A Clock For The Mille Miglia And 1000 Pas Rallies

I recently acquired a clock that was developed specifically developed for competition in the Mille Miglia rally.  And because of the event similarities, it would also be very suitable for the 1000 Pas in Argentina.  This clock is made by Blizz Timing in Italy.  Many of the top teams in the Mille Miglia use Blizz Timing clocks for time keeping in the Mille Miglia.  My Blizz Timing C-200 clock is shown below.

Blizz Timing C-200 Clock

When I bought my Blizz Timing C-200 clock, it was used and it needed some servicing.  As a result, I sent the clock over to Italy to the manufacturing facility for the Blizz Timing clocks for repair.  After the Italian customs folks held my clock hostage for a few days, they finally released it to the Blizz Timing folks.  Once they got the clock they were able to make the necessary repairs and they sent it back to me with no major problems.  In addition, they included a very nice carrying case for the clock.  The total cost of purchasing the clock and having it updated/serviced by the Blizz Timing folks was considerably less than the cost of a new clock.

The picture below shows a Healey Silverstone that finished 24th Overall and 2nd in Class in the 2015 Mille Miglia.  As you can see, just in front of the navigator’s head, they are using a Blizz Timing clock for timing.  I also see that they used a Halda Twinmaster as their calibrated rally odometer.

A Mille Miglia Competitor With A Blizz Timing Clock Fitted

The Blizz Timing C-200 has the ability to keep track of multiple countdown goals.  The two main timing challenges in the Mille Miglia and the 1000 Pas are the CO Controls (which are the overall starting and stopping times) and the PC controls which are the various time trials that must be achieved during the day within the overall daily or CO time.  The Blizz Timing C-200 allows up to 120 CO times and 120 PC times to be stored in memory.  This allows for the entire Mille Miglia to be entered into the clock, and checked, before the event starts.

The clock also will provide beeps as the time counts down.  The extent and frequency of the beeping can be adjusted.  I suspect that most drivers would at least have the beeps occur each second for the last 10 seconds.  The ability to hear the clock countdown in a clear and consistent manner allows the driver to better internalize the time and therefore be able to better focus on the closing speed and distance as the timing line is approached.

Normal Time-Of-Day View –  Hour:Minute:Seconds

In order to enhance the performance of the C-200 clock.  I have fitted the clock with a set of removable earphones which will allow the driver to better hear the beeps during the final moments of the countdown.

The other improvement that I made was to go to a great electronic store in Needham, Massachusetts, “You Do It” (this is the type of store that you would want Radio Shack to actually be) to purchase the needed switches and connection components that allowed me to makeup a remote hand-held “START” switch.  For me, I find that this remote switch is much easier to use with accuracy than the push button “START” button on the clock face.

Split Time View Showing Minute:Seconds:Hundredths

The clock is very useful and it is in great shape after its re-build by the Blizz Timimg folks in Italy.  However I am in the process of re-writing the operating instructions for this clock using language and terms that I am more familiar with.  The existing Blizz Timing instructions for the C-200 are a little confusing, so I am re-writing them based on my own experience and testing as well as words and phrases related to the Mille Miglia competition.  Some of the instruction modifications are likely due to word choices in the original translation from Italian to English.

For those who are interested I have attached the official instructions for this clock prepared by Blizz Timing.  Just click on the file below.  Over the next year I will integrate my revised C-200 users instructions  into updates to the navigation and timing notes that I have prepared for the Mille Miglia.

C200_INSTRUCTION_ENG (1)