The Alfa Revival Cup brings back memories of a time when touring car racing was a huge attraction. The cars, fielded by renowned automotive manufacturers and outwardly similar to their production model counterparts, pulled in hundreds of thousands of fans to the race track. The Red Bull Ring Classics offers you the unique opportunity to take a close look at treasured racing cars such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA.
Hard Facts Alfa Revival Cup:
- The starting grid includes Alfa Romeo GT and Tourism vehicles (built 1947-1981)
- The race weekend consists of free practice (25 minutes), qualifying (30 minutes) and race (60 minutes)
The Alfa Romeo success story
57 years ago, Alfa Romeo won both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles in the European Touring Car Championship. The dominant car in Division 2 (up to 1,600cc) was the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint 1600 GTA. The ‘A’ in the type designation stood for the Italian word ‘alleggerita’ (literally ‘made lighter’).
In order to reduce the weight, the engineers made drastic changes to the body structure. When they had finished, the racing car weighed in at only 750 kilos, with more than 200 kg having been shaved off the conventional Sprint GT. The alternating regular drivers included former F1 stars Giovanni Giuseppe Gilberto Galli (nicknamed ‘Nanni’) and Andrea de Adamich.
The latter defended his drivers’ title a year later in 1967. In 1969, Alfa Romeo were once again crowned champion in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. The Italians also celebrated countless successes outside the European championship. At the TransAm race in Sebring, Jochen Rindt driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint 1600 GTA prevailed against opponents with larger displacements. The Alfa Revival Cup brings these iconic cars to the Red Bull Ring in June.
