Car Events in Italy 2026
There is no country on earth where cars and culture overlap quite like they do in Italy. The 2026 calendar is stacked with events that range from world championship racing at circuits dripping with history to languid drives through the Dolomites in cars that cost more than most apartments. Whether your idea of a perfect weekend involves watching hypercars fight for position at Imola or standing on a Sicilian mountainside as a 1953 Lancia Aurelia threads its way through a hairpin, Italy has something for you this year. Here is everything worth putting in your calendar.
WEC 6 Hours of Imola | 19-20 April
The World Endurance Championship returns to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari for another round of hypercar and GT warfare. Imola is one of those circuits that rewards bravery, with elevation changes and blind entries that separate the committed from the cautious. The paddock atmosphere here is distinctly Italian: less corporate hospitality, more espresso and animated conversation. If you have never experienced a WEC round in person, the sight of prototypes and GT machinery sharing the track as the light fades over the Emilian hills is genuinely special.
Drift Masters Rome | 1-2 May
Drift Masters has been the premier drifting series in Europe for years, but 2026 marks the first time the championship has visited Italy. The venue is Vallelunga, the technical circuit just north of Rome that has hosted everything from Formula 2 to the Superbike World Championship. Expect the best drivers on the continent to bring serious machinery, and expect the Italian fans to bring an energy level that will make other rounds feel tame by comparison. This is a series opener, so everyone will be sharp and hungry for points.
Targa Florio Classica | 8-10 May
The Targa Florio name carries a weight that few events in motorsport can match. The original road race, which ran on the Madonie circuit in the mountains above Palermo from 1906 to 1977, was among the most dangerous and romantic competitions ever staged. The modern Classica is a regularity rally rather than a flat-out race, but the roads are the same narrow, twisting ribbons of asphalt that Nuvolari and Vaccarella once attacked with abandon.
Spending three days in the Sicilian mountains with a field of pre-war Alfa Romeos, vintage Ferraris, and rare Lancias is an experience that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else. The towns along the route treat the event like a festival, and the food alone is worth the trip.
Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este | 15-17 May
If you could only attend one automotive event in your life, a strong case could be made for Villa d’Este. Held on the manicured grounds of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como, this is the concours d’elegance against which all others are measured. The cars are not merely rare; they are often the sole surviving example of a coachbuilder’s vision, machines that have spent decades in private collections and emerge blinking into the spring sunshine of Cernobbio for judging.
BMW Group uses the weekend to unveil concept cars alongside the historic entries, which creates a fascinating dialogue between automotive past and future. The setting is impossibly beautiful, the dress code leans toward linen suits and sunglasses, and the caliber of machinery on display will leave you thinking about it for months afterward.
GT World Challenge Monza | 29-31 May
Monza needs no introduction to anyone with even a passing interest in motor racing. The Autodromo Nazionale, set within its royal park of ancient trees, has hosted competition since 1922 and remains one of the fastest circuits on any calendar. The GT World Challenge round brings factory-backed GT3 cars from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-AMG, and Lamborghini, and the slipstreaming battles down the long straights into heavy braking zones produce some of the best multi-class racing you will see all year.
The atmosphere in the grandstands carries that particular Italian intensity where every overtake involving a red car is greeted as though it were a national victory. General admission is affordable, the park is beautiful for wandering between sessions, and Milan is a short train ride away if you want to make a weekend of it.
MotoGP Italian Grand Prix | 29-31 May
Mugello is one of those places that lives up to its reputation without qualification. Carved into the Tuscan hills north of Florence, the circuit is blisteringly fast, with a front straight where MotoGP bikes routinely exceed 350 km/h before plunging downhill into the San Donato right-hander. The Italian Grand Prix is the home race for Ducati, which means the hillsides are a sea of red and the noise level from the crowd genuinely competes with the machinery on track.
If you have never attended a MotoGP event, Mugello is the one to choose. The setting is spectacular, the racing is always aggressive because every Italian rider treats this as their personal grand final, and the surrounding countryside offers enough excellent restaurants and wineries to justify arriving a few days early.
