Targa Florio 1972

Race winner Arturo Merzario in the Ferrari 312PB in Collesano

Helmut Marko in the second-placed Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3

The unusual Porsche 911S from Gérard Darton-Merlin and Raymond Pochet

The reported Ginetta G4 did not start the race due to a toothed belt damage

The 56th Targa Florio , also Targa Florio, Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie, Sicilia , took place in Sicily on May 21, 1972 and was the seventh round of the sports car world championship of that year.

Before the race

After the incidents at the Targa Florio in 1971 , criticism of the Sicilian racing event rose. Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the track became increasingly undisciplined. Enthusiastic people tried to touch the car in serpentine curves. Crowds, rocks, trees and abysses lined the racetrack. Lost horse nails were a problem, chickens were not infrequent on the road and two ignorant locals drove their vehicles onto the track in 1971 despite barriers during training. Serious accidents could only be prevented by luck.

During the race, Brian Redman had a serious fire accident in the Porsche 908/03 in which he suffered second and third degree burns. The accident of Fulvio Tandoi from Trieste ended fatally. He hit a tree with his Alpine A110 and died at the scene of the accident. The media raised the mood against the race. In FISA , which was responsible for organizing the races of the World Sports Car Championship, it was primarily the Formula 1 drivers organized in the Grand Prix Drivers' Association that created the mood against the race.

Despite all the opposition, the Targa took place again in 1972 as a world championship run.

The race

After 16 participations in a row, Porsche was not represented at the Targa with works cars for the first time since 1959 . So far, Ferrari had dominated this year's world championship races with the 312PB racing car model . All of the races up to the Targa were won by the Scuderia works cars and works drivers. The Scuderia only brought one vehicle to Sicily, which was driven by Arturo Merzario and Sandro Munari . Munari, who competed for Lancia in the World Rally Championship, was signed for one race after a request from Enzo Ferrari . After a few test laps with the prototype in Fiorano, Munari got to know the racetrack on four days of training with a Ferrari Dino 246 . With Munari, Cesare Fiorio came to the Scuderia for this one race ; he replaced Peter Schetty as race director.

At Ferrari's suggestion, radio was used between the box and the driver for the first time. The driver could not speak, but received instructions via radio signal from the box. After Carlo Chiti also used this technology at Alfa Romeo , the 1972 Targa Florio was the first race in motorsport history to use this technology.

In contrast to Ferrari, Alfa Romeo reported four vehicles. The Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3 were driven by Nanni Galli , Andrea de Adamich , Toine Hezemans , Nino Vaccarella , Rolf Stommelen , Gijs van Lennep , Helmut Marko and Vic Elford . Marko and Elford had competed for Porsche in recent years. Elford won the race in 1968 together with Umberto Maglioli in a works Porsche 907 .

