Paul Weyres

Paul Weyres (born April 16, 1900 in Aachen ; † October 2, 1984 ibid) was a German motorcycle racer and works driver for Harley-Davidson .

Career

Paul Weyres contested his first motorcycle race in 1923. In 1925 he won the international Deutschlandfahrt for the first time. In 1927 he took part in the opening of the Nürburgring .

Paul Weyres drove around 400 races in his career. He was able to win more than 100 of these on his Harley-Davidson racing machine. The great victories included a. winning the Swiss Grand Prix in 1931, 1932, 1933 and 1936, winning the Swedish Tourist Trophy in Göteborg in 1932 and his successes at the Nürburgring in 1932, 1933 and 1934. Between 1931 and 1934 he was four times German champion in the sidecar class .

In 1935, the city of Aachen recognized his success with the city of Aachen's gold plaque. For his three consecutive successes at the Nürburgring, he received the golden Nürburg seal ring. Paul Weyres was a risk taker. In 1956, 20 serious falls with numerous broken bones led the Aachener Zeitung to an article in which they described Weyres as a “patched-up warrior of motor battles”.

Paul Weyres was among the first athletes to see industry sponsorship. His contract as a works driver with Harley-Davidson, which he received in 1930, was considered a sensation at the time. The same applied to his open advertising for Continental, whose tires he drove.

Although Paul Weyres was closely bound by his contracts and numerous races, he worked for his grocery store in Aachen all his life.

Weyers not only had numerous admirers, but also many envious ones. So he often found that his racing machines had been manipulated.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II , Paul Weyres moved to the Neumann-Neander racing team, which produced small sports racing cars. Although the first trips were also successfully completed here, the Second World War put an end to Paul Weyers' career.

Even in old age, the former racing athlete was drawn behind the scenes of racing. So he explained during a visit to the Nürburgring in 1980:

“All the service teams in the pits didn't exist back then. With a single mechanic to help you got your machine ready to go, you knew whether every single screw was tightened enough. "

Paul Weyres died at the age of 84 on October 2, 1984 in Aachen. He left a wife and daughter.

Web links

• Paul Weyres. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed on July 23, 2019 (English).