Mille Miglia Diary

6:00 AM: Today is the longest leg, more than 620 km. We are up early again to make a 7:15 start time. The morning is glorious. We are falling into a pattern, where Peter and I trade off driving every 2.5 hours or so. Manipulating the column shift, stiff accelerator and resistant clutch is physically tiring, but navigating is equally taxing, but mentally. Switching roles provides welcome relief from each task.

11:15 AM: Just before we get to Siena it seems that our adventure may indeed go downhill from here. In the middle of a time trial, I note that I can no longer see the needle on the temperature gauge. I tap it, thinking that it is another malfunction, like the gas gauge, but quickly realize that the needle is pinned all the way to the right, way above boiling point. We stop, open the hood, and note that the fan belt is hanging loosely around its pulley. It seems that the generator has slipped from its mounting, throwing the belt off. We look through our tools for a 7mm wrench to tighten the bolt on the generator bracket but only have an 8mm. Just at that moment, the “Assistenza Tecnica” truck arrives and a team of friendly mechanics quickly address the problem.

1:10 PM: We set off on our way again but notice that the temperature needle is starting to rise again. We stop again and realize that we have lost about 2 litres of water in the radiator. The Assistenza folks stop again and fill it. Total time lost is about 1 hour 30 minutes and we arrive in Siena just as the lunch caravan is about to pack up.

12:00 AM: Despite some lovely driving roads, we are unable to make up the time and arrive at the Parma checkpoint just before midnight. With few other cars left on the road, and unable to see the red Mille Miglia directional signs, we get seriously lost and are forced to use the GPS to find our way. No cheering crowds this time.  On our second day our ranking had improved to the mid-200s, but the repair set us back into the low 300s again. We study fanbelts on other 1900s, including the lovely factory-sponsored 2000 Sportivas and realize that some of these cars have double belts supposedly for competition purpose.