Before the start, Fiorio decided that Merzario should drive the first three laps and then take turns with Munari at the wheel every other lap. Merzario took the lead and built it up to 40 seconds ahead of Vaccarella by lap three. When Munari took over the car, two Alfa Romeos had already failed. On the fourth lap, Munari collided with a Lancia Fulvia and lost a lot of time. This enabled Marko to take the lead. A race-long duel between the Ferrari and the Alfa Romeo of Galli and Marko followed, which was almost decided in favor of Alfa Romeo by a pit problem at the Scuderia. After a pit stop, the hot 12-cylinder Ferrari engine did not start for two minutes, but there were also delays at the Alfa stops, so that Merzario and Munari were able to save a lead of 16 seconds at the finish.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S 3.0	3	Ferrari SEFAC	Arturo Merzario Sandro Munari	Ferrari 312PB	11
2	S 3.0	5	Autodelta SpA	Nanni Galli Helmut Marko	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	11
3	S 3.0	4th	Autodelta SpA	Andrea de Adamich Toine Hezemans	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	11
4th	S 2.0	8th	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Antonio Zadra Enrico Pasolini	Lola T290	10
5	GT 2.0	38	Bonomelli Squadra Corse	Gabriele Gottifredi Pino Pica	Porsche 911S	10
6th	GT + 2.0	25th	Straehle KG	Günter Steckkönig Giulio Pucci	Porsche 911S	9
7th	S 2.0	7th	Giuseppe Virgilio	Giuseppe Virgilio Luigi Taramazzo	Abarth-Osella 2000	9
8th	S 1.3	56	Monzeglio Squadra Corse	Maurizio Zanetti Ugo Locatelli	Lola T212	9
9	GT 2.0	35	Straehle KG	Dieter Schmid Armando Floridia	Porsche 914/6	9
10	GT + 2.0	23	Porsche Club Romand	Jürgen Barth Michael Keyser	Porsche 911S	9
11	S 1.0	11	Parma	Francesco Cerulli-Irelli Mario Barone	AMS SP	9
12	GT 1.6	85	Ateneo	Giuseppe di Cristofalo E. de Franchis	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA	9
13	GT 2.0	47	Giampaolo Baruffi	Giampaolo Baruffi Giancarlo Galmozzi	Porsche 911	9
14th	GT 2.0	42	Lloyd Adrietico	O. Ferrari Gianfranco Papetti	Porsche 911	9
15th	GT 2.0	45	Lloyd Adrietico	Alessandro Moncini Luigi Cabella	Porsche 911	9
16	S 1.3	54	Pasquale Anastasio	Pasquale Anastasio Giovanni Boeris	Chevron B19	9
17th	GT + 2.0	32	Girolama Capra	Girolama Capra Angelino Lepri	Porsche 911S	9
18th	GT 1.6	77	Emilio Paleari	Emilio Paleari Girolamo Bertoni	Alpine A110	9
19th	GT 1.6	88	Michele Terminiello	Michele Terminiello Giuseppe Esposito	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA	9
20th	GT 2.0	44	Romani Piloti	Giovanni Marini Mirto Antigoni	Porsche 911	8th
21st	GT + 2.0	29	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Piero Monticone Guido Fossati	Porsche 911S	8th
22nd	GT 1.6	76	Monzeglio	Renato Giono Mario Zanetti	Alfa Romeo GTA	8th
23	GT 1.3	99	Pegaso	Marco de Bartoli Benedetto Rosolia	Lancia Fulvia HF	8th
24	GT 1.3	92	Romano Ramonio	Romano Ramonio Gianni Varese	Alpine A110	8th
25th	S 1.6	48	Eris Tondelli	Eris Tondelli Mauro Formento	Tondelli BT	8th
26th	GT 1.3	94	Domenico Cedrati	Domenico Cedrati Giancarlo Galimberti	Alpine A110	8th
27	GT 1.6	94	Pegaso	Salvatore Barraco Luigi Sartorio	Alpine A110	8th
28	S 1.3	58	Franco Lisitano	Franco Lisitano Toti Fenga	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	8th
29	GT 1.6	89	Pegaso	Domenico Lo Bello Vincenzo Traina	Lancia Fulvia HF	8th
30th	S 1.0	63	Romani Piloti	Stefano Sebastiani Antonio Palangio	AMS SP	8th
31	GT 1.3	96	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Aldo Bersano Duilio Truffo	Alpine A110	8th
32	GT 1.3	93	Pegaso	Sergio Mantia Gualberto Carducci	Alpine A110	8th
33	GT 1.6	83	Cucinotta	Domenico Patti Salvatore Cucinotta	Lancia Fulvia HF	8th
34	S 1.6	50	Aretusa	Aldo Fina "Tex Willer"	Lancia Fulvia T&S	8th
35	GT 1.6	78	Ateneo	Silvestre Semilia Giuseppe Crescenti	Alfa Romeo GTA	7th
36	GT 1.3	101	Ateneo	Alfonso di Garbo Antonio Mascari	Simca 1300	7th
37	GT 1.3	100	Scuderia Citte dei Mille	Ugo Barillaro Alberto Fasce	Alpine A110	7th
