Erik Haps

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Erik Haps alias "Noir" (born December 21, 1909 in Brussels ; † July 1, 1934 at the Sachsenring , Hohenstein-Ernstthal , Germany ) was a Belgian motorcycle racer .

Haps started under the pseudonym "Noir" because he was of the opinion that his profession as a banker would not allow him to start under his real name. In 1934 he was runner-up in the FN European championship in the 500 cm³ class.

Career

Erik Haps began his career in 1927 at the age of 18. He was able to celebrate his first successes quickly, work his way up from the junior to the senior class and keep up with the best Belgian drivers of the time, Robert Grégoire and Pol Demeuter . For this reason, Saroléa signed him for his works team in the early 1930s . In 1934 he switched to the other large Belgian manufacturer, FN . Haps always proved to be a fast driver, but often minor problems and accidents - some of them also leading - prevented him from major international victories.

Even with the XI. One such incident occurred at the FICM European Grand Prix , which was held on June 23, 1934 as part of the Dutch TT in Assen , the Netherlands . While in the lead, Haps fell on the last lap, got up again and came second behind his team-mate Demeuter and ahead of the Dutchman Arie van der Pluym ( Husqvarna ) and thus vice European champion in the 500 cm³ class.

The accident site: the Sachsenring around Hohenstein-Ernstthal .

The following weekend the German Grand Prix for motorcycles took place on the Badberg-Viereck , today's Sachsenring in Hohenstein-Ernstthal . This Grand Prix turned out to be one of the blackest hours in motorcycle history. After there had already been one death in the training runs, three top drivers had a fatal accident in the half-liter run - one of them was “Noir” . He got off to a bad start on this hot day and then worked his way up to second place behind his team-mate Demeuter. Haps lost control of his bike, got off the track, hit a fence and died instantly. Shortly before, the 500cc European champion of the preseason , Gunnar Kalén from Sweden , had a fatal accident at the same point. When the news of Haps' accident reached the start and finish , the FN race director Henri van Hout Demeuter tried to stop and give up the race. However, he did not understand the signals, drove on and fell a short time later, also with fatal consequences.

Erik Haps was buried in the municipal cemetery in Ixelles near Brussels. He was 24 years old.

References

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jules Tacheny: FN prépare sa rentrée. www.jules-tacheny.be, accessed on February 22, 2015 (French).
  2. ↑ Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto; 5th partie: Les Grand Prix d'Europe. (1924-1937); 1934. racingmemo.free, accessed February 25, 2015 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Haps, Erik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Noir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1934
Place of death at the Sachsenring , Hohenstein-Ernstthal