It had been clear for quite some time to the CURVES racing team consisting of driver, co-driver, team manager, mechanics, car designers, engineers and passionate loyal sponsors that the next stage of our journey would be through Sicily – simply because Sicily matched the previous edition of CURVES so well. Following CURVES California, we had to take a look at the old world, where it is at its most awkward, its most twisted and gnarled, and its deepest. Sicily, in fact. The vastness of the USA exchanged for the island microcosm in the Mediterranean. A country with almost no history and an anything-goes openness for a world in which tradition and experience go back to a time no one can remember. But which allows even the commonplace to take root in the unconscious. Sicily is “intensive” taken to a higher level.
Frequently, which has hardly been the case in other editions of CURVES, we left the car to marvel at the history and the tales – the crust consisting of tradition and history on Sicily is obscene and colourful and is available in abundance. Without the many side trips to ancient ruins or mediaeval sites, you won‘t see much of Sicily – even people who abhor culture turn into history junkies here. One thing we must make clear, however: rarely have we laughed as much during a CURVES production and – above all! – eaten as much as we did on the journeys we made across the island. For the next journey, all additional weight will have to be removed from the cars. It can take us into cold regions of the world, since from now on the drivers will even have to ensure that there is enough downforce and with a pleasant layer of fat can look ahead to autumn. Thank you Sicily!
And then of course we have the Targa Florio, this infamous race, without which an (auto)mobile visit to Sicily is simply not conceivable. CURVES Sicily = Targa Florio. That‘s simply the way it is. And: Targa Florio = Porsche. The further one advances into the Madonie Mountains, the further you travel on the Targa circuit, and it becomes all the more clear why precisely this German car brand brought home the most Targa Florio victories and even a car model had to be named after the Targa: the Porsches are more likely to master the balancing act between speed and balance, between ecstasy and control. And Porsche always drives very intelligently: when the Italian competition decided to go for ultrafast extreme sports cars with the V12 engines, Porsche left its extremely powerful 917 at home, and instead participated in the race with the much more agile 908 8-cylinder model. And wins. The lightweight, compact Porsche 718 and its predecessor, the 550 Spyder, which has a similar design, picked up four victories in Sicily. Porsche won the Targa Florio 11 times – more often than any other manufacturer.
The fact that even today the Targa leaves traces behind in every Porsche has been demonstrated to us with sparkling ease and great seriousness by the current 718 generation. We seldom had tour guides in cars during a CURVES production, who at the end were so closely involved with a route, a story, the feelings of a CURVES moment.
CURVES Sicily quite clearly is the perfect introduction to the entire CURVES history, even though this edition for us as members of the production team is only a route point after an extended journey. We are definitely interested in the opinion of those coming new to CURVES – why not get in touch with us at www.curves-magazin.com with navigation prompts or let yourself be persuaded there to try other trips. Nice to have you on board.
