F3000 Monza race off due to noise levels

The decision, taken by the Automobile Club Milano and the SIAS, the company which manages the Monza autodrome, comes after an out-of-court settlement could not be found with a group of local residents, who in 2001 filed a formal complaint over the track's noise levels.

A new court hearing yesterday, the outcome of which won't be known until next week, follows a ruling from last November stating that testing and racing at the circuit without a suitable system to reduce the noise levels will be temporarily banned.

Lawyer Leandro Cantamessa, who assists the Automobile Club Milano and the SIAS, was confident yesterday's appeal will stand.

"We heard from 1,800 people who live in the area next to the Autodrome, and none of them feels the annoyance which is the basis of the official complaint presented by two persons," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It's not a matter of health, but of annoyance which doesn't have a constitutional tutelage when it's against a business activity which has a historical value and produces formidable induced revenues."

A proposal to create noise-reducing barriers and to reduce the number of days in which free-emission cars are allowed to run was put forward at yesterday's hearing.

Besides the Italian F3000 race, all the various competitions scheduled to take place in the same event were cancelled, including the Italian Touring Car Championship and Italian Formula Three.

"This is because, being unable to let the F3000 cars race, interest in the event falls," explained Cantamessa.

The Formula One Italian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at Monza on September 10th.