Josef Stelzer

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Josef Stelzer (* 1894 in Munich ; † 1942 ) was a German motorcycle racer .

Life

Stelzer learned the trade of mechanic . During the First World War he served in the air force . He then worked as a racing driver and mechanic for the Munich motorcycle manufacturer Deutsche-Megola-Werke GmbH. From 1924 to 1942, Stelzer worked for the Bavarian Motor Works . He died in 1942. There are different information about the cause of death. A source reports that as a result of the accident, he had to undergo head surgery in the spring of 1942 and died of it a short time later. BMW names cancer as the cause of death.

Megola sports model

Career

Josef Stelzer drove in 1923 and 1924 successfully Megola , a machine with a 640- cc - five-cylinder - radial engine in the front. In 1924 he became a BMW works driver , formed a successful driver duo with Toni Bauhofer from 1925 to 1929 and, in addition to his racing driver activities, was primarily concerned with looking after and developing the Munich racing machines.

1925 won Josef Stelzer on the cylinder - R 39 for the first time the German motorcycle road championship in the 250 cc class of the DMV  - up to and including 1925 written DMV and ADAC separated from one another German championship title from.

From 1926 he started for BMW on large-volume machines with boxer engines and in the same year he won the second German Grand Prix for motorcycles in the 500 cc class at the Berlin AVUS . In 1927 Stelzer won the German Grand Prix again at the Nürburgring , this time in the 750 cc class, and became the first and only 750 cc European champion , as the race that year was the run for the European motorcycle championship in the history of motorcycle racing.

Josef Stelzer was the first German driver to use the throttle grip , winning the 1929 1000 cc races at the Eilenriederennen in Hanover , at the AVUS and the Solitude race in Stuttgart, and became German 1000 cc champion.

From 1930 on, Stelzer was primarily involved in off-road sports . From 1932 to 1938 he was a member of the German team in the International Six Day Tour . Between 1933 and 1935 , Stelzer won the Trophy three times with his teammates Ernst Jakob Henne , Wiggerl Kraus and Josef Mauermayer and Sepp Müller . Nevertheless, he also competed in street races. Stelzer, who always carried a backpack with repair equipment, won the 1933 AVUS race in the 500cc class.

In 1938, Josef Stelzer moved in the 20th International Six Days in Welsh Llandrindod Wells serious head injuries, because those forbidden his doctors to continue to compete in races. Therefore, in his mid-40s, he retired from active motorcycle racing and dedicated himself to looking after the young BMW drivers.

statistics

title

Race wins

(colored background = European championship run )

year class machine run route
1925 250 cc BMW All about the Solitude Solitude
1926 250 cc BMW All about the Solitude Solitude
500 cc BMW Grand Prix of Germany AVUS
1927 500 cc BMW Marienberg triangle race Marienberg triangle
750 cc BMW Grand Prix of Germany Nürburgring
1000 cc BMW Grand Prix of Austria Vösendorf
1929 1000 cc BMW All about the Solitude Solitude
1933 500 cc BMW Grand Prix of Germany AVUS

References

literature

  • Steffen Ottinger: Around Zschopau. The story of an off-road motorcycle ride . tape 1 . Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft Marienberg, Marienberg 2004, ISBN 3-931770-49-4 , p. 8, 11 .
  • Steffen Ottinger: Around Zschopau. The story of an off-road motorcycle ride . tape 2 . HB-Werbung und Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Chemnitz 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-036705-2 , p. 12 ff .
  • Steffen Ottinger: International Six Day Trip 2012. The story since 1913 . HB-Werbung und Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Chemnitz 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-039566-6 , p. 19-29 .
  • Frank Rönicke: German motorcycle world and European champions - from Schorsch Meier to Stefan Bradl . 1st edition, Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-613-03410-5 . Pages 16–19

Web links

  • Josef Stelzer. www.historischesarchiv.bmw.de, accessed on November 25, 2016 .
  • Josef Stelzer. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed June 9, 2014 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Vincent Glon: Eilenriede race - Hanovre (Allemagne). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on April 13, 2009 (French).
  2. ↑ Vincent Glon: Les courses de la Solitude - Stuttgart (Germany). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on April 13, 2009 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Stelzer, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH 1942