Chopard was world sponsor and official timekeeper to the 40th edition of the historic 1000 Miglia car race, recently held in Italy, with the Maison’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joining the 404-strong field of cars behind the wheel of the Scheufele family’s 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL, even as they unveiled a duo of Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition watches.

Team Chopard at the start of the race

For the 35^th consecutive year, Chopard was world sponsor and official timekeeper to the 40^th edition of the historic 1000 Miglia car race, which took place from 15 to 18 June 2022. Launched in 1927 with 77 participants, the 1000 Miglia, widely regarded as the most beautiful in the world, in 2022, saw 404 cars made by 63 car manufacturers on the starting line in Brescia.After last year’s return to the anti-clockwise route that was often used in the original event, the cars in 2022 travelled the 1,609 km route in a clockwise direction.

Mercedes-Benz 300SL, from Team Chopard, departing

Founded in 1927, the 1000 Miglia is among the most famous historic motoring events in the world. When it was originally run, the 1,618km course (the equivalent to 1,005 Roman miles) was an all-out race that started and finished in Brescia, with Rome marking the turning point for home.

Caroline-Marie & Karl-Friedrich Scheufele before the race started

Not only has Chopard been the proud world sponsor and official timekeeper to the celebrated 1000 Miglia since 1988, this year, for the 34th time, the Maison’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joined the 404-strong field of cars behind the wheel of the Scheufele family’s 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL, well-known to the 1000 Miglia due to its strawberry-red paintwork.

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele& Jacky Ickx before the start of the race

A family affair

“This was the very car in which I took part in my first ever 1000 Miglia back in 1989, accompanied by the motorsport legend, Chopard ambassador and great friend to all of us, Jacky Ickx” says Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. “We have since driven the route together many more times and, while I always feel a certain level of apprehension before the start of every 1000 Miglia, being beside a six-times Le Mans winner whose Formula One career saw him take to the podium 25 times always boosts my confidence.”

On 15 June, Jacky Ickx was on the start ramp in Brescia to wave Chopard’s Co-President away as he set off beside his daughter Caroline-Marie, who is undertaking her second 1000Miglia after making her debut as co-driver in 2019.

“While we would dearly love to achieve the success of fellow Team Chopard drivers Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli who won last year’s event outright in their fabulous 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C, between us we are simply aiming to complete the gruelling race in a respectable time,” says Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. “But whatever happens, we have no doubt that the 2022 1000 Miglia will once again live up to its reputation for being ‘the most beautiful race in the world’.”

Chopard Ambassador Romain Dumas, wearing the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition

Along with Karl-Friedrich and Caroline-Marie Scheufele, Team Chopard is composed of several prestigious cars, amongst them a wonderful blue Porsche 356 Speedster from 1955, driven by Chopard Ambassador Romain Dumas, a regular at the 1000 Miglia.

Mercedes-Benz 300SL, from Team Chopard, detail

On the road again

Despite the massive expansion of Italy’s road network over the past 95 years, the route of the 1000 Miglia has remained remarkably close to that of the original course from Brescia to Rome and back.

‘Clockwise’ is back this year, however, after the anti-clockwise format last used in the 1950s was re-visited in 2021, and after the starting flag dropped at 1.30pm on Wednesday 15 June, the cars headed off from Brescia in one-minute intervals going in order of age (oldest first). With more than 400 competitors to wave off on this occasion, the last left the tree-lined Viale Venezia well after 8pm.

Paolo Stella wearing the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition

Initially contestants made for Lake Garda, passing through the waterside towns of Salo and Sirmione along the way before proceeding to Mantua and on to the first overnight stop in Cervia-Milano Marittima – a total run of more than 300km that, for the drivers of older cars, meant at least six hours on the road.

Day Two on Thursday16 June, saw the convoy head for Rome on a more arduous, 500-km drive that took them via the remarkable mountain top republic of Norcia before bringing them into the Eternal City well after dark, prior to Friday morning’s rude pre-dawn awakening.

Porsche 356 Speedster, from Team Chopard, detail

With another 500 km representing a good, nine-hour day during which the cars began their return journey north, Friday 17 June was the toughest day of the event, with the route initially travelling inland to the half-way point in Siena before veering west to begin skirting the coast at Viareggio and then heading north-north-east to the challenging PassodellaCisa. Here, the climb ascends to more than 1,000 metres above sea level, before dropping down the other side and heading for a welcome overnight stop in Parma.

Participating car at the 1000 Miglia 2022 race

Saturday’s fourth and final leg followed a route of little more than 150 km that was punctuated by a stop at the Monza race circuit in order to complete a tricky, timed auto-test – for which the teams certainlyneeded their Mille Miglia Race Edition chronographs and the magnificently beautiful city of Bergamo. After this it was (literally) downhill all the way to the finish line in Brescia. (This year, Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli won the Mille Miglia 2022, driving an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Zagato from 1929.)

The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition worn by team Chopard drivers

Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition: a precision chronograph designed for motor racing enthusiasts The 1000 Miglia celebrated its 40threissue and Chopard, its partner and official timekeeper, was once again on the starting grid. As is the case every year since 1988, during an exclusive dinner held at the Albereta Hotel the day before the race, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, along with Jacky Ickx, unveiled a duo of stunning watches to commemorate the event in the form of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Editions.