To commemorate the revival of the ‘Coppa Florio’, a name indelibly linked with endurance racing since the early 1900s, every competitor at the 2020 COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily will be gifted a bespoke coppola, a flat cap traditionally worn in Sicily, Sardinia, Campania and Calabria.

An emblem of Sicilian culture, the coppola dates back to the 18th century and was traditionally worn by English noblemen visiting the island on business. The shape of the cap and the integrated brim though proved perfect protection from the sun, wind and rain for Italian labourers working on the land, and the coppola was quickly adopted as an expression of the island’s lifestyle, given its dexterity for every season. Palermo and Naples were thereafter the most prominent cities to adopt the flat cap as part of their cultural identity.

Handmade with twead, the ceremonial COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily coppolas feature a ‘12H COPPA FLORIO’ moniker, written in cursive, down one side to commemorate the 20th official running of the eponymous endurance event Vincenzo Florio founded in 1905. A nod to the Sicilian heritage synonymous with the island’s oldest endurance motor race, the gift is also a hat tip – ‘scuse the pun – to the Goodwood Revival, which draws heavily on the UK circuit’s 1948-1966 tenure and every year invites its participants to don period-appropriate clothing. What better way to celebrate the oldest motor race and circuit in Sicily with an icon of the island itself?

“This year’s COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily is a very special event for the 24H SERIES, and we wanted to commemorate the event with something special,” explains CREVENTIC sporting coordinator Ole Dörlemann. “All of our competitors will be competing, tooth and nail, to grab the top step of the podium, and that’s going to be very exciting to watch. But we wanted to make sure everyone took something tangible away from the COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily, and that’s when the idea for the coppolas came up. Everyone involved with the first edition of the Coppa Florio since 1981 will have a memento that will remind them of this historic weekend forevermore.”

Traditionally, each authentic coppola is handsewn as both a perennial link to the original centuries-old design and as an efficient means of production: replicating this age-old technique minimizes textile waste and is thus more conscientious in terms of environmental needs. The robust design also ensures that the coppola retains its shape even after washing. Class and overall winners of the 2020 COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily thus need not concern themselves if their flat caps get drenched with champagne on the podium.