‘Stirling Moss’ lasting rift with Enzo Ferrari made every win in a green racing car all the more pleasing’
My partner Liz is very tolerant of my various automotive obsessions, particularly when we are planning holidays. When her great friend announced she was hosting a 60th-birthday gathering in Puglia, my first thoughts werenʼt the beautiful white hilltop towns of the Valle dʼItria or the glittering turquoise sea around the Tremiti archipelago, but a chance to walk the old Bari Grand Prix course. From the first race in 1947, the 5.5km Circuito della Fiera del Levante street circuit has an absorbing history.
There was no doubting the enthusiasm of the local club in the poorest region of Italy, particularly that of president Francesco Chieco, a local barrister who first proposed the Grand Prix. Chieco convinced Alfa Romeo to send exotic Alfettas for Achille Varzi, Carlo Felice Trossi and Consalvo Sanesi, the team no doubt tempted by the generous prize. The rest was a mixed bag that even included a pre-war Alfa Monza and Maserati 26M. Trossi didnʼt show up, but the Alfettas were soon lapping the field, headed by Varzi. Teammate Sanesi spun mid-race, but his off was on a downhill stretch, which allowed him to bump-start the Alfetta and rejoin. Varzi was eight minutes clear by lap 30 and stopped in the pits to wait for Sanesi to catch up and stage a parade finish.
The World Championship-winning Alfettas were back in 1950 for a much more exciting race, with locals relishing the chance to see Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio do battle. But the main interest focused on the sensational performance of Stirling Moss, dramatically beating Scuderia Ferrari and finishing third in his F2 HWM, just two laps behind the Alfas despite the huge power gap.
When the haughty Farina lapped the 20-year-old he chopped across the nose of the HWM, but as a result he ran wide, allowing Moss to re-pass in front of the main grandstand. Fangio witnessed the incident from behind, and as he overtook Moss he gave him a huge grin.
The result lifted the HWM teamʼs spirits. During the 1200-mile journey from Reims the previous weekend, one of the transporters, driven by youngster Frank Nagel on his first trip abroad, got lost in the night. Then, in the paddock, Rex Woodgate was badly burned when a tray of cleaning fuel ignited. The saga is vividly recalled in Simon Taylorʼs w
