Alexander von Falkenhausen (racing driver)

AFM 50, built in 1950, at the Oldtimer Festival on the Nürburgring

Alexander Freiherr von Falkenhausen (* 22. May 1907 in Munich , † 28. May 1989 ) was a German racing driver and Diploma - Engineering . He had a major impact on the development at BMW .

Life

Alexander Freiherr von Falkenhausen graduated from school in 1928 and studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich under Willy Messerschmitt , in whose company he could have entered. Since in 1935 he had already gained experience in motor racing with a private BMW Wartburg and BMW 315/1 , he became an off-road driver in the motorcycle department at BMW, where he also became a designer . In 1936 and 1937 he was able to win a gold medal at the international six-day race on a BMW R 5 , which was equipped with a rear wheel suspension designed by him . This rear wheel suspension was taken over into series production with the BMW R 51 . He then briefly took part in mountain and circuit races in a racing car and joined the National Socialist Motor Corps .

During the Second World War, he was involved in testing the BMW R 75 , among other things . After the war, he continued his racing career with a private BMW 328 , but then went into business for himself with his company AFM . In 1948 he won the German Sports Car Championship with a prototype. In 1954 he returned to BMW and took over the racing department there. From May 1, 1957, he was responsible for engine development. Under his direction, Ludwig Apfelbeck developed an engine for the BMW 700 , with which von Falkenhausen won numerous hill climbs and rallies.

After overcoming the economic difficulties after the introduction of the "New Class", von Falkenhausen drove a BMW 1800 TI / SA to several victories in 1964 . His last victory was on August 16, 1964 in a BMW RS 850 Spider at the airfield race in Neubiberg .

In 1966 the new DOHC 16V 2 liter engine with the Apfelbeck cylinder head was ready and was used by Falkenhausen for world records over 500 meters and the quarter mile.

In 1968 he proposed the use of a turbocharger in the touring car championship, which went into series production in 1972 as the BMW 2002 turbo .

Von Falkenhausen stayed with BMW until 1976 and then handed over the management of the racing department to Paul Rosche . He was married to Katharina Freifrau von Falkenhausen, née Countess von der Mühle-Eckart, who also took an active part in racing. They had three daughters together.

statistics

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1963	BMW	Martini	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
											41
1964	Alex von Falkenhausen	BMW 700	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
										26th

literature

• Siegfried Rauch; Frank Rönicke: Men and motorcycles - a century of German motorcycle development. Stuttgart: Motorbuch-Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-613-02947-7 , pp. 32-41

Web links

Commons : Alexander von Falkenhausen  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Alexander von Falkenhausen. Short biography with picture. bmw-motorsport.com, archived from the original on April 10, 2009 ; Retrieved November 25, 2012 . 
• Press release BMW: Alexander von Falkenhausen: The white-blue Lord. prova magazine, June 23, 2007, accessed November 25, 2012 . 
• Alex von Falkenhausen in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hamburger Stadtparkrennen ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Rainer Roßbach: BMW Formula Racing Cars: New Entry in the Sixties. prova magazine, November 15, 2004, accessed November 25, 2012 .