Point of contact 4: Targa Florio, Palermo, Sicily

Another legendarily tricky venue where Porsche has enjoyed a rare degree of success is the Targa Florio. Cutting through the narrow and mountainous network of public roads that furrow through northern Sicily, this iconic endurance race was a huge physical test of car and driver, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees and a single dusty, straw-strewn lap lasting well over half an hour.

Drivers had to practise on open public roads amongst local traffic and were greeted with teeming crowds of spectators or lethal drystone walls should they put a foot wrong in the race.

Porsche first won here in 1956 in the light and agile 550 Spyder, and followed this formula to a further ten victories before the race was finally banned over increasing safety concerns in the late Seventies.