Grapevine: Head and Theissen to Race in the Mille Miglia

Williams's technical director Patrick Head, co-crewing a 1957 BMW 507 with BMW's motorsport director Dr Mario Theissen, took part this weekend at the 2001 Mille Miglia race. The pair retired on the third day due to technical problems, and were not classified among the finishers.

The Mille Miglia race extends over three days and 1,600km (one thousand miles), over half of the length of Italy. This year's event included tennis star Boris Becker, motor racing legends Jackie Ickx and Jochen Mass, and royalty in the guise of two princesses, Gloria Von Thurn und Taxis and Alessandra Borghese, as well as Prince Leopold von Bayern.

Head and Theissen were driving a 1957 BMW 507. The 3-litre V8 tourer, which produces 150bhp and has a top speed of 136mph, is one of only 252 ever built. The pairing entered as car number 355.

This year's route extended from Brescia in a south-westerly direction towards the Gulf of Venice to Ferrara, before heading to Rome. After the second leg through the Italian capital, the 371 cars that include everything from the Mercedes-Benz 680 S once owned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the Alfa 2500 SS of Mussonlini's mistress, Claretta Petacci, headed northwards back towards Brescia on Saturday.

Head and Theissen were in 127th place out of 290 still running on the second day, with 845 points. They retired on the Rome-to-Brescia leg of the race. The winners of this year's event were Sisti and Bernini in a Healy Silverstone car, with 9307 points.