53rd Garessio-San Bernardo hillclimb set for decisive zone championship showdown
The 53rd Garessio-San Bernardo hillclimb will take place on 12–13 September on the historic SS 582 mountain road in Piedmont, with 95 entries confirmed. Organised by Supergara and counting towards the Trofeo Nord, the event serves as the sixth and decisive round of the ACI Sport Slalom 1st Zone Cup, with multiple category titles still wide open and tight point gaps promising high drama on race day.
The Garessio-San Bernardo has deep roots in Italian motorsport history, tracing back to its inaugural edition in 1956 when Piero Campanella won in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV. The event transitioned from a timed hillclimb to slalom format and now runs over a 4.18-kilometre section of the mountain pass, starting at km 3.37 and finishing at km 7.55. Luigi Taramazzo holds the record for most victories with eight wins, while the roll of honour includes celebrated drivers such as Ada Pace and more recently Fabio Emanuele and Alessandro Polini.
The E2 SC category will again be the headline attraction, with Damiano Furnari (Elia Avrio ST 09, 11 points) and Luca Veldorale (Radical SR4, 13 points) locked in a tight battle for outright honours. Behind them, Stefano Repetto and Giuseppe Scozzafava, both in Radical SR4s, sit at 7 and 5 points respectively and remain in contention. Other categories show similarly compressed standings: in Kart Cross, leader "Bomberos" (17 points) faces pressure from Loris and Ivan Cocino; the E2SH Silhouette class is separated by just one point between Palmiro Strizzi (7 points) and challengers Daniele Patete and Mauro Piana (both 6 points); and in the Special Slalom group, Paolo Bordo leads with 12 points over Fortunato Morabito at 9.
Among road-going categories, absences of leading competitors create opportunities: in Group A, local driver Marco Strata (Skoda Fabia Evo, 6 points) can move to the top with a solid result, while in Group RS Plus, Gianfranco Vigo (Renault Clio Williams, 5 points) needs only to finish to claim the zone title. The Historic Cars category will add a museum-quality dimension to the event, featuring entries including an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6, Ford Sierra Cosworth, BMW 2002 TI, Fiat 124 Abarth, and Innocenti Mini Cooper.
Saturday 12 September will host accreditation at Villa Gobbi (15:30–18:30) and technical checks at Piazzale del Peso Pubblico (16:00–19:00). Sunday 13 September begins with additional technical verification, followed by a regularity run at 10:45, official course reconnaissance at 11:00, and three timed runs to determine the winner and award crucial zone championship points.