Leonardo is once again the official security partner of the “1,000 Miglia” competition which re-enacts the 1,000-mile historic car race from Brescia to Rome and back originally contested between 1927 and 1957. This year’s race – from 16-19 June 2021 – will start from the historic location of Viale Venezia in Brescia, and will be the 39th edition of the race’s re-enactment.
Just as it did for the previous 1,000 Miglia race in October 2020, Leonardo will provide its world-class security expertise and technologies to safely manage the 2021 event, which encapsulates and represents Italian spirit.
The combination of the technological excellence and the history of the car race nicknamed “the most beautiful race in the world”, reflects Italy’s distinctive heritage, rich in historic and cultural tradition, as well as being able to innovate in all circumstances.
375 cars will compete in this year’s four-stage race, as well as some specimens of particular value on the Special List, passing through Viareggio, Rome and Bologna. The nature of this event demands the smooth, effective and prompt cooperation of people and equipment along each stage of the journey and so secure professional communications is crucial for a mobile event. The competing cars will be accompanied by the Leonardo IMSS (Integrated Mobile Security System) Van – a deployable mobile control room kitted out with the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system – which will guarantee the security and reliability of communications between the paddock and car fleets. Several terminals with the MCPTT (Mission Critical Push To Talk) system, covered by the national public mobile network, will also be available along the route to support the event. These systems emulate the behaviour of a professional radio on a smartphone enabling videos and data to be exchanged over broadband.
“A complete operational control room that integrates advanced technologies and sensors, a critical multi-technology radio mission system for secure and reliable voice, and data communications will be installed inside our vehicle,” explains Fabio Gloter, Demo Manager, Marketing, Cyber Security Division, who will follow the race from the van supplied by Leonardo. “It will be a pleasure for me to drive this collection of vital technology supporting such an important event for the second year in a row.”
This year, for the first time, Leonardo is also providing the event with analysis of cyber threats (open sources, deep web and dark web) to improve the digital security position of the 1,000 Miglia, through the company’s Global Security Operation Centre in Chieti.
Many of the values of the 1,000 Miglia are also part of Leonardo’s tradition: innovation, resilience, attention paid to the territory and its roots, security and smart mobility. By being the race’s official security partner, Leonardo is able to underline and demonstrate its expertise in these areas.
Leonardo’s presence at such an important sporting event is not unusual. The company has been guaranteeing the security of large events for some time: from the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics to the 2015 Milan EXPO and the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as the Alpine World Championships 2021 in Cortina. With its security and communication solutions, Leonardo protects critical public and private, national and international infrastructures, improving the quality of the experience, not only for the organisers and participants of these big events, but also – and above all – for the public and local communities.
A curiosity
The 39th edition of the prestigious Italian car race sees the re-introduction of one of the features of the original race where the direction of the race changed to an anti-clockwise direction. On the first day, starting off from Brescia, the crews will set course for the Tyrrhenian coast to stop in Viareggio, and will set off again on the following day in the direction of Rome. The race will then head back north in the third stage, leaving the capital city, to arrive in Bologna. The fourth and final stage will leave Bologna, before heading to the traditional finish line in Brescia. One peculiarity that will satisfy a large number of fans is the unprecedented route that will lead the crews to take on, for the first time, the Cisa Pass in the first stage, and the Futa and Raticosa Passes on the third day.