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Born in Galliate, August 8th 1904
Died in Bern, July 1st, 1948
Racing Victories :

Achille was the son of a rich cotton manufacturer in Galliate.
His first love was a Moto Guzzi and when he finished his studies he started racing motor bikes. Within two years he had ammassed a large number of cups and gold medals and had become a celebrity in Italy.
The only man to keep him from the title was Tazio Nuvolari.
In 1928 the rivalling Varzi and Nuvolari decided to go into car racing and started a scuderia.
Achille Varzi was a tactician and an artist at the wheel of a motor car. He was always in command of his car and his emotions. Their scuderia soon fell apart, each went his own way and their infernal rivalry started all over again.
Varzi was always impeccably dressed and groomed even behind the wheel in a race.

In 1930 both were driving for the Alfa Romeo Team, but this did not stop them from dangerously chasing each other for victory. This rivalry made Varzi decide to move to Maserati and later to Bugatti, which the Italian public saw as treason.
In 1933 Varzi and Nuvolari, through the intermediary of the journalist Canestrini decided to make peace, since both were losing too much by duelling.
In 1935 Achille joined the Auto Union Team  and was paid an enormous salary plus prize money. The new rear engine Auto Union, a very difficult machine to get used to, seemed no problem for Varzi. From the first day he was in total control and became the star driver for Auto Union.
1936 started well for Varzi, with a win in theTripoli Grand Prix for the third time, taking the victory away from Hans Stuck on orders from Berlin.
Then things turned sour for Achille. Because of migraines he agreed to take morphine offered by his girlfriend. Gradually Varzi changed, his precise calculated driving became sloppy, he was less well dressed, arrived late for races or did not show up at all and had numerous accidents. When the Auto Union team manager was told of his addiction to Morphine, Varzi’s contract for 1937 was not renewed.

At the end of the 1937 season Achille, having shaken his drug addiction, returned to Auto Union and made a sensational come back, but his physical condition was not good enough to endure a long race. He finished the season with Auto Union, but did not obtain a new contract.
In 1941 he married Sophia and during the war helped her family in the transport business.
Varzi was back on the circuit in 1947 with Alfa Romeo and won three Grands Prix. In the 1948 practice for the GP of Switzerland his car left the Jorden curve and Varzi was killed instantly.

Alfa Romeo decided to abandon Grand Prix racing, but Achille’s wife Sophie persuaded Alfa Romeo to participate to honour Achille Varzi... a true genius of the Italian driving fraternity.