Seventh time’s a charm for REMO at the Winter Marathon

Posted on February 07 2023

Seventh time’s a charm for REMO at the Winter Marathon

Cool Flo – Winter Marathon - REMO
Image ©Winter Marathon

The Winter Marathon is an epic annual event in Italy that features a host of classic cars racing in cold conditions. This year’s event, the 33rd edition, took place in January at Madonna di Campiglio, a ski resort in northern Italy which is surrounded by the Adamello Brenta Nature Park. 88 teams competed, including the Cool Flo sponsored ‘REMO’, a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, piloted by driver Lorenzo Bosi and co-driver Francesco Alberti.

 

The first leg of the marathon took place that evening with cars setting off for a round trip from the Piazza Righi before the teams could swap stories and get some rest for the next two days of action.

Sadly this opening day of action didn’t quite go to plan for the REMO team, with a lack of tyre spikes seeing Lorenzo and Francesco struggle in the cold conditions, rolling back into Piazza Righi that night all the way down in 51st position.

 

Cool Flo – Winter Marathon - REMO

Image ©Winter Marathon

The event continued the following morning, with teams piloting their cars on a route that included a lunch stop in Molveno. REMO was on a charge and a great performance saw the team climb several positions. Dinner took place at Chalet Gerard on the Gardena Pass. Once teams and cars were fuelled up it was then foot to the floor back to Madonna di Campiglio once more. Once again REMO was on a charge, recovering a total of 21 positions for the day.

The final day of action took place on the frozen lake of Madonna di Campiglio which also hosted the award ceremony, with trophies handed out and special prizes reserved for the best crews.

 

Many congratulations to the overall 2021 Winter Marathon winners Edoardo Bellini and Roberto Tiberti who took their 1937 Fiat 508 C to victory, going one better to get on the top step of the podium after finishing in second place the previous year.

We are pleased to report that REMO had no problems throughout this year’s event, with the team finishing in a very respectable 30th place. REMO’s 1600cc engine allowed Lorenzo and Francesco to compete on a par with cars like the numerous Porsche 356s, MINI Coopers and many classics. The minimum temperature reached during the race in the highest passes, 2,240 metres above sea level, was a chilling 14 degrees below zero. But fortunately, the 1963 Beetle’s heating worked perfectly!

 

Cool Flo – Winter Marathon - REMO

Image ©Winter Marathon

Lorenzo Bosi (driver)
“This was the seventh time we have participated at the Winter Marathon and every year it remains an incredibly exciting experience. Three days of competition, mostly at night, climbing mountain roads and overcoming 12 passes in the Dolomites. This year during the first race day we ran below our possibilities and in fact in the standings at the end of the day we finished 51st. On the contrary, during the second day we had an excellent performance and in fact we managed to recover many positions by finishing in 30th position.

Francesco Alberti (co-driver)
“This race is certainly the most important winter race in Italy. Each year the route is changed compared to the previous year. I found this year's route particularly beautiful in terms of landscapes. The charm of the evening that comes to the snow-capped mountains is truly unique. In some places the track was frozen and not having fitted the spiked tires we were forced to slow down for about 40 kilometres, but later we recovered to do our Volkswagen Beetle and each other proud.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors, especially Cool Flo for their continued support over the years. We hear one of the Carter brothers, Scottie, will join the race next winter too!”

 

Covid meant that this year was particularly complex for the organisers, but they received great appreciation for all their hard work in ensuring this amazing event went ahead once more. Here’s to the 34th edition next year!

Images are re-produced here with the kind permission of the Winter Marathon.

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Winter Marathon
Organized by VECARS
Piazzale Europa 65
25068 Sarezzo (BS)

Phone
+39.030.827095

Website
www.wintermarathon.it

Mail
info@wintermarathon.it