Chopard and Mille Miglia

Crew number 46, formed by Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli aboard the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Zagato of 1929, repeated the success achieved in the 2021 edition of the race. For Andrea Vesco, also first in 2020 alongside his father Roberto, there is the double satisfaction of having conquered a 22-year long taboo, previously accomplished by Giuliano Canè who managed to win three consecutive editions of the "most beautiful race in the world” between 1998 and 2000.

In second place, just like a year ago, was Crew number 40, with Andrea Luigi Belometti and Gianluca Bergomi in a 1929 Lancia Lambda Spider Type 221. The third step of the podium went to Crew number 8 formed by Lorenzo and Mario Turelli in a 1929 O.M. 665 S MM Superba 2000. Silvia Marini and Irene Dei Tos, in a 1929 Bugatti T40, won the Ladies Cup.

The intense, challenging 1000 Miglia 2022 required great skill from the crews on 115 Time Trials and 8 Average Trials, with the Capodimonte dirt road trials on the shores of Lake Bolsena proving particularly popular.

Despite the massive expansion of Italy’s road network over the past 95 years, the route of the 1000 Miglia has remained remarkably close to that of the original course from Brescia to Rome and back.

‘Clockwise’ was back this year, however, after the anti-clockwise format last used in the 1950s was re-visited in 2021, and after the starting flag dropped at 1.30pm on Wednesday 15 June, the cars headed off from Brescia in one-minute intervals going in order of age (oldest first). Initially contestants made for Lake Garda, passing through the waterside towns of Salò and Sirmione along the way before proceeding to Mantua and on to the first overnight stop in Cervia-Milano Marittima – a total run of more than 300km that, for the drivers of older cars, meant at least six hours on the road.

Day Two on Thursday 16 June, saw the convoy head for Rome on a more arduous, 500-km drive that took them via the remarkable mountain top republic of Norcia before bringing them into the Eternal City well after dark, prior to Friday morning’s rude pre-dawn awakening.

With another 500 km representing a good, nine-hour day during which the cars began their return journey north, Friday 17 June was the toughest day of the event with the route initially travelling inland to the half-way point in Siena before veering west to begin skirting the coast at Viareggio and then heading north-north-east to the challenging Passo della Cisa. Here, the climb ascends to more than 1,000 metres above sea level, before dropping down the other side and heading for a welcome overnight stop in Parma.

Saturday’s fourth and final leg followed a route of little more than 150 km that was punctuated by a stop at the Monza race circuit in order to complete a tricky, timed auto-test – for which the teams certainly needed their Mille Miglia Race Edition chronographs – and the magnificently beautiful city of Bergamo. After this it was (literally) downhill all the way to the finish line in Brescia – where Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli were declared winners of this memorable edition of the 1000 Miglia.

Not only has Chopard been the proud world sponsor and official timekeeper to the celebrated 1000 Miglia since 1988, this year, for the 34th time, the Maison’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joined the 404-strong field of cars behind the wheel of the Scheufele family’s 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL, well-known to the 1000 Miglia due to its strawberry-red paintwork.

On 15 June, Chopard Ambassador Jacky Ickx was on the start ramp in Brescia to wave Chopard’s Co-President away as he set off beside his daughter Caroline-Marie, who undertook her second 1000 Miglia after making her debut as co-driver in 2019.

Along with Karl-Friedrich and Caroline-Marie Scheufele, Team Chopard was composed of several prestigious cars, amongst them a wonderful blue Porsche 356 Speedster from 1955 – driven by Chopard Ambassador Romain Dumas, a regular at the 1000 Miglia – as well as a Triumph TR3 Sports from 1957, a Fiat 1100/103 TV Berlina from 1955 and an Austin Healey 100/6 from 1957.

Founded in 1860, Chopard, The Artisan of Emotions, perpetuates the heritage of traditional know-how and ancestral crafts through contemporary and ethical creations.

Cultivating limitless creativity, which enables everyone to find precious objects within Chopard collections that are in tune with their own nature, the Maison takes craftsmanship to peak levels through the work of passionate and experienced Artisans. Moreover, since July 2018, the Maison has been the first watch and jewellery maker to use 100% Ethical Gold for the production of all its watches and jewellery.

Today, Chopard is run by the Scheufele family and masters more than 50 professions at its three production sites, where particular attention is paid to internal training and the transmission of know-how.

The Maison lives in step with its prestigious partnerships: a loyal official partner to the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, it has also been the official timekeeper of the legendary Italian 1000 Miglia classic car race since 1988.

Founded in 1927, the 1000 Miglia is among the most famous historic motoring events in the world. When it was originally run, the 1,618km course (the equivalent to 1,005 Roman miles) was an all-out race that started and finished in Brescia, with Rome marking the turning point for home.

In 1955, the famous British racing driver Sir Stirling Moss and his navigator, motorsport journalist Denis Jenkinson, won the race in a record time that still stands today, completing the course in ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds at the remarkable average speed of 97.96 mph.

After ceasing to exist in its original race format in 1957, the 1000 Miglia was revived in 1977 as a time and reliability trial for cars built between 1927 and 1957. It still covers 1,000 miles following much of the original route through the heart of Italy from Brescia to Rome and back.

The event sees some of the finest, rarest, most important and most valuable cars of the original era take to the roads in the manner for which they were intended, creating an intoxicating assault on the senses of sight, sound and smell and turning back the clock as they pass through the same towns and villages where crowds lined the roads during the 1000 Miglia's early decades.