View source for Tripoli Grand Prix

{{Short description|Motor racing event}}
{{Coord|32.887|13.308|display=title}}
{{F1 race
| Name                  = Tripoli Grand Prix
| Flag                  = Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg
| Circuit               = [[Wheelus Air Base|Mellaha Lake]]
| Circuit_image         = Circuit Mellaha.svg
| Laps                  = 30
| Circuit_length_km     = 13.140
| Circuit_length_mi     = 8.165
| Race_length_km        = 394.2
| Race_length_mi        = 244.945
| First_held            = 1925
| Last_held             = 1940
| Times_held            = 14
| Most_wins_driver      = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Achille Varzi]] (3)<br>{{flagicon|Germany|Nazi}} [[Hermann Lang]] (3)
| Most_wins_constructor = [[Bugatti]] (4)<br>[[Mercedes-Benz in Formula One|Mercedes-Benz]] (4)
| Current_year          = 1940
| Pole_driver           = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Giuseppe Farina]]
| Pole_team             = [[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Corse]]
| Pole_time             = 3:37.85
| Winner                = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Giuseppe Farina]]
| Winning_team          = [[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Corse]]
| Winning_time          =
| Second                = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Clemente Biondetti]]
| Second_team           = [[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Corse]]
| Second_time           =
| Third                 = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Carlo Felice Trossi]]
| Third_team            = [[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Corse]]
| Third_time            =
| Fastest_lap_driver    = {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Giuseppe Farina]]
| Fastest_lap_team      = [[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Corse]]
| Fastest_lap           = 3:40.91
}}
[[Image:TripoliGrandPrix1937.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1937 Tripoli Grand Prix.]]
The '''Tripoli Grand Prix''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Gran Premio di Tripoli'') was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], the capital of what was then [[Italian Tripolitania]], now [[Libya]]. It lasted until 1940.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEtz-wzbs9Y  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/KEtz-wzbs9Y |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Video of Tripoli Grand Prix |publisher=Youtube.com |access-date=2011-06-25}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="capps">{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenera.fi/gp3305.htm#12|title=Tripoli 1933 - A Hard Look at the Legend |author=H. Donald Capps |publisher=The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307083239/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/trip33.htm |archive-date=March 7, 2005 }}</ref> 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, Egidio 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.<ref name="capps" />

This new Mellaha Lake track was a 13.140 kilometer (8.165&nbsp;mi) long affair situated in a salt basin between [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], Suq al Jum'ah (also known as Suk el Giuma or Sugh el Giumaa (سوق الجمعة)) and [[Tajura Wa Al Nawahi AlArba'|Tajura]] and around the [[Wheelus Air Base|Mellaha Air Base]].  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.<ref name="ddavid">{{cite web| url=http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/track.htm| title = The Circuits| author = Dennis David| publisher = Grand Prix History}}</ref> Mellaha Lake was equipped with starting lights,<ref name="capps" /> an innovation, and the additional amenities rivaled the best that continental European circuits had to offer.
[[File:Idrovolante e costa africana,Libia.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Stamp celebrating the 1934 Tripoli Grand Prix.]]

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 driver [[Dick Seaman]] to describe Mellaha Lake as the "[[Ascot Racecourse|Ascot]] of motor racing circuits",<ref name="ddavid" /> 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.<ref name="goldenage">{{cite web| url=https://www.goldenera.fi/gp392.htm#4| title = XIII° Tripoli Grand Prix| author = Leif Snellman| publisher = The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing}}</ref> 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.<ref name="goldenage2">{{cite web| url=https://www.goldenera.fi/gp401.htm#41| title = XIV° Tripoli Grand Prix| author = Leif Snellman| publisher = The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing}}</ref>  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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMuFUccc-B0  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/KMuFUccc-B0 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Video with images of the 1939 & 1940 Tripoli Grand Prix |publisher=Youtube.com |date=2008-01-21 |access-date=2011-06-25}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===1933 – Accusation of corruption ===
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 16 April 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.<ref name="capps" />

==Winners==

===By year===

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Year
! Driver
! Constructor
! Location
! Report
|-
! [[1940 Grand Prix season|1940]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Giuseppe Farina]]
| [[Alfa Romeo in motorsport|Alfa Romeo]]
| Mellaha
| [[1940 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1939 Grand Prix season|1939]]
| {{flagicon|Germany|1935}} [[Hermann Lang]]
| [[Mercedes-Benz]]
| Mellaha
| [[1939 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1938 Grand Prix season|1938]]
| {{flagicon|Germany|1935}} [[Hermann Lang]]
| [[Mercedes-Benz]]
| Mellaha
| [[1938 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1937 Grand Prix season|1937]]
| {{flagicon|Germany|1935}} [[Hermann Lang]]
| [[Mercedes-Benz]]
| Mellaha
| [[1937 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1936 Grand Prix season|1936]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Achille Varzi]]
| [[Auto Union]]
| Mellaha
| [[1936 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1935 Grand Prix season|1935]]
| {{flagicon|Germany| 1935}} [[Rudolf Caracciola]]
| [[Mercedes-Benz]]
| Mellaha
| [[1935 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1934 Grand Prix season|1934]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Achille Varzi]]
| [[Alfa Romeo in motorsport|Alfa Romeo]]
| Mellaha
| [[1934 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1933 Grand Prix season|1933]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Achille Varzi]]
| [[Bugatti]]
| [[Mellaha Air Base|Mellaha]]
| [[1933 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1930 Grand Prix season|1930]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Baconin Borzacchini]]
| [[Maserati]]
| Tripoli
| [[1930 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1929 Grand Prix season|1929]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Gastone Brilli-Peri]]
| [[Talbot (automobile)|Talbot]]
| Tripoli
| [[1929 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1928 Grand Prix season|1928]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Tazio Nuvolari]]
| [[Bugatti]]
| Tripoli
| [[1928 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1927 Grand Prix season|1927]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Emilio Materassi]]
| [[Bugatti]]
| Tripoli
| [[1927 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1926 Grand Prix season|1926]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[François Eysermann]]
| [[Bugatti]]
| Tripoli
| [[1926 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1925 Grand Prix season|1925]]
| {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} [[Renato Balestrero]]
| [[Officine Meccaniche|OM]]
| [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]
| [[1925 Tripoli Grand Prix|Report]]
|}

==See also==
* [[Italian Libya]]
* [[Wheelus Air Base|Mellaha Air Base]], the airbase that was built inside the circuit.
*[[Mitiga International Airport]]

==External links==
*[http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/tripoli.htm Grand Prix History], Gran Premio di Tripoli
*[http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/triumph1.htm Grand Prix History], Triumph: A Victor's Report

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Tripoli}}
{{Italian Libya}}

[[Category:Auto races in Italy]]
[[Category:Auto races in Libya]]
[[Category:Sport in Tripoli, Libya]]
[[Category:Pre-World Championship Grands Prix]]
[[Category:Motorsport in Africa]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1925]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1940]]
[[Category:Auto racing controversies]]