Heinrich Wieditz

Heinrich Wieditz (born October 24, 1929 ) is a German engineer whose name is particularly associated with the successes of the companies Zündapp , Hercules and KTM in motorcycle off- road racing .

Life

After an apprenticeship at the Junkers aircraft factory in Dessau , Wieditz initially worked as a test rig mechanic at Kreidler in Kornwestheim in the first few years after the war , before moving to Porsche as a racing mechanic at the end of the 1950s and later working as a designer in Hans Mezger's motorsport department. In 1969 he was drawn to two-wheelers in the sports department at Zündapp . The Munich-based company was already successful in off-road motorcycle racing, and under Wieditz, the factory machines became almost unbeatable. The successes included 28 German championships and 27 European championships, victory in the six-day race in 1975 on the Isle of Man and the motocross vice-world championship in the 125 cc class by Gilbert De Roover. After switching to Hercules , the Franconian manufacturer was able to build on earlier successes in off-road sports.

In 1982 Wieditz was involved in the development of the 1350 hp 1.5-liter turbo engine with which Nelson Piquet won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1983 at BMW , the last station of his professional career .

literature

• Leo Keller: Subscribe to victories - Heinrich Wieditz turns 80 . ENDURO (magazine) issue 11/2009, Enduro-Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Schwäb. Gmuend