Targa Florio Circuit

This is where the word 'targa' comes from. The Targa Florio was run over public roads in the Madonie mountains of Sicily from 1906, and from 1932 until the last World Championship race in 1973 it used the 72 km Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie. The roads are still there, still public, and the old pits and grandstands at Floriopoli still stand beside the SS120 outside Cerda.

The drive

Start at Floriopoli and drive it anticlockwise, as the race ran: up through Cerda, across the hills to Caltavuturo, on to Scillato and Collesano, then down to the coast at Campofelice di Roccella for the long Buonfornello straight back towards the start. There are several hundred corners in a lap.

The towns are part of it. Collesano has a small Targa Florio museum, and faded race graffiti is still painted on walls along the route.

In your Porsche

No marque is tied more closely to this road. Porsche won the Targa Florio outright eleven times between 1956 and 1973, more than any other manufacturer, with cars from the 550 Spyder to the 908/03 and, in the last World Championship race, a 911 Carrera RSR. The 911 Targa of 1965 was named after the race, and Porsche has used the word ever since. Go for the history and the setting, not for a fast lap. The surface is poor in places, with subsidence, patches and loose gravel, so use the nose lift if you have it and keep the speed down if you do not.