The first victories
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 After several races, often ending in victories, over the two-year period 1908-1909, Vincenzo Lancia abandoned competition and expressly forbade the official participation of his cars in sporting events. This decision may seem paradoxical, but actually stemmed from his desire to concentrate all the company’s resources on the design and construction of road cars. It was impossible to prevent private owners from racing, however.
As a result, when customers discovered the sporty temperament of the Lambda, many of them entered races, and the first victories quickly followed. The same thing happened with the Aprilia, which trained an entire generation of drivers during the Second World War, all without any official support.
It wasn’t until 1951 that the company officially returned to competition, under the guidance of the young Gianni Lancia, who was a genuine motor racing enthusiast. Four privately-owned Aurelia B21s received backing from Lancia to take part in the Tour of Sicily, and claimed the first four places in their class, defeating the Alfa Romeo 1900s, the outstanding sports car of the period. The gauntlet had been thrown down.
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 Four production models of the Aurelia Granturismo B20 were entered for the Mille Miglia race.
Bracco finished second, behind Villoresi’s Ferrari, which had twice the Lancia’s engine capacity. Bracco, accompanied by Lurani, then went on to claim victory in their class at the Le Mans 24-hour race. Enthusiasm was sky high.
In 1952 Bonetto won the Targa Florio, and the Lancia Team was officially founded, with the galloping elephant as its emblem, originally in blue.
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