38	GT 1.3	102	Bruno Bonacina	Mario Regis Bruno Bonacina	Alpine A110	7th
Disqualified
39	GT 2.0	40	Pegaso	Giuseppe Spatafora Friedrich von Meiter	Porsche 911	9
Failed
40	S 2.0	14th	Gianfranco Bonetto	Giovanni Alberti Gianfranco Bonetto	Chevron B21	6th
41	GT 2.0	41	Glue Racing	Horst Klauke Helmut Gall	Porsche 911	6th
42	S 1.3	57	Ateneo	Piero Donato Giampaolo Ceraolo	Giliberti A112	6th
42	S 1.0	72	Don Pedrito	Don Pedrito Massimo Cavatorta	OMS	6th
43	S 2.0	11	Pegaso	Alfonso Merendino Raffaele Restivo	Abarth 2000	5
44	S 1.0	66	Cesare Garrone	Cesare Garrone Eugenio Tinghi	AMS SP	5
45	GT 1.6	74	Scuderia Citte dei Mille	Vincenzo Mirto Randazzo Antonio Ferraro	Alfa Romeo GTA	5
46	GT 2.0	43	Conrero Squadra	Alberto Rosselli Paolo Monti	Opel GT	4th
47	GT 2.0	46	Francesco Cosentino	Francesco Cosentino Achille Soria	Porsche 911	4th
48	S 1.6	49	Scuderia Nissena	Carmelo Giugno Salvatore Sutera	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	4th
49	GT 1.6	80	Alberto Librizzi	Alberto Librizzi Renato Barraja	Lancia Fulvia HF	4th
50	GT 1.6	90	Paolo Massai	Paolo Massai Roberto Nardini	Alfa Romeo GTA	4th
51	S 3.0	1	Autodelta SpA	Nino Vaccarella Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	3
52	S 2.0	6th	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Marsilio Pasotti Carlo Facetti	Abarth-Osella 2000	3
53	S 2.0	21st	Mario Tropia	Aldo Fasano Mario Tropia	Abarth 2000S	3
54	GT + 2.0	31	Porsche Club Romand	Gérard Darton-Merlin Raymond Pochet	Porsche 911S	3
55	S 1.0	70	Sant Paul	Francesco Patané Orazio Scaglia	Fiat-Abarth 1000S	3
56	GT 1.3	97	Ateneo	Florindo Mollica Antonio Guagliardo	Lancia Fulvia Sport	3
57	S 2.0	9	Antonio Nicodemi	Silvio Moser Antonio Nicodemi	Lola T290	2
58	S 2.0	12	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Franco Berruto Mario Ilotte	Abarth 2000	2
59	GT + 2.0	22nd	Porsche Club Romand	Claude Haldi Bernard Chenevière	Porsche 911S	2
60	GT + 2.0	28	Liqui Moly	Eberhard Sindel Klaus Rank	Porsche 911S	2
61	GT 2.0	33	Conrero Squadra	Rosadelle Facetti Marie-Claude Charmasson	Opel GT	2
62	S 1.3	59	Ateneo	Gaetano Sidoti Abate Francesco Fiorentino	Matra Djet 5S	2
63	S 1.0	64	Ateneo	Francesco di Matteo "Lubar"	AMS SP	2
64	GT 1.6	81	Giovanni Rizzo	Giovanni Rizzo Settimino Balistreri	Alfa Romeo GTA	2
65	GT 1.3	98	Pegaso	Gaetano Lo Jacono Giuliano Savona	Lancia Fulvia HF	2
65	S 2.0	10	Scuderia Citte dei Mille	Eugenio Renna Ignazio Capuano	Chevron B21	1
66	GT 2.0	36	Edward Negus	Edward Negus Peter Richardson	Porsche 911S	1
67	S 1.0	62	Nettuno	Mauro Nesti Mario Rovella	Raymond	1
68	S 1.0	71	Sant Paul	Francesco Troia Aguglia	Fiat-Abarth 1000S	1
69	GT 1.6	75	Pegaso	Paolo de Luca Giuseppe Vassallo	Alfa Romeo GTA	1
70	GT 1.6	82	Ateneo	Salvatore Gagliano Giuseppina Gagliano	Alfa Romeo GTA	1
71	S 3.0	2	Autodelta SpA	Vic Elford Gijs van Lennep	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	1
72	S 2.0	15th	Autodelta SpA	Martin Davidson Jack Wheeler	Daren Mk.3	1
73	GT + 2.0	27	Schiller Racing	Florian Vetsch Jean Selz	Porsche 911S	1
74	GT 2.0	39	Giovanni Martino	Giovanni Martino Salvatore Calascibetta	Fiat 124 Spider	1
Not started
75	GT + 2.0	26th	Ennio Bonomelli	Ennio Bonomelli Everardo Ostini	Porsche 911S	1
76	GT + 2.0	30th	Pegaso	Libero Marchiolo Sergio Mingotti	Porsche 911S	2
77	GT 2.0	34	Conrero Squadra	Giorgio Pianta Giorgio Nice	Porsche 911S	3
78	S 1.6	51	Aretusa	Matteo Sgarlata Joe Anastasi	Morris Mini Cooper	4th
79	S 1.6	52	Peter Leigh Davis	Peter Leigh Davis	Ginetta G4	5
80	S 1.3	55	Pegaso	Giancarlo Barba Roberto Chiaramonte Bordonaro	Giliberti A112	6th
81	S 1.0	65	Mario Litrico	Alfio Gambero Mario Litrico	OMS	7th
82	S 1.0	69	Giuseppe Bargotti	Giuseppe Bargotti Pier Luigi Muccini	Fiat-Abarth 1000S	8th
83	GT 1.3	95	Lloyd Adrietico	Giovanni Arcovito "Carab"	Alpine A110	9
84	S 3.0	1T	Autodelta SpA	Vic Elford Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	10
85	S 3.0	3T	Ferrari SEFAC	Sandro Munari Arturo Merzario	Ferrari 312PB	11
86	GT + 2.0	23T	Porsche Club Romand	Jürgen Barth Michael Keyser	Porsche 911S	12

