The origins of the Imola racetrack are remembered by a special witness, Enzo Ferrari, in his 1980 book as:
“My first contact with Imola dates back to the spring of 1948. I thought from the first moment that this hilly environment could one day become a small Nurburgring due to the natural difficulties that building the road belt would have to cross, thus offering a truly selective path for men and machines. From this opinion, the promoters of Imola felt comforted. In May 1950, construction began. I was present at the ground-breaking ceremony, which was hosted by the lawyer Onesti with the greeting of CONI and a contribution of 40 million that I think was the first gesture of the body to motorsports. A small Nurburgring – I repeated that day looking around – a small Nurburgring, with equal technical resources, spectacular and an ideal path length. This belief has been achieved through the decades that have passed since then. “