PAST IMPERFECT:Last year's Singapore Grand Prix wasn't the first time allegations of fixing have been levelled at the sport, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
EVENTS which took place during the running of last year’s inaugural Grand Prix in Singapore have served to show Grand Prix racing in a bad light, as it has become clear that certain members of the Renault team conspired to “fix” the result of the race.
While this is undoubtedly a low point in the history of Grand Prix racing, it is not the first time that a race has been fixed. That first occurred in the 1933 Tripoli Grand Prix in the most extraordinary circumstances. Libya was then an Italian colony and the newly opened 8.5-mile Melaha circuit at Tripoli was the fastest in the world. To maximise publicity for the race, Marshal Balbo, the newly appointed governor of Libya, organised a national lottery in conjunction with the race.
For months beforehand, the tickets were on sale in Italy and the prize fund was seven-and-a-half million lire, a huge sum of money for the time. Three days before the race, 30 tickets were drawn – one for each of the cars that would start the race.
What happened next has never been substantiated, but it is generally believed that on the eve of the race, Enrico Rivio, a timber merchant from Pisa, called at driver Achille Varzi’s hotel room. He introduced himself and explained that he had drawn the lottery ticket bearing the number of Varzi’s car.
Rivio produced a document drawn up by a solicitor stating that if Varzi won, he could have half the lottery prize money. Varzi made no promises, but as soon as Rivio left, he is said to have telephoned his old rival, Tazio Nuvolari.
Race day was a scorcher, with temperatures of more than 100 degrees in the shade.
The Italian cars and drivers were expected to dominate, but at the end of the first lap, it was Englishman Tim Birkin who led in his privately entered green Maserati, followed by Nuvolari, Campari and Varzi’s Bugatti.
On lap five, Giuseppe Campari took the lead, with Nuvolari second. Varzi was now some 57 seconds behind the leader – things were not going according to Rivio’s plan. At half-distance in the 30-lap race, Campari encountered trouble and dropped out of contention. At two-thirds distance, Nuvolari led from Louis Chiron.
Suddenly on lap 25, Varzi began to move up the order, but by the time he had taken third place the engine of his Bugatti was making ominous noises. Soon, Varzi was slowing and Nuvolari was close to lapping him.
It was now that the race began to unveil, shall we say, a peculiar sequence of events. Borzaccchini, who had been catching Nuvolari, inexplicably slowed while constantly looking over his shoulder.
Then he hit a drum marker and stopped with a burst tyre. Nuvolari had also slowed dramatically, and with a lead of 30 seconds on Varzi as he began the last lap, he looked set for victory. But with just 100 yards to go, he stopped, jumped out and screamed “No petrol! No petrol!”. Varzi, whose ailing Bugatti was barely moving crossed the finish line, as if in slow motion.
Later that night, rumours began to circulate that the race had been fixed. The clamour grew and an official inquiry was convened, but without evidence, it could only issue a warning to those concerned.
In a final sad twist to this controversial race, irkin, who finished third, burned his arm after the race on a hot exhaust. Blood poisoning set in and he died just over a month later.