Full Throttle

* The first world championship race to be held at Imola was the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. Since 1981 the race has been known as the San Marino Grand Prix.

* The town of Imola is actually 50 miles from the tiny principality of San Marino and, as any member of the tifosi will tell you, the title of the race is really a clever wheeze to justify a second grand prix in Italy.

* Imola, rather than Monza, is Ferrari’s true home race. The track is just a short drive from the Scuderia’s Maranello factory.

The circuit is laid out on the site of a Roman chariot racing itheatre known as the Cornelli Forum, and runs through attractive parkland. Uniquely in F1, it encompasses houses and gardens within its permiter.

* Imola is one of only three anti-clockwise circuits on the F1 calendar, along with Interlagos and the new Istanbul track.

* The famous Mille Miglia road race used to weave its way through the hills behind Imola and across the famous Futa and Raticosa passes on the run between Florence and Bologna.

* The circuit