1958 Targa Florio

The 42° Targa Florio took place on 11 May, on the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, (Sicily, Italy).

The event returned to the championship for the first time since 1955, following the demise of the Mille Miglia and the ban on road racing on mainland Italy.

But such outcry did not deter Vincenzo Florio from holding his event on the traditional 45 mile mountainous circuit.

[1][2] The first two events of the season, the 1000 km Buenos Aires and 12 Hours of Sebring ended with victory for Phil Hill and Peter Collins, for Scuderia Ferrari.

With these new rules, and Maserati on the brink of financial crisis, Scuderia Ferrari would head the Italian challenge.

Ferrari had four works 250 TRs in Sicily, Hill/Collins, Mike Hawthorn/Wolfgang von Trips, Luigi Musso/Olivier Gendebien and Gino Munaron/Wolfgang Seidel.

[3][4] David Brown sent just one Aston Martin DBR1 over from England for Stirling Moss/Tony Brooks, while Porsche arrived with three different cars, a 356A Carrera, a 550 RS and a 718 RSK, for their squad of drivers led by Jean Behra and Giorgio Scarlatti.

[5][6][7] Prior to the race, there was no formal practice held, but Sergio Der Stephanian was killed in a pre-race accident, following a collision with a sand-laden lorry.

Littered with switchback turns, blind corners and a straight nearly four miles longer than Circuit de la Sarthe’s Mulsanne, the Targa was a fearsome thing to behold.

Day of the race would be sunny and warm, with the first of the cars leaving the small village of Cerda, one-by-one, at 40 second intervals.

It was clear right at the start that something was amiss for most of the competitors, as more than a few would be off the pace, while others would be off the road, in verges trying to repair their cars and get back into the race.

Meanwhile, von Trips damaged his Ferrari heavily and returned to the pits dragging a bit of his car along the ground.

Moss would be on the hunt in his Aston, ever-impressive sliding around the corners, kicking up gravel everywhere and carrying on without any trouble whatsoever, following that earlier incident.