cars competing in the original race means more people can enter, but generally these machines are far more expensive and rarer than modern day race-cars.
So it is extremely special when people are willing to put these collector's items at risk in a motorsport event. Manufacturers have also started to enter their own factory-backed teams in these events, andd BMW is one such example with their 6-car contingent for this year's Mille Miglia race. Historically BMW saw a number of victories with their classic 328 models, and so their contingent comprises of various forms of the car.
The following teams are lining up at the start of the Mille Miglia 2017, driving vehicles from BMW Group Classic:
136 Ian Robertson Jodie Kidd BMW 328 Berlin-Rom Roadster
139 Klaus Fröhlich Michael Schröder BMW 328
142 Wolfgang Obermaier Des Sellmeijer BMW 328
146 Sergio Solero Francesco Botré BMW 328
149 Philipp Koch Martin Huber BMW 328
153 Hendrik v. Kuenheim Carl Christian Jancke BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster