(September 1909)
The sport contributes to the promotion of the new aeronautical culture. The air race held in Montichiari (Brescia) from 8 to 20 September, 1909, is the first of its kind in Italy and the second in the world after the one held in Reims (August 1909). Brescia has already gained distinction for its inclination for sports, having hosted cycling and automobile races. The event attracts a vast and heterogeneous public of spectators. The curious and the pundits mingle with the businessmen, the politicians and the military, all interested in the future developments of aviation. Among the 14 contestants enrolled, there are eight Italians, five French and one American, and notably Louis Blériot, Glenn Curtiss and Mario Calderara. The latter is accompanied by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele D’Annunzio who, in Forse che sì, forse che no, quotes the conversations had with the first Italian pilot.