Monte Mario

The Reale Premio di Roma (Royal Prize of Rome) was the Eternal City’s premier race from 1925-32 on various temporary street circuits. The inaugural race was held near Monte Mario in the northwest of the city, north of the Vatican. That included the long finishing straight on Viale Angelico and a tortuous climb through successive hairpins on Monte Mario itself, which was barely wide enough for the larger cars. The forerunner to the Rome Grand Prix attracted an impressive field of the leading Italian stars of the day, of whom Antonio Ascari and Aymo Maggi both crashed. Carlo Masetti dominated in his newly acquired Bugatti T35 as mechanical failures ravaged the field.