STORY OF THE DAY: Moll’s Streamlined Triumph at AVUS

Guy Moll won the 1934 AVUS race in Berlin with Scuderia Ferrari’s number 64 Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 Streamliner. Starting ninth, he completed the 15-lap contest in 1 hour 26 minutes 3 seconds and won by almost a minute and a half. The non-championship event was among the fastest races of its period, and Moll’s success gave the Ferrari-run Alfa an important victory against powerful German opposition.

AVUS was dominated by two immense straights linked by broad turns, making aerodynamic resistance and sustained speed more important than normal Grand Prix agility. Moll advanced decisively from the third row while several faster-looking rivals encountered trouble. Once established in front, he maintained the extraordinary pace required by the Berlin course and averaged more than 127 mph across the race.

The Tipo B, commonly called the P3, was Vittorio Jano’s purpose-built single-seat Grand Prix design. Its supercharged straight-eight drove the rear wheels through twin propeller shafts arranged around the driver’s seat, helping keep the seating position low. For AVUS, Scuderia Ferrari enclosed the car in streamlined bodywork intended to reduce drag, an adaptation especially effective on the circuit’s long flat-out sections.

Guy Moll was a French driver born in Algeria in 1910. Enzo Ferrari recruited him after his performances in privately entered machinery, and the young driver immediately justified that confidence with victories at Monaco and AVUS in 1934. Exceptionally fast and composed despite his limited experience, Moll appeared destined for a major career, but he was killed at the Coppa Acerbo later that season, making the Berlin victory one of the brightest achievements of a life cut short.