- From 1992 to 2007, Alfa Romeo dominated motor racing in the Touring class, first with the 155 and then with the 156 tuned up by Sergio Limone’s ‘new’ Alfa Corse
- Dozens of championship wins in Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain
- Backstage lecture at the Arese Museum at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, retracing that long, overwhelming season
- From Sergio Limone, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele Tarquini to Giorgio Francia and Monica Bregoli, memories and backstories told by their leading lights
From 1992 to 2007, Alfa Romeo dominated motor racing in the Touring class, first with the 155 and then with the 156, writing unforgettable chapters in the history of motorsport with dozens of championship wins in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
An epic that originated in the ‘new’ Alfa Corse, which would go on to reap the greatest rewards with closed-wheel cars, first under the guidance of Giorgio Pianta and later with the Nordauto/N-Technology team. All made possible by cars with great potential, rendered unbeatable by a team at the highest level.
The Alfa Romeo Museum will retrace the history of this long, extraordinary season in a Backstage lecture on Sunday, April 21. The audience will hear all about the memories and emotions of a range of leading names: from Fabrizio Giovanardi and Giorgio Francia to Gabriele Tarquini to Monica Bregoli, naturally not leaving behind the designers, technicians, and team members. The starting point will be Sergio Limone, one of the greatest personalities in motorsport, who managed to dominate an entire rally season with Lancia, then started again from scratch with Alfa Romeo track cars, only to win yet again.
The first successes came way back in 1992 – a few months after the project launch – with Nicola Larini’s victory in the Italian Superturismo Championship with the 155 GTA, followed one year later by the DTM in the 155 V6 TI, beating his incredulous German rivals on their own turf and breaking all the records. Then came triumphs in the 1994 British Touring Car Championship and other victories in every part of the world. After the 155’s feats, in 1998 it was the turn of the 156 to continue on the road to success, winning 13 championships between manufacturers’ and teams’ drivers in a career spanning 10 years, and even taking victory in its last race in 2007 when the 156 had been out of production for some time.
A season of races and victories by leading technicians and drivers, many of whom hailed from or were destined for Formula 1: Larini, Nannini, Tarquini, Giovanardi, Massa, Danner, Farfus, Thompson, Alboreto, to name but a few. At the height of his success at Ferrari, in 2003, Michael Schumacher test drove Gabriele Tarquini’s Alfa Romeo 156 S2000 at the Mugello circuit.
The Backstage lecture will be given by the curator of the Alfa Romeo Museum, Lorenzo Ardizio. He will be joined by Sergio Remondino, historian at Autosprint and co-author with Sergio Limone of Alfa Romeo 155 e 156: DTM, Superturismo e Super 2000 – published by ASI Service – due to be officially unveiled at the event.
The Backstage lecture, admission to which is free for visitors to the Alfa Romeo Museum, will take place in the Giulia Hall from 3 p.m. It will follow an Alfa Romeo parade on the on-site track at 2.30 p.m., a tribute to the team that wrote unforgettable chapters in the brand’s history.
The Alfa Romeo Museum’s Backstage lecture series, now in its sixth year, aims to explore the brand’s history based on documents kept in the Archive and on testimonies from leading figures. The full schedule of monthly events can be consulted at www.museoalfaromeo.com