¹ Vehicle withdrawn ² not started ³ not started ⁴ not started ⁵ Toothed belt damage during training ⁶ not started ⁷ not started ⁸ accident during training ⁹ not started ¹⁰ training car ¹¹ training car ¹² training car

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
87	S 2.0	16	Gabriele Serblin	Gabriele Serblin Luigi Casarotto	Chevron B19
88	S 2.0	18th	Giorgio Danieli	Giorgio Danieli Giuseppe Rossi	Lola T290
89	S 2.0	19th	Etna	Alfio Nicolosi Angelo Bonaccorsi	Porsche 910
90	S 2.0	20th	Scuderia Pegaso	Leandro Terra Pietro Lo Piccolo	Ferrari Dino 206S
91	GT + 2.0	24	Kremer Racing	Erwin Kremer John Fitzpatrick	Porsche 911S
92	GT 2.0	37	Scuderia Brescia Corse	Everardo Ostini Guido Nicolai	Porsche 911
93	S 1.3	53	Mario Nardari	Mario Nardari Orazio Scaglia	AMS 1300
94	S 1.0	61	Alberto Dona	Alberto Dona Gianpaolo Benedini	AMS SP
95	S 1.0	67	Jolly Club	Antonio Benelli F. Ferrucci	Bandini
96	S 1.0	68	Nettuno	Giovanni Landi Piero Falorni	Fiat-Abarth 1000S
97	S 1.0	73	Giancarlo Scotti	Giancarlo Scotti Paolo Gonfiantini	ATS 1600SP
98	GT 1.6	84	Centro Sicula	Vito Tipa Giuseppe Valenza	Alfa Romeo GTA
99	GT 1.6	86	Amerigo Migliazzi	Amerigo Migliazzi Mauro Sacchini	Alfa Romeo GTA
100	GT 1.6	87	Pegaso	Francesco Jemma Girolama Caci	Alfa Romeo GTA
101	GT 1.3	91	Erasmo Bologna	Erasmo Bologna "Jokrysa"	Lancia Fulvia Sport

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
S 3.0	Arturo Merzario	Sandro Munari	Ferrari 312PB	Overall victory
S 2.0	Antonio Zadra	Enrico Pasolini	Lola T290	Rank 4
S 1.6	Eris Tondelli	Mauro Formento	Tondelli BT	Rank 25
S 1.3	Maurizio Zanetti	Ugo Locatelli	Lola T212	Rank 8
S 1.0	Francesco Cerulli-Irelli	Mario Barone	AMS SP	Rank 11
GT + 2.0	Günther Steckkönig	Giulio Pucci	Porsche 911S	Rank 6
GT 2.0	Gabriele Gottifredi	Pino Pica	Porsche 911S	Rank 5
GT 1.6	Giuseppe di Cristofalo	E. de Franchis	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA	Rank 12
GT 1.3	Marco de Bartoli	Benedetto Rosolia	Lancia Fulvia HF	Rank 23

Racing data

• Reported: 101
• Started: 74
• Rated: 38
• Race classes: 9
• Spectators: 400,000
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 72,000 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 6: 27: 48,000 hours
• Overall rounds of the winning team: 11
• Total distance of the winning team: 792,000 km
• Winner's average: 122.537 km / h
• Pole position: Arturo Merzario - Ferrari 312PB (# 3) - 33.59.700 = 127.078 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Helmut Marko - Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3 (# 5) - 33.41.000 = 128.253 km / h
• Racing series: 7th round of the 1972 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
• Pino Fondi: Targa Florio - 20th Century Epic. Giorgio Nada Editore Vimodrone 2006, ISBN 88-7911-270-8 .

Web links

Commons : Targa Florio 1972  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Race results at WSPR Racing

Individual evidence

1. ^ Targa Florio 1971

Previous race 1000 km from Spa-Francorchamps 1972

Sports car world championship

Successor 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1972