#0605 'Vaccarella'

Alfa Romeo BT33, Nino Vaccarella, winner Targa Florio 1971

The Targa Florio has been held on the island of Sicily since 1906. The material-crunching 45-mile course, on dusty, public highways, cut through towns and cities - often just inches from spectator front doors, as pictured here. Nino Vacarella, the school teacher from Palermo, was a local hero who had already won the race for Ferrari in 1965. With no Ferraris used in 1971, Vacarella drove for Alfa Romeo, who were confident of victory and fielded four Tipo 33/3s. Vacarella's co-driver was experienced Dutchman Toine Hezemans. The main competition was suspected to be in the camp of the three Porsche 908/3, all of which received factory support, but luck was not on their side - all three crashed. The Porsche 911 and the Lola T212 were still in the field as opponents, but the greatest resistance came from our own camp. However, Vacarella beat Alfa teammates Van Lennep and de Adamich by six and a half minutes – ending five years of Porsche dominance. Van Lennep, originally scheduled to compete in a Porsche 908 but released to Alfa shortly before the race after Porsche withdrew a race car, became the laughing second,