European motorcycle championship 1947

The Bremgarten circuit.

The titles of the European motorcycle championship in 1947 were at the XVII. Awarded the FICM Grand Prix , which was held on June 7th and 8th 1947 in Bern ( Switzerland ) as part of the 16th Swiss Grand Prix on the Bremgarten circuit .

The European Grand Prix took place for the third time as part of the Swiss Grand Prix . For the first time after the end of the Second World War , European motorcycle titles were awarded again.

The races were scheduled for the same weekend as the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man . Since none of the organizers wanted to postpone their races and the TT had a much higher priority in Great Britain , almost none of the internationally dominant British drivers were represented.

Race courses

The Italian 500 cc driver Jader Ruggeri was killed in an accident on the first day of training, on Thursday, June 5th, when it was raining heavy rain and wind . Jader Ruggeri was the son of Amedeo Ruggeri , who won the first ever Grand Prix of Nations and Germany .

In the course of the 250 cm³ class there was a triple victory for the Italian manufacturer Moto Guzzi . It won Bruno Francisci before Ferdinando Balzarotti and the British Fergus Anderson .

The 350cc race was won by the 36-year-old Anderson on a Velocette ahead of the two Norton pilots Charles Beischer from Great Britain and Georges Cordey from Switzerland .

In the half-liter class, the 41-year-old Italian Moto Guzzi works driver Omobono Tenni , who was already a 250 cc European champion in 1937 , won. Ferdinando Balzarotti, also on Moto Guzzi, was second and thus vice-European champion for the second time this weekend. Fergus Anderson once again made the podium complete, this time on Norton . The later double world champion thus created a novelty in European Championship history by taking podium places in three races at one event.

The Italian duo Luigi Cavanna / Paolo Cavanna on Moto Guzzi prevailed against the locals Hans Haldemann and Hans strengkle in the race of the 600 cc teams .

Race results

class	winner	Second	Third
250 cc	Bruno Francisci ( Moto Guzzi )	Ferdinando Balzarotti ( Moto Guzzi )	Fergus Anderson ( Moto Guzzi )
350 cc	Fergus Anderson ( Velocette )	Charles Beischer ( Norton )	Georges Cordey ( Norton )
500 cc	Omobono Tenni ( Moto Guzzi )	Ferdinando Balzarotti ( Moto Guzzi )	Fergus Anderson ( Norton )
Carriages (600 cm³)	Luigi Cavanna / Paolo Cavanna ( Moto Guzzi )	Hans Haldemann / unknown ( Norton )	Hans Starkkle / unknown ( NSU )

References

Web links

• Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto - Palmarès des Championnats d'Europe (1924–1937 et 1947–1948). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed April 27, 2010 (French). 
• Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto; 7ème partie: L'après-guerre (1945-1948). racingmemo.free, accessed April 27, 2010 (French). 
• Statistics and photos at riutat.suntuubi.com (Finnish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ruggeri at www.motorsportmemorial.org. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed April 27, 2010 (English).