- Tripoli Grand Prix
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Poster promoting the 1933 edition of the Grand Prix.
The Tripoli Grand Prix (Italian: Gran Premio di Tripoli) was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania. It lasted until 1940.[1]
Contents
Background
Motor racing was an extremely popular sport in Italy and the colony was seeking methods to raise capital and promote tourism—tourists who, it was hoped, would then decide to settle in Tripolitania. But despite the support of the colony's extremely enthusiastic governor, General Emilio de Bono, and some initial success, the events failed financially. Only personal intervention by General de Bono kept the 1929 event from being cancelled, and 1930 was marred by a spartan field, little public interest, and the death of Gastone Brilli-Peri in an accident.[2] Initial enthusiasm and sponsorship had retreated, the fallout from Brilli-Peri's accident meant a 1931 running was impossible, and the dream of a successful Tripoli Grand Prix might have ended there and then.
But the president of Tripoli's auto club, Edigio Sforzini, was resilient. He decided to organize another Grand Prix, this time on a purpose built European style racing circuit. Sufficient capital was raised from the Italian government's funding of a fair promoting the colony so as to make the venture possible, and upon the circuit's completion the Grand Prix was scheduled for the spring of 1933.[2]
This new Mellaha Lake track was a 13.140 kilometer (8.165 mi) long affair situated in a salt basin between Tripoli, Suq al Jum'ah (also known as Suk el Giuma or Sugh el Giumaa (سوق الجمعة)) and Tajura. The track's most distinctive landmark was a brilliant white concrete tower situated across from a large frontstretch grandstand that could hold up to ten thousand people.[3] Mellaha Lake was equipped with starting lights,[2] an innovation, and the additional amenities rivaled the best that continental European circuits had to offer.
With Italy exerting further control over its North African holdings, including the appointment of Marshal of the Air Force Italo Balbo as Governor-General and the joining of Italian Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitania into a single colony, Libya, the event gained even more spectacle. The participants were treated like royalty, staying in luxury at the Hotel Uaddan with its casino and dinner theater and being entertained by Marshal Balbo at his palace. All this led Dick Seaman to describe Mellaha Lake as the "Ascot of motor racing circuits",[3] and coupled with its substantial total prize, it is easy to see why the Tripoli Grand Prix became such a popular date on the calendar.
From 1933 to 1938, the Grand Prix was run to the Formula Libre standard, meaning that no weight or engine restrictions were enforced on what was then the fastest track in the world. In 1939 the Italians, tired of Germany's dominance, turned it into a Voiturette race for smaller, 1500cc cars, but even so a specially-built Mercedes driven by Hermann Lang won.[4] In 1940, with only the factory Alfa Romeo and Maserati teams plus some independents in attendance, Giuseppe Farina took his only major pre-war victory.[5] It was a last and pyrrhic result for the Italians, because the Tripoli Grand Prix was never held again with the onset of World War II.[6]
1933 - Accusation of Foul Play
The Grand Prix was held in conjunction with the Libyan state lottery and, in the case of the inaugural Mellaha Lake event, there have long been accusations of result fixing. From October 1932 to April 16, 1933, the government sold 12 lire lottery tickets and, after taking their cut, they put up the rest as the prize for a special lottery based on the outcome of the race. Thirty attendance tickets were drawn at random eight days before the event and assigned to a corresponding race entry. The holder of the winner's entry would receive three million lire, second place two million, and third one million. The story, first publicized in Alfred Neubauer's 1958 book Speed Was My Life (Männer, Frauen und Motoren: Die Erinnerungen des Mercedes-Rennleiters), alleged that Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi and Baconin Borzacchini, along with their respective ticket holders, conspired to decide the outcome of the race in order to split some seven and a half million lire together. Research suggests that the story is a popular myth.[2]
Winners
By Year
Year Driver Constructor Location Report 1940 
Giuseppe FarinaAlfa Romeo Mellaha Report 1939 
Hermann LangMercedes-Benz Mellaha Report 1938 Hermann LangMercedes-Benz Mellaha Report 1937 Hermann LangMercedes-Benz Mellaha Report 1936 Achille VarziAuto Union Mellaha Report 1935 Rudolf CaracciolaMercedes-Benz Mellaha Report 1934 Achille VarziAlfa Romeo Mellaha Report 1933 Achille VarziBugatti Mellaha Report 1930 Baconin BorzacchiniMaserati Tripoli Report 1929 Gastone Brilli-PeriTalbot Tripoli Report 1928 Tazio NuvolariBugatti Tripoli Report 1927 Emilio MaterassiBugatti Tripoli Report 1926 
François EysermannBugatti Tripoli Report 1925 Renato BalestreroOM Tripoli Report See also
- Italian Libya
- Mellaha Air Base, the airbase that was built inside the circuit.[7]
- Mitiga International Airport
External links
- Grand Prix History, Gran Premio di Tripoli
- Grand Prix History, Triumph: A Victor's Report
References
- ^ now to post a comment!. "Video of Tripoli Grand Prix". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEtz-wzbs9Y. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ a b c d H. Donald Capps. "Tripoli 1933 - A Hard Look at the Legend". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/trip33.htm.
- ^ a b Dennis David. "The Circuits". Grand Prix History. http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/track.htm.
- ^ Leif Snellman. "XIII° Tripoli Grand Prix". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp392.htm#4.
- ^ Leif Snellman. "XIV° Tripoli Grand Prix". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp401.htm#41.
- ^ now to post a comment! (2008-01-21). "Video with images of the 1939 & 1940 Tripoli Grand Prix"". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMuFUccc-B0&feature=related. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ "Circuits of the past". Circuitsofthepast.nl. http://www.circuitsofthepast.nl/tripolienglish.html. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
Tripoli Buildings and
structuresHotelsBab el Bahr Hotel · Corinthia Hotel Tripoli · Grand Hotel Tripoli · Hotel Al Mehari · Hotel Casinò Uaddan · Rixos Al Nasr · JW Marriott Tripoli · Four Points by Sheraton Tripoli · Radisson Blu Al Mahary
MosquesGurgi Mosque · Tripoli Cathedral
MuseumsEpigraphy Museum of Tripoli · Ethnographic Museum of Tripoli · Islamic Museum of Tripoli · Karamanly House Museum · Natural History Museum of Tripoli · Prehistory Museum of Tripoli · Red Castle Museum
Stadia7 October Stadium · Ali Alsgozy Stadium · GMR Stadium · June 11 Stadium
OtherAbu Salim prison · University of Tripoli · Bab al-Azizia · Darghouth Turkish Bath · Fist Crushing a U.S. Fighter Plane Sculpture · Martyrs' Square, Tripoli · Libyan Studies Center · People's Hall · Tarabulus Zoo Park · Tripoli Central Hospital · Tripoli Zoo
History Siege of Tripoli (1551) · Treaty of Tripoli · Battle of Tripoli Harbor · Battle of Tripoli (1825) · 2011 Tripoli clashes · Battle of Tripoli (2011) · Tripoli UprisingSport Al Jamarek Tripoli · Al-Ittihad Club · Alahly Tripoli S.C. · Almadina S.C. · Alwahda · Aschat S.C. · Tripoli Grand PrixOther Categories:- Auto races in Italy
- Sport in Tripoli
- Pre–World Championship Grands Prix
- Motorsport in Africa
- Recurring sporting events established in 1925
- Recurring events disestablished in 1940
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