2026 Mille Miglia: Supporting an Aston Martin DB2/4 Throughout the Rally

This year, our team at P&K Thornton worked with The Fast Lane Club again to provide technical support for an Aston Martin DB2/4 at the incredible Mille Miglia 1000-mile race. After we received the car, 2 and a half weeks before we left for Italy, we discovered the Aston Martin wasn’t prepared to withstand the intensity of the Mille Miglia race. We went through the process of fully rebuilding the DB2/4 in just two weeks!  The engine, gearbox and back axle were removed. We also worked on the front suspension, brakes, electrical system and a few other components along the way. Find out more about our experience at Mille Miglia 2026 after this quick preparation turnaround.

The Mille Miglia is a legendary historic racing event in Italy. This prestigious regularity rally follows the 1,180-mile route from Brescia to Rome and back, also stopping at Padua, Montecatini Terme and Rimini along the way. This spectacular 5-day race took place between the 9th and 13th of June. The Mille Miglia 1000-mile race originally ran between 1927 and 1957 and was nicknamed “the most beautiful race in the world.” In 1977, the race was altered to a regularity rally and formally became known as the 1000 Miglia and has continued to the present day, still taking place along the same public roads as the original race routes.

Last year we attended the Mille Miglia and supported an Austin Healey 100S at the Italian rally event. Although this Austin Healey 100S had competed in the Mille Miglia years ago; however, last year, the Austin Healey wasn’t prepared to our high standards, or the high standards the Mille Miglia demands before taking it to Italy to compete. Despite these difficulties, we managed to get the 100S across the finish line. Because of how many miles the cars competing travel and the high temperatures, cars can often not finish the race. This year we took extra precautions to ensure we wouldn’t have any of these problems during the Mille Miglia this year, something we successfully did.

However, this took a lot of work from our specialist restoration technicians to achieve this. For the previous 9 months, the DB2/4 was partially prepared at another workshop; however, it still required a lot of work to prepare the classic car for this highly demanding race. Upon collection from the previous preparer and driving it back to our workshop, the car immediately showed significant reliability concerns. The engine severely overheated during the return journey, requiring our team to make six stops to manage the temperature and prevent further damage. Once the vehicle arrived at our workshops, a full mechanical assessment was carried out. A head gasket integrity test confirmed that the engine required further work, and a new head gasket needs to be installed. The inspection also highlighted additional areas of concern, including a cooling system inefficiency, combustion sealing issues, potential wear within the valvetrain and brake vibration under load. This full rebuild required a lot of work in a short time frame, and we had 2-3 staff members working on the classic car over the course of a couple of weeks to get it prepared to race in the Mille Miglia.

A couple of days before transporting the Aston Martin to Italy, it was tested on the track at Silverstone by our client and our Managing Director, Ciprian Nistorica (Cip). The 250-mile test went well, and the classic car ran well in the intense environment. If you want to read more about our preparation work, you can check out our previous article linked below.

Our Managing Director, Cip, and the legendary race driver Grant Williams went to Italy to provide the technical support for the Aston Martin DB2/4. We transported the car there with no problem and set up in the paddock Saturday morning. The event started Monday, travelling into the centre of Brescia to start the race. On the first day, the team travelled 200 miles from Brescia to Padua. On the way, our clients and other drivers got stuck in motorway traffic, and the police encouraged the cars participating in Mille Miglia to follow them to get to the checkpoints. Along the way, we had a lot of support from local residents watching from the side of the road, creating a great atmosphere. They were very enthusiastic; some people were having meals and parties at the side of the road. However, the worst issue the team faced was on the first day: the support team was following the Aston Martin, and they saw something fall off; at first, they thought it was a small bracket. After stopping and picking up the item, they discovered it was the handbrake linkages. This was repaired later in the evening when they reached the checkpoint.

Each evening, our team conducted a service on the classic car and filled it with petrol in the morning. At the end of the second night, whilst completing the service, the team discovered that the small misfiring problem detected on the first night had gotten a lot worse. When the car wouldn’t start, they investigated and discovered that the coil was damaged. They switched this out for the other coil in the car and got it on the road to the final checkpoint of the day.

On day three, they installed the spare coil that we had set aside in our spare parts, but the support crew were wondering why the Aston Martin was burning through the coils. Cip managed to find a local shop that had one of the coils in stock, so they had a new spare one. However, in the evening on day two, Cip tried relocating the coil away from the heat of the engine. Taking the coil off the engine frames helped stop the problem, and we didn’t require the 4th spare coil.

Throughout the race, our team kept good track of the car and assisted with navigation. Our clients crossed the finish line on day 5 and went on the podium in Brescia and got photos to remember their experience.

We will also be offering a support package for Mille Miglia 2027. We are working with The Fast Lane Club again to offer a full support package for the race and guaranteed entry. We will take care of everything so you can have the experience of a lifetime. Our Mille Miglia package offers a fully managed experience — covering vehicle entry, accommodation, technical support, and race logistics. From admin and licensing to on-the-ground assistance throughout the event, we handle everything so you can focus on the drive.

If you are interested in participating in the Mille Miglia 2027 and have any questions or queries about our package or the event, please get in contact. You can contact our Managing Director at P&K Thornton Restorations, Cip Nistorica, on 0115 9262266 or email him at info@thorntonrestoration.com. If you want to find out more about our 2026 experience at Mille Miglia, please check out our YouTube video linked below.