An Italian Ghost Story: We Visit the Historic Pista di Alta Velocità and Walk Around the Old Banking
Nestled deep within the forest of Monza Park is a historic relic with a tragic history. So notorious is this circuit that almost every racing enthusiast on the planet has surely fantasized about visiting it. I am of course talking about the Pista di Alta Velocità , one of the last surviving remnants of a dangerous era of racing that is now only a distant memory.
In the aftermath of the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, the racing world was in shock. On the verge of winning his very first Formula 1 World Championship, Wolfgang von Trips had suffered a fatal accident when his Ferrari became airborne after a collision with Jim Clark.
Adding to the tragedy was the fact that the German’s 156 ‘Sharknose’ had also killed fifteen spectators when it veered into the crowd on that fateful September afternoon.
Images from the scene of the crash were shocking and the incident received international attention, shining a spotlight on the dangers of Formula 1. There were many calls for racing to be banned and Enzo Ferrari even withdrew his cars from the final event of the 1961 World Championship in response to the horrific accident.
At the center of the debate on safety within the sport was a controversial piece of banking that had first hosted a Formula 1 race only six years earlier.
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