Ferdinand Kaczor

Kaczor-BMW 2007 in the paddock of the Nürburgring

Kaczor-BMW at the Oldtimer Festival 2008 on the Nürburgring

Ferdinand Kaczor (* 1940 or 1941 in Altheim near Landshut ; † June 20, 1970 in Ziersdorf , Austria ) was a German motorcycle racing driver and designer.

life and career

After finishing school, Kaczor did an apprenticeship as a locksmith, spent his free time with model gliders as a teenager and soon found pleasure in motorcycles. At first he had a 125 cc, which was soon followed by a 500 cc BMW . During his military service with the Air Force pioneers in Diepholz , he designed his first chassis for the BMW with a two-cylinder boxer engine . The model was the McIntyre frame of the AJS and Matchless machines.

In 1965 he built this frame and, like Rupert Bauer, raced with it. He tuned the engine himself. His motorcycles were successful, so that in 1968 he was employed in the BMW test department. Kaczor was one of the top German drivers at that time. At the ADAC Eifel race in April 1969 on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring, he took second place with his BMW in the class up to 500 cm³ behind Karl Hoppe in URS . He was 34.6 seconds behind and the average speed was 128.55 km / h. On September 7, 1969, his BMW with a two-cylinder bumper engine undercut the Nürburgring record set by John Surtees with a four-cylinder MV Agusta .

In 1970 there was a short collaboration with Friedel Münch . With the 125 hp Renn-Münch, which was supposed to set a world record, Kaczor immediately achieved 284 km / h. The tires could not withstand this speed, so the project was abandoned. Kaczor had also worked as a designer at Münch, but soon left the team to race on a 350cc Yamaha .

On June 20, 1970, Kaczor had a fatal accident while training for a race in Ziersdorf. He was 29 years old.

swell

• BVDM. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
• Motorcycle online. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
• Classic motorcycle. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
• Winni Schiebe. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
• Michael Behrndt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC Eifelrennen. Heel Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-86852-070-5 , S- 258.