‘Everyone loves Spa and the ’Ring. But there is another’

When asked for your favourite racetrack, it is customary to offer up Spa-Francorchamps or the old Nürburgring. Long, fast, spectacularly scenic and challenging in the extreme, Spa is the pre-eminent modern F1 circuit – the finest stage upon which to marvel at man’s mastery of internal combustion, faster-than-horse travel and the art of aerodynamics. At the same time the ’Ring has become a Mecca for the Gran Turismo generation, and if you can find an E92 BMW 330i coupe without a ’Ring sticker on the bootlid and still on its original front and rear bumpers, you should buy it.

But there is another: Mugello. It entered my consciousness around the same time as Valentino Rossi, the gangly motorcycle racing polymath who, over the last 25 years, has lit up MotoGP in the same way Ali did boxing and Cantona football. Rossi arrived in the 125cc class in ’96, but it was the following season that he showed both the speed that would establish him as the GOAT and the character that would win him global adoration. He first won at Mugello in ’97, and did so again on a 250 in ’99, his two-stroke Aprilia decked out in a lurid ‘Peace and love’, fluoro-yellow-and-turquoise Hawaiian shirt of a paint scheme. Like wearing white racing booties at a trackday, that is only an option for the supremely talented.

Watching Rossi in his pomp was a privilege, his mastery of an almost-out-of-control racing motorcycle exquisite. And Mugello’s endless turns and slopes made for a magisterial canvas upon which to watch him do his thing. A third of the way round the lap there’s a fast, downhill, off-camber right/left combination, Casanova/Savelli. For most of the grid it’s a single-file, grit-your-teeth nightmare, the only objective to simply not crash. By contrast Rossi, using elegant lines that looked somehow both faster and less perilous, used Casanova/Savelli as an overtaking opportunity.

So, Mugello has a stack of great corners. But, being a serious racetrack, it also has a long straight. MotoGP’s premier-class bikes hit 220mph on the endless drag between the last corner and the first. In 2004, a factory Kawasaki’s rear Bridgestone tyre exploded under the strain, hurling its rider to the ground at close to the double-ton.

A few months later, I tackled Mugello for the first time (also on two wheels, though a blow-out at 200mph was impossible – my Fireblade was only good for 178mph). After a day spent alternating wildly between terror and euphoria, I needed a cold drink and a long lie down. So too, I imagine, will the current Formula 1 grid after their first laps of the place in September. Yep, thanks to the global pandemic, F1’s familiar calendar and list of venues has been torn up, and the world’s fastest racing cars will now do battle on my favourite racetrack. What’s more, the event will mark Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix – an opportunity for celebration that Maranello, given its lacklustre form so far this year, will surely grab with both hands. The sad truth that no fans can be there to see it (Mugello’s natural amphitheatre somehow brings football stadium-style atmosphere to what is a wide open space) won’t make it any less special.

Enjoy the issue.