Kurt Bergmann (technician)
Kurt "Masta" Bergmann (also known as Master Bergmann ; born January 15, 1929 ) is an Austrian former Opel workshop owner and racing car builder. As a racing team operator in Formula Vee , he was the owner of the Kaimann racing car manufacture and head of the Kaimann team .
Life
Starts as a master mechanic and in motorsport
After completing his master craftsman's examination , Kurt Bergmann founded a car company in Vienna - Essling in the immediate vicinity of Aspern Airport in 1963 . A year later he received an Opel service contract. He was one of the first karting pioneers and drove several international races.
In 1964/65, Porsche race director Huschke von Hanstein bought ten so-called “Beach Cars” and “Form Cars” in the USA and brought them to Europe. It was an inexpensive motor sport that was operated with racing vehicles made from standard VW Beetle components . In the English "Formula Vee" ("The V stands for VW, a bit for crazy. But the idea works."), The Formula Vee was Germanized with "Formula Vau". After the first demonstration runs in Germany, the Austrian karting elite, including Bergmann, was invited to a race in Innsbruck . Bergmann, who had already seen "for the first time a real racing car over at the Aspern airfield" from the roof window of his garage (Bergmann: "I didn't even know what a racing car looks like") Fascinated by the idea and was allowed to borrow one of the beach cars for three weeks to recreate it. With VW 1200 units, he built his first three racing cars based on the American model: “My car was more beautiful than the American's. But it was a Kraxn, the second too. Both to be thrown! ”Bergmann had success with his third and Formula Vee arrived in Austria.
Bergmann in Formula Vee
The first drivers were Werner Riedl and Fritz Glatz , then Dieter Quester . The Kaimann team was born, Kurt Bergmann team boss. The following year, Erich Breinsberg and Dieter Quester drove the races. Dieter Quester achieved his first victory on a Kaimann in the Aspern airfield race in 1967. "For years, the best Bergmann drivers have broken the door, everyone wants to drive for the Masta: 'I didn't invite anyone, they all came to me!'"
1968 brought an important change in the regulations. Engines and aggregates now came from the more powerful VW 1300. A stiff tubular frame was constructed for the Kaimann Mark III. He was supported by the Technical University of Vienna and the assistants at the time, Fritz Indra and Heinz Lippitsch. Lippitsch designed a torsion tower to stiffen the frame, which proved itself convincingly. Kurt Bergmann chose Helmut Marko (called the "Doktor" as a doctor of law), Günther Huber and Erich Breinsberg as the driver . Marko won several races and the Austrian championship for the team. He switched to Martini Racing via Formula 3. In 1971 Helmut Marko won the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche 917 . In the same year he drove for BRM in the Formula 1 team. After 9 Grand Prix starts, he had to end his driving career. Marko became a motorsport manager and is now the mastermind or driving force behind the Red Bull Formula 1 team.
The next year the Kaimann cars had a new body. The young Niki Lauda joined the team . Lauda and Breinsberg were successful with several victories, this time the championship went to Breinsberg. The only twenty-year-old Niki Lauda came third in the championship. Lauda's path now led to Ferrari via formulas 3, 2 and 1. He became world champion in Formula 1 three times and founded several airlines. Today he is a partner and supervisory board member of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
1970 turned out to be the most successful year for Kurt Bergmann to date. The “Kaimänner” were piloted by Erich Breinsberg, Harald Ertl and Peter Peter (junior of a glove dynasty and therefore called “Fäustling” in the paddock). For the first time it was possible to bring the European Cup to Eßling with Erich Breinsberg and also the Austrian championship. This marked the end of the Formula V 1300 era for the Kaimann team. Harald Ertl's path also went through Formula 2 and the German racing championship to Formula 1. He drove a total of 21 Formula 1 races for Hesketh, Ensign and ATS Ford.
Formula Super V
Volkswagen created a stronger and faster successor series. The Formula Super V 1600 ("Formula Super Vau") had Volkswagen engines again, and was already at the level of the international Formula 3 in terms of performance and speed . The first race for Kurt Bergmann's Kaimann Super V Team in 1971 was the Trans Atlantic Challenge. The annual USA - Europe match took place at Daytona Speedway in the USA. Four European brands competed against the US phalanx. In a close final, the Kaimann Super V with Erich Breinsberg won ahead of the American champion Tom Davey . It was the first victory for Europe in the USA.
Volkswagen announced an international championship with ten European races, the "Super V Gold Cup". Kurt Bergmann chose the drivers Helmut Koinigg , Werner Riedl and again Erich Breinsberg for his Super V team . It was the most successful year for the Kaimann team. The victory in the gold cup championship went to Erich Breinsberg ahead of Greger Kronegard from Sweden from the Bonnier-Lola team. Kurt Bergmann was awarded the Constructors Trophy, which was presented for the first time. After these successes, Erich Breinsberg withdrew from the Super V and was twice vice mountain champion with a Brabham BT 21 V8. For Kurt Bergmann it was used on a March Formula 2.
