Opened on August 28 1922, the Autodromo Nazionale is among the most evocative and historic venues still in use. Set in a park in Monza to the north of Milan, it offered a fast, slipstreaming road course (now interrupted with chicanes) and a bumpy banked oval that has long been disused. Monza attracts what may be the most passionate fans in the world and over the years they have seen some great races. Peter Gethin’s 1971 Italian Grand Prix win was not only the quickest GP to that date but also the closest with 0.61sec covering the top five. Similar slipstreaming classics resulted in a group of cars finishing as one, both in 1967 and 1969. John Surtees won the former for Honda but it was remarkable for Jim Clark recovering a whole lap lost during the early stages only for his car to break on the last lap. The 1965 race included a record number of lead changes and Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest qualifying speed in history here during pre-qualifying for the 2004 race. But Monza has also suffered more accidents than most venues; from Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators in 1928 to marshal Paolo Ghislimberti in 2000, the list of fatalities is long and depressing.