Mille Miglia | 9-13 June
There is no event in the world quite like the Mille Miglia. Over five days, more than 400 cars built between 1927 and 1957 trace the traditional figure-eight route from Brescia to Rome and back, passing through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Italy. The route threads through the towns around Lake Garda, drops south through Modena and Parma, crosses into Tuscany, reaches Rome, and then returns north through a different set of equally stunning roads.
What makes the Mille Miglia extraordinary is not just the cars, though the entry list reads like a museum catalogue of pre-war Alfa Romeos, Bugattis, Ferraris, and Maseratis. It is the way entire towns along the route come alive when the cars pass through. Families set up chairs on the roadside, restaurants put tables out, and children wave flags. It is motorsport heritage as living culture rather than museum exhibit, and it remains a bucket-list experience for anyone who cares about cars.
Trento-Bondone Hillclimb | 13-14 June
The 75th edition of one of Europe’s great hillclimbs. The course runs 17.3 kilometers from the outskirts of Trento to the summit of Monte Bondone, climbing 1,375 meters through forest switchbacks and alpine meadows. Hillclimbing in Italy has a devoted following that can be hard to appreciate until you have stood at a hairpin and watched a single-seater attack the gradient at full commitment, the sound reverberating off the mountainside.
The Trento-Bondone has the kind of history that would make it a protected monument if it were a building. Generations of Italian racing drivers have cut their teeth on this road, and the locals treat the weekend with a reverence that tells you everything about how deeply motorsport runs in this part of the world.
ALPS Supercar Tour | 18-21 June
Four days, some of the greatest driving roads on the planet, and a curated group of supercars and GTs. The ALPS Supercar Tour starts in Bressanone, in the heart of the Dolomites, and takes in the Stelvio Pass, Furka Pass, and Susten Pass among other legendary mountain roads. This is not a race or a rally but a road trip designed for people who bought their cars to actually drive them.
The passes in mid-June should be clear of snow but not yet overwhelmed by summer tourist traffic, which means open roads with views that stretch across entire mountain ranges. If you own something with a naturally aspirated engine, the soundtrack echoing off alpine rock faces alone is worth the entry fee.
FIA Hill Climb Coppa Paolino Teodori | 27-28 June
The Coppa Paolino Teodori is one of the oldest hillclimb events in Italy, held on a course near Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region. It draws a passionate field of Italian and European hillclimb specialists running everything from lightly modified road cars to purpose-built prototypes that look like Le Mans machinery shrunk to fit a mountain road. The local support for this event is fierce, with the town essentially shutting down for the weekend to focus on the racing. If you want to see Italian motorsport at its grassroots best, away from the grand prix circuits and international spotlight, this is where to find it.
ERC Rally di Roma Capitale | 3-5 July
The European Rally Championship visits Rome for a round that uses tarmac stages in the hills surrounding the capital. Italian rally stages tend to be narrow, technical, and lined with spectators who stand considerably closer to the action than safety officials in other countries might prefer. The roads twist through small towns and olive groves, and the backdrop of the Roman countryside gives the event a character that sets it apart from the northern European forest stages that dominate much of the ERC calendar.
Rally di Roma Capitale has grown significantly in recent years, attracting strong international entries alongside the Italian regulars. The service park is accessible and friendly, and the combination of world-class rallying with a long weekend in Rome is hard to argue against.
F1 Italian Grand Prix | 4-6 September
Monza in September is one of the unmissable fixtures in world motorsport. The Italian Grand Prix is the race where the Tifosi gather in their tens of thousands, turning the parkland circuit into a sea of red flags, flares, and raw emotion. The track itself rewards power and low drag, which means the cars are trimmed out for maximum straight-line speed, and the slipstreaming through Curva Grande and into the first chicane on the opening lap is among the most spectacular sights in Formula 1.