In 1972 Helmut Koinigg drove again for the Kaimann team and as paydriver Kennerth Persson and Harald Menzel . Manfred Schurti on Royal won the gold cup just ahead of Helmut Koinigg. In 1973 Helmut Koinigg was also the works pilot, with Swedes Kennerth Persson and Tommy Brorsson at his side. Helmut Koinigg won the gold cup. Kennerth Persson won the GTX Trophy for the Kaimann team. Kurt Bergmann won the Constructors Trophy a second time. In 1974, Helmut Koinigg made the long-awaited leap into Formula 1 , with John Surtees' team . In his second race, the US Grand Prix, he had a fatal accident.
As a new project, Kurt Bergmann and Ludwig Apfelbeck built an Opel -based engine for Formula 2. Initially, a used March chassis was to serve as a test vehicle. The engine was not stable. The project went beyond budget and was discontinued.
In 1974 only Scandinavian drivers drove in the Kaimann team. The Finn Keke Rosberg joined Kennerth Persson and Tommy Brorsson . This time the gold cup went to Freddy Kottulinsky from the Bonnier-Lola team, followed by Kennerth Persson and Keke Rosberg. Kaimann and Kennerth Persson won the GTX Trophy ahead of Keke Rosberg. In 1975 Keke Rosberg rode the Kaimann again, but this time with Leopold Prinz von Bayern as a team-mate for the German core team. The gold cup again went to the Bonnier-Lola team with Mikko Kozarowitzky ahead of Kennerth Persson on Kaimann. Keke Rosberg auf Kaimann won 8 races of the GTX Trophy, won the trophy and relegated Mikko Kozarowitzky to second place. Keke Rosberg switched to Formula 2 in 1976 and to Formula 1 in 1978, in which he drove 114 races. In 1982 he became world champion in the Williams team.
With the departure of Keke Rosberg, a successful decade for Kurt Bergmann's Kaimann team came to an end. There were still a few minor successes, but the championships were won by the English and Scandinavian teams. Bergmann was a successful co-designer in the glorious era for Austrian motorsport. In just over a decade, he built over 200 of his coveted racing cars in his small workshop. Only on the British Isles were there such successful teams.
Kurt Bergmann was the discoverer and promoter of a successful generation of drivers. Some young drivers made their way into Grand Prix racing from the workshop in Essling. Eight Kaimann pilots made it into Formula 1. Niki Lauda and Keke Rosberg became world champions, Lauda three times. In addition to these two champions, Helmut Marko, Helmut Koinigg, Dieter Quester, Harald Ertl, Jochen Mass and Jo Gartner also got their first victories on the Kaimann racing car.
End of racing car construction
Volkswagen changed its strategy and successfully entered the international Formula 3 with a modified Golf GTI engine. A Formula 3 project proposed by Kurt Bergmann was canceled. Bergmann stopped racing at the end of the 1978 season after Formula Super Vee became increasingly expensive and stagnated. He continued to look after private drivers, but put the focus of his operation back on the repair and maintenance of road vehicles. The son later took over the management of the company, but he suddenly died on December 31, 2005 shortly before his 50th birthday.
The Pikes Peak Project
At the beginning of the 1980s there was an extraordinary challenge for Kurt Bergmann. The head of Volkswagen Motorsport , Klaus Peter Rosorius, commissioned him to first design a vehicle with two VW GTI engines and all-wheel drive based on a VW Jetta as a test vehicle. After promising test drives, a Golf was built based on the same concept that was used in the annual hill climb on a 19.9-kilometer dirt road at the 4700 meter high Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The project was not fully developed, experience was gained. Kurt Bergmann built the ultimate VW for next year's race. The Golf got a plastic body and grew in width by 20 cm, otherwise the silhouette remained unchanged. It had an aluminum monocoque with a subframe at the front and rear and two 1.8-liter Golf turbo engines, which together made around 650 hp. The engines were installed lengthways and two Hewland Formula 2 transmissions were flanged on. As driver, Rosorius used the rally specialist Jochi Kleint , who seemed to win the race in 1987. But shortly before the goal, a joint in the front suspension broke. The winner was Walter Röhrl in the Audi Sport Quattro. This last major motorsport project by Kurt Bergmann is in the Volkswagen AutoMuseum today . A total of five of these vehicles were produced: the Jetta and the two Golfs at Kurt Bergmann, a VW Scirocco and another Golf in Germany.
The years after active motorsport
After his career as team boss, Kurt Bergmann continued to work for motorsport as a competent "international technical inspector" for years. For the guild of the motor mechanic trade he was chairman of the commission for master craftsman and journeyman exams. The committee recognized his services and elected him as a deputy guild master. Even in retirement, Bergmann did not let go of the manual and intellectual challenge. He designs and builds model submarines and model helicopters, which he demonstrates at demonstration events. He can still be found today at historic motorsport events and is available to drivers and owners of racing cars with help and advice.
