Once upon a time on the island of Sicily, there was a race that ran right through your village.
从前,西西里岛有一项比赛会直接在村民们的家门口上演。
It was glorious. It was beautiful. It was clearly planned before safety was a consideration.
这项比赛壮丽非凡,漂亮非凡,而且明显没有把安全考虑进去。
The Targa Florio was founded in Sicily by a speed loving fellow named Vincenzo Florio in 1906.
1906年,一位名叫文森佐·弗洛里奥的极速爱好者在西西里创建了塔格·佛罗热大赛。
And it enthralled the racing world for decades to come.
在接下来的几十年里,这项比赛一直吸引着赛车界的无数健儿。
But this was no ordinary race.
然而,塔格·佛罗热大赛并不是一项普通的汽车赛。
It took place in the mountains outside of Palermo.
这项赛事的赛道在巴勒莫周边的群山上。
Racers encountered bandits, wolves, 500-plus hairpin turns on roads that hadn't changed since togas were in fashion.
赛车手在公路上会遇到土匪、狼、500多个急转弯,从古罗马时期至今,那些赛道就一直没变过。
The course went straight through towns and villages with no barricades or warnings.
这条赛道从城镇和村庄中径直穿过,既没有路障,也没有警示牌。
The first year a driver named Alessandro Cagno won.
比赛第一年,夺冠的是一位名叫亚历山德罗·卡格诺的车手。
It took him nine hours and his average speed was 30 miles an hour.
他平均速度30英里/小时(约50公里/小时),一共跑了9个小时才跑完全程。
The Targa Florio ran for 71 years.
塔格·佛罗热大赛已经举办了71年。
Titans of the car world like Mario Andretti competed,
马里奥·安德烈蒂之辈的赛车行业巨头们也曾在这项比赛上露脸,
but a growing realization that the race was crazy dangerous led to it being shut down in 1977.
然而,随着越来越多的人觉得这场比赛疯狂而危险,这项赛事已经于1977年取消了。
It was the longest running car race in the world at the time.
曾经,塔格·佛罗热大赛是世界上赛程最远的比赛。
Today, the grandstand outside Palermo sits empty,
如今,巴勒莫外的看台早已空空荡荡,
but evidence of the race is everywhere, peaking out in the beautiful landscape.
但比赛的迹象依旧随处可见,散落在美丽的风景之中。
The Targa Florio became synonymous with a long and grueling race.
如今,塔格·佛罗热大赛已经成了漫长而艰苦的比赛的代名词。
In the years after its end, tribute Targas have popped up across the world, but true racing enthusiasts know it all began here.
在它结束后的几年里,世界各地都涌现出了各种各样的纪念赛,但真正的赛车爱好者知道,它们的源头还是这里。