The post-race track invasion, when the marshals open the gates and the crowd floods onto the start-finish straight, is a tradition that belongs to Monza alone. Even in years when Ferrari is not fighting for victories, the atmosphere carries a passion that no other grand prix can replicate. Book accommodation early, because Milan fills up months in advance.
MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix | 11-13 September
Misano is a coastal circuit on the Adriatic near Rimini, and it sits at the geographic heart of the Italian motorcycle industry. Ducati, Aprilia, countless specialist frame builders and component manufacturers are all within a short drive, which gives the San Marino Grand Prix a feeling of being MotoGP’s true home round. This is Valentino Rossi’s backyard, the stretch of coastline where he grew up and where his VR46 academy continues to produce the next generation of Italian riders.
The circuit is compact and spectator-friendly, with good sightlines from most grandstands and a beach resort strip nearby for the evenings. September on the Adriatic coast is warm, the seafood is excellent, and the racing benefits from a field that has had half a season to establish form and rivalries.
WRC Rally Italia Sardegna | 1-4 October
Sardinia offers the World Rally Championship something that no other European round can match: genuinely rough, punishing Mediterranean gravel stages that destroy suspension components and test driver endurance over four brutal days. Based out of Alghero on the island’s northwest coast, the rally uses roads that wind through the scrubby interior landscape, kicking up clouds of dust that hang in the warm air long after the cars have passed.
The stages are narrow and lined with rocks, which means punctures are common and mechanical attrition high. For spectators willing to make the trip to Sardinia, the reward is close-quarters access to WRC cars being driven at the absolute limit on surfaces that seem designed to break them. The island itself is gorgeous, the beaches are empty by October, and the local cuisine is some of the best in Italy.
Rallye Legend San Marino | 4-5 October
If you have ever wondered what Group B rallying looked and sounded like in its brief, terrifying heyday, Rallye Legend is the closest you will get to finding out. Held on closed roads through the microstate of San Marino and the surrounding Italian hills, this event brings out Lancia 037s, Audi Quattros, Peugeot 205 T16s, and other machines from the era when rally cars had more power than sense and less safety equipment than a modern road car.
The atmosphere is somewhere between a historic motorsport event and a music festival, with enormous crowds lining every stage and a party in the paddock that runs deep into the night. It is loud, chaotic, and completely brilliant.
Auto Moto d’Epoca Bologna | 22-25 October
Italy’s largest classic car trade fair takes over the Bologna exhibition centre for four days each autumn, drawing around 120,000 visitors and filling hall after hall with vintage machinery, spare parts, automobilia, and specialist dealers. If you are in the market for a classic Italian car, or even if you just want to browse, this is the place to do it. The range of vehicles on offer spans from affordable project cars to seven-figure concours-ready Ferraris, and the quality of the trade stands is consistently high.
Bologna itself is one of Italy’s great food cities, which means that even the lunch break becomes a highlight. The show also features themed exhibitions and club displays that change each year, so repeat visits always turn up something new.
Milano AutoClassica | 20-22 November
The final major event of the Italian season takes place at Fiera Milano, bringing together classic cars, modern sports cars, and specialist dealers under one roof. Milano AutoClassica has carved out a niche that sits between a traditional car show and a curated selling exhibition, with a strong emphasis on design and the intersection of Italian style with automotive engineering.
November in Milan means the fashion crowd has moved on and the city belongs to its residents again, which makes for a more relaxed visit. The show itself is well-organized and visually polished, reflecting Milan’s reputation as a city that takes presentation seriously. It is a good way to close out a year of Italian car events and start planning for the next one.
Stay updated with Corsa
Italy’s automotive calendar is deep and it shifts regularly, with dates confirmed, postponed, and occasionally reshuffled as the year unfolds. Corsa keeps track of every event listed here and plenty more, with filters for discipline, location, and date range, plus reminders so you never miss a registration window or ticket release. If Italy is on your radar for 2026, it is the simplest way to stay on top of what is happening and when.