In the early 1960s, the race was originally held as a three hour event for production-based cars in the World Sportscar Championship before being expanded to a 1000 kilometer distance in 1965. Until 1969, the full Monza circuit which included the banked oval was used, although chicanes were used to slow cars down. A lap was 10.1 kilometers long, yielding a total distance of 1010 km after 100 laps. From 1970 and on, the shorter Grand Prix circuit (approximately 5.8 kilometers) has been used for 174 laps.

Although named the 1000km of Monza, the race has at times been run at shorter lengths, most notably in the late 1970s and early 1990s before the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992. Every Monza endurance race had been run as part of the World Sportscar Championship, with the exception of 1979 which saw only the Italian sportscar championship running.

Since 1992, the race has been used on and off by various series, most notably the Italian GT Championship and Challenge Endurance Italia series in 1997 and 1998. The FIA Sportscar Championship also held a single running of the 1000km in 2001.

In 2004, the 1000km were resumed as a part of the Le Mans Series, which has held the event since then. A race for 2006 was planned by the Le Mans Series, but had to be cancelled due to protests over the noise pollution caused by the event. Agreements were later reached to allow the event to return in 2007.

Winners

External links

• Le Mans Series - 2007 1000km of Monza