From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
THE RACE THAT WAS RIGGED: Italians are fond of sweepstakes and one of their most famous, or more correctly, infamous, concerned the 1933 running of the Gran Premio de Tripoli.
A lottery had been introduced to coincide with the first running of the race in 1932 on the new Circuito Permanente della Mellaha in Libya, then an Italian colony. The lottery was to be won by the three holders of the tickets with the names of the race winner and the two runners-up. Some 15 million lire - then a very considerable sum - was raised and half was to be divided between the three winners, with very generous prize money awarded to the drivers and teams, thus ensuring a first class entry.
The race was a peculiar one. Initially, to everyone's surprise, Englishman Tim Birkin led the field in his privately-run Maserati 8C 3000. Giuseppe Campari powered his works Maserati 8C into the lead after five laps and at half distance Tazio Nuvolari took the lead driving a Alfa Romeo Monza Tipo B when Campari pitted for fuel. Achille Varzi was now third, driving a Type 51 Bugatti.
Birkin next pitted for fuel and in the process burned his arm on the exhaust pipe. The injury turned septic, leading to fatal consequences eight weeks later. Nevertheless, he rejoined and moved back up to fourth place.
Varzi's Bugatti had not been running well but incredibly he now began to challenge Nuvolari's Alfa for the lead. Then Varzi slowed again so that Nuvolari re-took the lead.
With just two laps to go, Varzi again speeded up and slipstreamed Nuvolari down the main straight to pass him literally on the finishing line. Birkin meanwhile, brought his Maserati home in third place.
There matters might have rested - a strange race but Grand Prix racing turns up an unexpected race from time to time.
But, things, were not as straightforward as they seemed. The holders of the Sweepstake tickets which had drawn the names of drivers Nuvolari, Varzi and Baconin Borzacchini had an excellent chance of winning on the day, However, they decided to improve their chances by arranging a meeting in Rome with the three drivers.
Accompanied by their lawyers, both sides came to a formal agreement which gave the three drivers half the expected winnings to divide among themselves. Strictly speaking the agreement was perfectly legal as there was no requirement for the drivers to finish in any particular order.
What they agreed was not to race each other, thereby maximising their chances of finishing in the top three.
Apparently the other drivers became aware of the agreement and made their feelings known to the three drivers. The three were unmoved and, on the morning of the race, Varzi and Nuvolari flipped a coin to decide which of them would finish first - providing of course, that they could outrun the rest of the field. Varzi won the toss but it appears that Nuvolari, the born racer, still wanted to win, resulting in a shouting match between the two drivers as they went side by side into the final two laps.
The agreement left a sour taste in everyone's mouth and, like the US Grand Prix some weeks ago, was not one of Grand Prix racings finest hours.
For the 1934 race, the sweepstake drawings were revised to match the lucky ticket holders with their drivers only minutes before the race was started, thus ensuring that such a drivers' agreement could not be repeated.