Tripoli Grand Prix
| Mellaha Lake | |
| Race information | |
|---|---|
| Number of times held | 14 |
| First held | 1925 |
| Last held | 1940 |
| Most wins (drivers) |  Achille Varzi (3) Hermann Lang (3) |
| Most wins (constructors) | Bugatti (4) Mercedes-Benz (4) |
| Circuit length | 13.140 km (8.165 mi) |
| Race length | 394.2 km (244.945 mi) |
| Laps | 30 |
| Last race (1940) | |
| Pole position | |
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| Podium | |
| Fastest lap | |
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Coordinates: 32°53′13″N 13°18′29″E / 32.887°N 13.308°E
The Tripoli Grand Prix (Italian: Gran Premio di Tripoli) was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania. It lasted until 1940.
Motor racing was an extremely popular sport in Italy and the colony was seeking methods to raise capital and promote tourism—tourists who, it was hoped, would then decide to settle in Tripolitania. But despite the support of the colony's extremely enthusiastic governor, General Emilio de Bono, and some initial success, the events failed financially. Only personal intervention by General de Bono kept the 1929 event from being cancelled, and 1930 was marred by a spartan field, little public interest, and the death of Gastone Brilli-Peri in an accident. Initial enthusiasm and sponsorship had retreated, the fallout from Brilli-Peri's accident meant a 1931 running was impossible, and the dream of a successful Tripoli Grand Prix might have ended there and then.
But the president of Tripoli's auto club, Egidio Sforzini, was resilient. He decided to organize another Grand Prix, this time on a purpose built European style racing circuit. Sufficient capital was raised from the Italian government's funding of a fair promoting the colony so as to make the venture possible, and upon the circuit's completion the Grand Prix was scheduled for the spring of 1933.
This new Mellaha Lake track was a 13.140 kilometer (8.165 mi) long affair situated in a salt basin between Tripoli, Suq al Jum'ah (also known as Suk el Giuma or Sugh el Giumaa (سوق الجمعة)) and Tajura and around the Mellaha Air Base. The track's most distinctive landmark was a brilliant white concrete tower situated across from a large frontstretch grandstand that could hold up to ten thousand people. Mellaha Lake was equipped with starting lights, an innovation, and the additional amenities rivaled the best that continental European circuits had to offer.
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