Trieste-Opicina hillclimb


Trieste-Opicina is a hillclimb up the Opicina hill in Trieste, northeastern Italy. Also known as Albo d'Oro automobilistico. The race was suspended twice, in the First and Second World War.
The 8020m version of the race course, with elevation change of 252m, started in the city of Trieste, on the modern day Via Fabio Severo, eastbound. In the outskirts, the road is named Via Alfonso Valerio. The course has a lot of fast sweeps, and only one tight hairpin turn, the lefthander at the "Faccanoni" quarry, which is about half way. From here, the course heads north west. In the last quarter, the road is parallel to Trieste–Opicina tramway tracks. The 90 degree right hander "curva dell'Obelisco" leads to the finish at Opicina.
Hill climbs usually have no run off area, with the hill on one side, and descent on the other. In Trieste, the road is also ligned with buildings for much of the bottom part.
After a serious crash of Austrian Herbert Jerich in a Ford Escort TC and subsequent safety concerns the race was cancelled after its 1971 edition. From 2017, the historic race was recreated as a tour on closed roads around Trieste.

Winners

DateWinner overallAutomobileDistanceTime Average speed
4 June 1911Otto HieronimusLaurin & Klement6:07.6
20 June 1926Emilio RichettiBugatti 20007:50.0
19 June 1927Ettore FranchettiDiatto 26007:29.0
30 September 1928Gildo StrazzaLancia Lambda VIII serie7:50.4
16 June 1929Achille VarziAlfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS9:43.6
15 June 1930Tazio NuvolariAlfa Romeo P25:59.4
14 June 1931Luigi CatalaniAlfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS6:09.0
12 June 1932Luigi CatalaniAlfa Romeo 6C 1500 SS6:08.8
25 June 1939Guido KozmannLancia Aprilia6:35.0
31 October 1948Alberto ComiratoFiat - Comirato 11006:03.2
29 October 1950Giulio CabiancaOSCA Mt4 13505:22.8
23 September 1951Umberto MarzottoFerrari 212 Export spider Vignale5:14.4
15 June 1952Pietro PalmieriFerrari 225 S spider Vignale5:25”0
21 June 1953Franco CornacchiaFerrari 250 MM berlinetta Pinin Farina5:15.7
20 June 1954Franco BordoniGordini 24 S4:47.0
29 June 1955Franco BordoniMaserati 300S4:42.8
6 October 1957Adolfo TedeschiMaserati 200SI4:32.3
5 October 1958Ada PaceAlfa Romeo Giulietta SV Zagato5:03.6
26 July 1959Giulio CabiancaOSCA Mt4 15004:27.7
24 July 1960Mennato BoffaMaserati Tipo 60 "Birdcage"4:22.4
23 July 1961Edoardo Lualdi GabardiFerrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB6:15.4
22 July 1962Edoardo Lualdi GabardiFerrari 250 GTO4,54.8
21 July 1963Francesco GhezziLotus 4:44.6
19 July 1964Franco PatriaSimca Abarth 20004:40.2
18 July 1965Edoardo Lualdi GabardiFerrari 250 LM4:44.1
31 July 1966Giacomo "Noris" MoioloPorsche Carrera 64:34.2
28 May 1967Edoardo Lualdi GabardiDino 206 S4:23.7
25 May 1969Franco PiloneSimca Abarth 20004:27.3
24 May 1970Giampiero Moretti Ferrari 512 S3:12.5
23 May 1971Alessandro MonciniPorsche 911 RS 4:23.6

The Trieste–Opicina motorcycle race (1920–1958)

Officially titled “Trieste – Poggioreale”, it is more known as “Trieste–Opicina”, arranged by the Moto Club Trieste.
DataDriverMotorcycleDistanceTime Average speed
12 December 1920Giovanni FerlugaIndian9:34
March 1922Romolo SpallanzaniGalloni8:00
11 March 1923Guido MentastiNorton8:34
25 April 1926Ugo PriniGuzzi7:22
1 May 1927Giovanni FerlugaHarley-Davidson sidecar7:22
May 1929Marino FabianAJS8:02
14 May 1931Pietro MartaRudge6:35
5 May 1932Arduino BertosNSU5:55
June 1933Carlo CovacichNorton5:57
June 1947Giovanni BosichBMW6:24
10 October 1948Alberto TrencaMatchless 3505:57.03

Literature

*