Entry A total of 483 cars were entered for the event, across nine classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0 litre, for Grand Touring Cars, Touring Cars and Sport Cars. Of these, 378 cars started the event. Also amongst the entry was the four-time winner,
Clemente Biondetti, but by the time of the race, he was very sick man, fighting cancer, and only had a few months left to live. With the British attack failing to make it back to Brescia, it was left to the Germans to provide some opposition to the Italian teams. Encountering a lowered gate at a railway crossing, the Porsche driver,
Hans Herrmann drove his low
550 Spyder under it, narrowly missing an express train. This daring act gave Porsche a first in class and an amazing sixth overall. The event was marred by fatal accidents which killed 5 people and injured 13.
Andre Pouschol and co-driver Gabriel Saisse were both killed and eight spectators injured when his
Citroën 15 Six crashed into a signpost near
Vicenza 75 miles into the race. The second accident saw navigator Silvio Dal Cin lose his life when his driver Ferdinando Mancini crashed his Maserati A6GCS after crossing the finish line. While other competitors were still arriving, Mancini left the course area at speed, waving hands and greeting the crowd. Shortly later, for unknown reasons Mancini lost control of the Maserati and crashed, passing in a long straight towards Ghedi, a neighbourhood of Brescia. During the crash Dal Cin was thrown out and received fatal skull fractures, and on top of this the crashing Maserati also hit an unnamed bystander and killed him instantly. Another accident involving a Renault 4CV of Jean Bianchi-Jean Sigrand at the village of Alfonsine near Ravenna. 15-year old spectator Settimio Caroli was killed and 2 other spectators injured after the Renault went off the road and crashed; Bianchi and Sigrand were both unhurt. There was a spectating woman who was also killed during the race in unknown circumstances. ==Classification==