Private
Kurt Bergmann has been married to Johanna "Hannerl" Bergmann since the mid-1950s. Their son Peter Bergmann, who took over his parents' business Bergmann Gesellschaft mbH (“Opel Bergmann”) in October 2002 , died unexpectedly, leaving behind his wife and three children. The company and with it Kurt Bergmann's life's work slid into bankruptcy. Since the miners' right of residence was not guaranteed, this meant that the now 79-year-old miner and his wife would not only lose the property with the work rooms, but also their familiar apartment. When they did not succeed in buying the right of residence out of the bankruptcy estate, the businessman and former Kaimann works driver Breinsberg came to their aid. In 2008, after lengthy negotiations, Breinsberg succeeded in acquiring the property for his Liewers (Volkswagen) car dealership in order to set up a service facility for his company. The miners' lifelong right of residence was now secured.
literature
- Commendatore von Essling: Kurt Bergmann. Austria's most important racing car manufacturer turns eighty. A speech by Helmut Zwickl . In: autorevue , edition 01/2009, pp. 114–118. ( Full text online (PDF) on the Formel-Vau.eu website , published by Historische Formel Vau Europa eV )
- Rainer Braun: Master Bergmann - How a generation of racing drivers completed their basic Formula Vee training with a Viennese. In: Hello paddock. Rainer Braun (Hrsg.), Volume 3, 2009. ( Full text online (PDF) on the website Zwischengas, Hrsg. Zwischengas AG. )
- Erich Breinsberg : Niki, Keke and the genius from the suburbs. Egoth Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-902480-58-3 .
- Erich Breinsberg: 70 years young. The Liewers dealership. mymorawa, Vienna 2016, ISBN 9783990570579 .
- Armin Rauschenberger: Apfelbeck Opel 16V Formula 2 engine. In: The reliable one. The magazine of the ALT OPEL-IG from 1972 eV, 45th volume, issue 235, No. 1/2016 with cover picture of the replica of the " Black Widow ", last owned by and used by Kurt Bergmann. ( Full text online on the club website.)
- August Kargl, Kurt Zeillinger: The undercover agent . A legend turns 90: Kurt Bergmann, the technology genius from the suburbs, looks back on his exciting life in motorsport. In: auto touring , edition 02/2019, ÖAMTC (ed.), Vienna 2019, pp. 36–39. ( Full text online (PDF) on the autotouring website . )
Web links
- 90th birthday of Kurt Bergmann. In: Formel-Vau.eu, Ed. Historische Formel Vau Europa eV, January 15, 2019.
- Rainer Braun: Kurt Bergmann - team boss and designer legend celebrated his 90th birthday. In: Zwischengas, published by Zwischengas AG, February 28, 2019.
- Kristin Engelhardt: Opel Classic: The Opel Formula 2 engine. A retrospective on the occasion of Kurt Bergmann's 90th birthday. In: Opel Post, March 2019.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Cf. auto touring, February 2019, p. 36ff.
- ^ Siegfried Schlueter: Visions begin with V. In: Powerslide, special print 45 years of Formula Vau. Petrolpics, Bonn, October 2011, p. 12.
- ↑ a b Rainer Braun: Master Bergmann. In: powerslide. Formula V special edition , Petrolpics, Bonn October 2011, pp. 46–51.
- ^ Karl Holzinger: Kaimann. In: Formula Vau manufacturers under the microscope. 5. Post on the page in: Formel-Vau.eu. Ed. Historic Formula Vee Europe eV, accessed on 10 June 2016.
- ↑ VW Golf II GTI Pikes Peak - the twin Golf. ( Memento of October 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Motor-inside.com, May 4, 2014, accessed on April 10, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Peter Bergmann. Entry in Club Carriere - Encyclopedia of Success, Volume 06/2003, accessed on April 10, 2019.
- ↑ Cf. in autorevue, 01/2009, p. 118: "Hannerl and Kurt forever: The Bergmanns have been married for 54 years."
- ↑ Bergmann Gesellschaft mbH (FN 087678p): With the entry of October 29, 2002 in the commercial register at the Commercial Court of Vienna , Kurt Bergmann was deleted as managing director of the company and Peter Bergmann (born January 6, 1956) was appointed as the new managing director on October 15, 2002. 100 percent of Kurt Bergmann's company shares were transferred to a private foundation . ( Change in the commercial register in firmenmonitor.at of the Wiener Zeitung , accessed on April 10, 2019.)
- ↑ Bergmann Gesellschaft mbH (FN 087678p): Peter Bergmann, born on January 6, 1956, died around the turn of the year 2005/2006, was deleted as managing director of the company on January 18, 2006 in the commercial register at the Vienna Commercial Court and his wife (cf. Peter Bergmnann's entry in Club Carriere, 2003) Christina Bergmann (* 1972) was appointed managing director. ( Change in the commercial register in firmenmonitor.at of the Wiener Zeitung, accessed on April 10, 2019.)
- ↑ Erich Breinsberg: 70 years young. The Liewers dealership . Ed .: Erich Breinsberg. mymorawa, Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-99057-057-9 , p. 52 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bergmann, Kurt |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Masta miner; Master miner |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian master car mechanic, racing car builder, racing team operator and head of the Kaimann team |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 15, 1929 |