Guy Moll ^[1]

Guillaume Laurent "Guy" Moll (28 May 1910 - 15 August 1934) was an Algerian racing driver.

Moll was the son of a French father and Spanish mother who had emigrated to Algeria.^[2] He had only started racing in 1930, running a Lorraine-Dietrich in sporadic local events, but in 1932 he was noticed by Marcel Lehoux, the Algerian owner of a large trade company and a successful Grand Prix driver in his own right; Lehoux was immediately convinced of Moll's talents and entered him in the Oran and Casablanca Grand Prix's in an older Bugatti he owned. Moll took the lead from the start in Oran, only to fall back to second and then retire, then retired again in Casablanca. Lehoux, undetered, brought Moll to France for his first taste of continental racing at Miramas, and he finished a sensational third.^[3]

After promising efforts in a private Alfa Romeo purchased with family funds in 1933, including a near-win in the Marne Grand Prix at Reims, and a second to Lehoux at Pau in a Bugatti, Moll was signed by Enzo Ferrari for 1934.^[2] Moll immediately scored his first major triumph at the 1934 Monaco Grand Prix when he inherited the lead after team mate Louis Chiron made a mistake at the Station Hairpin with just a lap to go.^[4] A month later, he finished a close second to team mate Achille Varzi at Tripoli amidst an accusation that Varzi had tried to force him off the road^[3][5], and then he won the Avusrennen with his Alfa Romeo in streamlined configuration when a dominant performance from debutant Auto Union ended with Hans Stuck's clutch failure.^[6]

But on a wet and windy Pescara Circuit for the Coppa Acerbo in August, running second and trying to track down Luigi Fagioli for the lead, Moll lost control at high speed on a narrow straight-away, the car running into a ditch and then crashing into a bridge, and he succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.^[7]

Even though he had such a short career, Enzo Ferrari ranked him as one of the best drivers he had ever seen.^[1]

"... a debutant. His name was Guy Moll and he was showing that he belonged to the small group of top drivers. It is true that Moll was not the first foreigner that drove for me, but I acknowledge that he was the most sensational one. That day Moll showed his champion style, established his personality as driver and proved me right when choosing him for my team."^[3]

He was buried in the Maison Carrée Alger cemetery in his native Algeria.

References