30/03/2004
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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After years of being a major supplier of the fuel on which we run our cars and our sport, the Middle East has suddenly become the hottest story in motor racing.
There is the Bahrain Grand Prix, course, but we have been anticipating that for some time.
Now Sheikh Maktoum Hashar Maktoum Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai's royal family has announced an the Grand Prix Al series. Unlike the still-born Premier F1, which proposed that leading soccer teams each promoted a car, Sheikh Al Maktoum's proposal seems solid. The Sheikh has the connections, the drive, the enthusiasm and the money to make the new series work.
One can only wish Sheikh Al Maktoum every success. Grand Prix A1 is the most exciting new concept I can remember. It has the potential to excite interest among some of the most dynamic developing economies in the world. It may also provide a credible stepping stone to Formula One.
On he subject of the Middle East and motor, I have had a curious thought. Recently, Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, shook hands with President Muammar Qaddafi of Libya. Almost immediately there was talk of oil companies moving in to reinvigorate Libya's oil industry. Can Bernie be far behind?
Bahrain and China have no history of circuit racing, nor do most countries which have expressed interest in staging a Grand Prix. By contrast, Libya has a rich tradition of racing. Between 1912 and the end of World War II Libya was a colony of Italy. Between 1925 and 1940, save for 1931/2, a Grand Prix was held on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli. The race usually attracted a top-class field and was the scene of some epic battles.
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This was partly because Benito Mussolini, a great motor racing enthusiast, gave the race his full backing. Mussolini had in mind the idea that Italian emigrants should go to Libya rather than America. this would keep them closer to hand and also help subdue the country since his army never completely controlled the Sanussi tribesmen of the interior. It was partly because of excellent appearance and prize money because it was run in conjunction with a lottery or, more accurately, a sweepstake. Punters bought tickets and their tickets were pulled from a drum and the names of drivers pulled from another. The lucky person who secured the winner of the race received the top cash prize and so on down the field. The prizes were remarkable for the time and the Italian press was ordered to give the lottery maximum publicity.
A lot of nonsense has been written about the 1933 race which many people have claimed was a fix because six of the drivers entered an agreement, drawn up by lawyers, to share the lottery winnings with the holders of the lottery tickets . It is one of those stories which get published on a regular basis and most accounts are tosh.
The story originated in Racing Is My Life, the autobiography of the Mercedes-Benz team manager, Alfred Neubauer, which is one of the most useless books ever published on the sport while Neubauer himself is one of the most over-rated figures in the sport's history, He always paraded with stopwatches round his neck, yet never learned how to use them. Neubauer was not present at the 1933 Tripoli GP which, far from being a fix, was a closely fought race.
(The authoritative version was written by Betty Sheldon and is published in A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Vol. III, pp 88f, 129, by Paul Sheldon with Duncan Rabagliati, publ. St. Leonard's Press, 1992.)
The 1939 race was pretty amazing because the organisers decided it to run it to the 'Voiturette' formula (1.5-litre supercharged) because they were convinced that would ensure an Italian win. Alfa Romeo was clearly the favourite with the Tipo 158 (the car that gave Farina and Fangio the first two World Championships more then ten years later) but if Alfa Romeo failed. there was always Maserati.
Working under utmost secrecy, Mercedes-Benz made two examples of the exquisite W.165, which trounced the Italians. It was the only time the W.165 raced and you cannot beat two starters and a 1-2 finish.
Also in 1939, Libya was host to the Mille Miglia. Since the first running in 1927, it is believed that there had been fatalities in the Mille Miglia which had been buried by the Italian media. In 1938, however, the drive of a Lancia Aprilia saloon had lost control on a railway crossing and had ploughed into the crowd. Ten spectators, including seven children, were kill and two dozen more were injured. The race was banned in its traditional format of a single lap of Italy which ran through towns and villages.
In 1939, however, it was back in Libya. A new road had been built link Tobruk with Tripoli and that was about 940 miles long. A new road was a symbol of Italy's progressiveness and it the dash from city to another was given the title, 'Mille Miglia' though it was nothing of the sort and nor was the 1940 race about which BMW has been crowing ever since.
The 1939 race was won by Mussolini's person chauffeur, Ercole Boratto, whose assistant driver was Consalvo Sanesi. Boratto got all the credit but it was Sanesi who did most of the driving.
Libya has a rich history of motor racing, it has massive oil reserves which have been crippled through international sanctions and it has a major image problem. For years, Libya has been branded a pariah state. It has been supporter of international terrorism as we in Britain know better than most. The government also has an appalling record on human rights within Libya.
If Libya is sincere about reforming, it needs to demonstrate it publicly. It needs more than pictures of a handshake between Tony Blair and Muammar Qaddafi, and it needs more than diplomats working behind the scenes. It needs more than the abandonment of weapons programmes. These are all very welcome moves, but yesterday's newspaper is likely in your trash can. Libya actually needs a grand gesture because few of us know much about the country except that it has a rotten reputation, which is tough on the average citizen who goes to work, enjoys time with friends and family and who was not allowed to vote for the current regime.
The company most frequently mentioned in connection with Libya's resurgence as an oil producer is Shell, which is a major sponsor of Ferrari and also a company which currently has an image problem because it has had to reduce the estimate of the amount of oil it has in oil fields which it works.
When the oil flows again at the rate it once did before President Muammar Qaddafi upset many of the international community, Libya will also have a lot of money. The money ought to go towards improving social conditions, but it never does. It is much more likely to go to the aggrandisement of a dictator, which is the story of motor racing in Libya.
Put all these strands together, add the prestige which a Grand Prix bestows on an emergent state, and you may agree that that I am not being facetious when I suggest that Bernie should be on the next plane to Tripoli.
To check out previous features from Mike, click here