Here is the grid for the Grand Prix field for the Lake Garda race at the town of Salò not far north from Brescia which took place on October 24, 1948. It was the first such race at Garda since 1927. On pole in car n. 6, a supercharged Ferrari 125C, is Giuseppe “Nino” Farina while next to him is Ferrari customer Bruno Sterzi with his Ferrari, probably a more normal 166F2 with the single camshaft per bank V12 motor. In car n. 20 is the talented driver Luigi Villoresi with an early Maserati A6GCS running without fenders. Visible behind the front row in car n. 14 is another Ferrari customer Ferdinando Righetti with a car probably similar to that of Sterzi.
Ferrari was a favorite for the crowd of approximately 70,000 which was surrounding the circuit .The Salò circuit had been somewhat revised 
from it prewar form and now had a lap length of some 16.4 km. But Ferrari was not guaranteed the victory as the early races for the 125C had not been encouraging. The circuit began on a road just above the town and climbed all the way up the hills behind the town before descending through a series of steep switchbacks into the town itself before climbing again up to the start/finish straight. Seen at the left is the main scoreboard where the races started and finished. On the upper left area are listed the main runners with their car numbers. Villoresi’s pit is visible just to the left at the road level.
The favorite indeed came first with Farina winning the 18 lap (295 km.) race in just over two and half hours. Sterzi came second with Villoresi’s Maserati in third place. Farina’s margin of victory was just over three minutes.
Photos by Alberto Sorlini ©The Klemantaski Collection ww.klemcoll.com
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