PastImperfect

From the archives of Bob Montgomery , motoring historian

From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian

THE ICE MAN!: During his time with McLaren, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen has rightly gained the title of 'Ice man' for his coolness under pressure and it will be interesting to see how he maintains his composure under the very different surroundings of the Ferrari team in the coming 2007 season.

But long before Raikkonen there was another 'Ice man' - one whose story contained moments of greatness as well as tragedy.

Achille Varzi was born in 1904 at Galliate in the Italian province of Novara. Like his great rival Tazio Nuvolari and his contemporary Taruffi, he came to motor racing from the ranks of motorcycling. Varzi and Nuvolari - who had a rivalry comparable to that of Prost and Senna in more recent years - first raced against each other on four wheels at Verona on a wet and windy day in 1927.

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Nuvolari won that encounter and by the time the two had lined up against each other several more times, their differing styles were apparent for all to see. Nuvolari drove with unrestrained passion while Varzi - the Prost of the pair - drove with his head, producing order and style.

In 1928 Varzi ran his own racing team, driving a five year old P2 Alfa Romeo in which he became a household name throughout Italy for his performance in finishing second to Chiron in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Too good to ignore, Alfa Romeo made him a works driver for the 1929 season, during which he placed third in the Mille Miglia and first in the Rome and Italian Grand Prix. After another highly successful season in 1930, Varzi decided he would be better off in a team that didn't also contain his rival Nuvolari, and switched his allegiance to Bugatti for the 1931 to 1933 seasons, netting seven victories in the process.

In 1934 the Monoposto Alfas run by Scuderia Ferrari were very competitive and Varzi was tempted back. The result was seven more victories, but for the following season Nuvolari returned to the team, causing Varzi to switch to Auto Union. At this time no driver had mastered these unorthodox cars but Varzi won his first race, the Tunis Grand Prix in one, and only tyre trouble prevented him from winning the next two at Tripoli and Avus. In 1936 he had a serious crash and was fortunate to walk away unscathed. Following the crash the rest of his season appeared half-hearted and it was the middle of the 1937 season before he returned to racing.

To onlookers his health seemed to have deteriorated and it was some time before it emerged that Varzi had become a drug addict, having been introduced to heroin by his mistress.

Freed from his addiction, Varzi did not return to motor racing until 1946 when he once again drove for the Alfa Romeo team. The Alfas were dominant and Varzi took his share of victories including a series of wins in the then important South American racing series in Argentina. In 1948, and contemplating retirement, during practice for the European Grand Prix at Berne, he skidded in the wet, his Alfa Type 158 overturned and this most stylish of drivers was dead.

Varzi, unsmiling but with a droll sense of humour, immaculate in both his dress and his driving, was a great driver who proved to have very human failings. Despite their often bitter rivalry I like to think that he had the respect of the great Nuvolari, to whom he offered the fiercest competition.