Last week, Yasmin served as co-pilot to fellow petrol-head David Gandy (of Dolce & Gabbana ads and Blue Steel Appeal charity initiative) in “the world’s most beautiful car race,” the Mille Miglia.
This intense 3 day rally that runs a thousand mile (1600 km) route through scenic Italy from Brescia to Rome and back is open to some of the most spectacular classic cars produced between 1927 and 1957. David and Yasmin drove a 1950 Jaguar XK120 OTS as part of the Jaguar Heritage Racing team.
Yasmin was one of a small number of women drivers to participate in the Mille Miglia, which is predominantly run by men.
The day before the start of the race, the Jaguar team converged in Brescia for scrutineering to check over the cars and pose for a few photos, many of which David submitted to Vogue as part of his racing diary.
The Mille Miglia began on Thursday, May 16th in Brescia’s Piazza della Loggia with a downpour that doused David and Yasmin in their open convertible. Thankfully, the sun had come back out by the time they began racing later that evening.
The second leg began on the morning of Friday, May 17th in the town of Ferrara with Yasmin at the wheel.
Somewhere between Ravenna and Gamboletta, the XK120 was run off into a ditch. David told Vogue, “Wee accident caused by another Mille competitor. Yasmin, who was driving, did brilliantly, keeping us away from houses, trees and spectators!” Thankfully, neither of them were hurt, though the car was damaged, particularly to the left front bumper and passenger door. With the assistance of the Jaguar support crew, they were soon back en route.
The third and final leg began on the morning of Saturday, May 18th in Rome, where Yasmin and David paused to take some photos before recommencing their journey.
It was after 13 solid hours of driving that the Gandy/Le Bon team crossed the finish line in Brescia to place 169th overall. Out of the 415 cars that began the race, only 340 completed.
What did they think of the experience? David revealed to Vogue, “Both myself and Yasmin’s answers were exactly the same to the question ‘Would you do it again?’ Yes, we’d do it again tomorrow if we could. We laughed (a lot), we cried a little, hardly slept, have bruises and wind burn, but we made many new friends and have memories that we will never, ever forget.”
Congratulations to David and Yasmin for their impressive showing during the Mille Miglia!
Check out all the photos from the race on Yasmin’s official site (scroll to the bottom).
Yasmin Le Bon official 
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