This year, there are a few changes to the historic Mille Miglia car race that travels from Brescia to Rome and back again. Firstly, the route will cross the Cisa Pass, a 113-kilometer mountain pass that marks the divide between the Ligurian and Tuscan Apennines. Secondly, the race will now run from Wednesday to Saturday, instead of Thursday to Sunday to ease congestion in certain areas.
One thing that remains the same, however, is Chopard’s role as official sponsor and timekeeper. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the brand’s partnership with the race. Chopard’s Co-Founder Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and his famous co-pilot, racing legend Jacky Ickx, were at the press conference to celebrate this long-standing partnership, but also to hear what the Mille Miglia 2018 race has in store for them as they will be taking the wheel together again this year.
The two gentlemen drivers were also present to unveil this year’s Chopard Mille Miglia watch, a limited-edition timepiece that is part of the kit each team receives when they participate in the Mille Miglia. Each year Chopard creates a new limited edition for the race and its participants.
This year’s Mille Miglia edition is a stainless-steel self-winding chronograph with three white subdials in a 3-6-9 configuration on a black dial. The watch is paired with a black perforated leather strap with red stitching in true racing style.
It isn’t only Chopard and the Mille Miglia that are celebrating 30 years together, but also Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Jacky Ickx who have been racing buddies since 1989. This racing duo competes together every other year in Scheufele’s Porsche 550 Spyder RS, a car that never fails to catch the attention of the crowds who line the route.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Scheufele and Ickx to talk about their friendship, the magic of the Mille Miglia and what they love about racing together. See the interview below and stay tuned in May for coverage of the race itself.
