Stars and cars set for Italy’s Silver Flag rally

More than 170 classics will head to the Italian province of Piacenza in June to take part in the 20^th Silver Flag hill climb.

The event, which takes place June 19-21 in Vernasca, is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year and has attracted some big names.

Former motor racing and rally drivers Sandro Munari, from Italy, and Henri Pescarolo, from France, will take part in this year’s event.

They’ll be driving a 1970 Lancia Fulvia 1.6 HF and a 1968 Matra-Ford MS 630, respectively.

Other notable entries include a 1954 Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta Pininfarina, which is one of only four built with Pininfarina body.

There’s also a 1936 Maserati 6/4 CM, which was the first one made and a works car in the Montecarlo GP, amongst other marques such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Bugatti, Ferrari, Jaguar and Porsche.

As a lead up to the June event, Silver Flag took to the streets of the city of Piacenza to revive the traditional ‘Circuito di Piacenza’ on the weekend of May 9-10, pictured above.

More than 40 cars were present and ran eight laps of the original track, divided into two categories - just like the 1947 race.

Chris Routledge, managing partner of international auctioneers Coys and sponsors of Silver Flag, said, ‘We have supported Silver Flag for eight years and were delighted to sponsor this additional event, which was a great precursor to this year’s hill climb, with a fantastic grid of amazing cars in a beautiful setting.’