Guy Moll

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Guy Moll (May 28, 1910 – August 15, 1934) was a French racing driver who became one of the fastest of his era. Born Guillaume Laurent Moll in France to a French father and a Spanish mother who had moved to Algeria, he began racing in 1930 in local events there with a Lorraine-Dietrich.

In 1932, Marcel Lehoux—a successful racer and businessman—gave Moll a Bugatti to race in the Oran and Casablanca Grand Prix. Moll showed talent, leading in Oran before retiring and then making a strong impression at his first continental race in Marseille at Miramas, where he finished third behind the Alfa Romeo drivers Sommer and Nuvolari.

In 1933 Moll drove a Bugatti in several races and earned a second place at Pau Grand Prix in a snowstorm on a track he had never driven. He later bought an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 and began driving Alfa Romeos, eventually racing for Enzo Ferrari with the Alfa Romeo P3 in 1934. He had a series of solid results, including a near-win at the Grand Prix de la Marne in Reims and good showings at Nîmes, Miramas, Coppa Acerbo, and Coppa Ciano.

Moll’s first Grand Prix win came at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1934, after Louis Chiron spun near the finish. A month later he finished a close second to his teammate Achille Varzi at Tripoli. He also won the Avusrennen with a streamlined Alfa Romeo that year.

Tragically, Moll died on August 15, 1934, in a crash at the Coppa Acerbo race at the Pescara Circuit while chasing Luigi Fagioli for the lead; the exact cause of the crash remains unknown. Enzo Ferrari later called Moll one of the best drivers he had ever seen and believed Moll could have become one of the greats. Moll is buried in Maison Carrée, Algeria.