Guy Moll #2

Guy Moll Biography

He appeared on the starting grid quite suddenly as if dropped from the sky, this young man from French speaking Africa. His name was Guy Moll, but little else was known of him. The son of a French father and Spanish mother who had emigrated to Algeria, it was rumored that he had only started racing two years previous to showing up at the 1933 Grand Prix de Marseilles at Miramas, host to the 1926 French Grand Prix where he finished an astounding third. Brought there by Marcel Lehoux who in addition to having driven in and won several Grands Prix owned a large trade company in Algeria. While watching Moll drive in local events driving a Lorraine-Dietrich he was struck by the young man’s confidence and natural ability. Lehoux entered Moll in the Grand Prix of Oran, in April 1932. Providing Moll with one of his own cars, a Bugatti 35C, Moll immediately took the lead, only to surrender it to Jean-Pierre Wimille before eventually having to retire due to mechanical problems.

For 1933 Moll ordered one of the latest Alfa Romeo 2300 Monzas. What followed was a series of podium finishes. Lehoux’s wasn’t the only eye he caught; Enzo Ferrari too saw something special. Signed to drive for the Scuderia in 1934 he promptly scored a win at the Grand Prix of Monaco. Ferrari would later remark that “…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.”