Ralph Roese
Adolf Ralph Roese (born July 27, 1900 in Mettmann ; † February 8, 1950 on the A3 motorway Cologne - Frankfurt near Neuwied - Dierdorf ) was a successful German motorcycle and automobile racing driver in the 1930s and 1940s .
Life
Adolf Ralph Roese's parents were Emma Roese, geb. Olmesdahl, and the master locksmith Adolf Roese. After successful training as a businessman in his parents' company, Roese moved to Düsseldorf in the 1930s , where he also met his then partner Emilie Seifermann.
His passion for motorsport was evident at a young age . His career as a racing driver began in the 1920s, initially on BMW motorcycles in the class up to 1000 cm³ on 750 cm³ supercharged BMW (R57 / 63), later in sports cars from Bayerische Motorenwerke. As a committed member of the Düsseldorf Automobile and Motorsport Club 05 and the Rheydter Motorsport Club , he soon achieved numerous successes.
In 1931 and 1932 Roese was German motorcycle road champion in the class up to 1000 cc. In the course of his career he drove as a works driver for BMW and as a private driver for BMW and Veritas at all major racing events in Germany and Europe .
On July 10, 1938, Ralph Roese achieved third place overall at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe as partner in a BMW 328, his first internationally significant success. In 1939 he became German racing car champion in the class up to 1500 cm³ in a specially prepared BMW 315/1 Spezial in lightweight construction . His seventh place overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1939 in a BMW 328 with co-driver Paul Heinemann as BMW works driver rounded off the successful year.
In 1940 Roese achieved his greatest international success with a BMW 328 MM Roadster with an excellent third place overall at the Mille Miglia . His partner in this race was Adolf Brudes .
The Second World War then interrupted his career for eight years before he could professionally take the wheel again in 1948.
On May 8 and 9, 1948, the first championship run for sports and racing cars in Germany after the Second World War took place at the Hockenheimring . Ralph Roese started with a 2-liter Veritas RS-BMW and came in third. At the end of the season, he was the runner-up in the German sports car championship up to 2 liters. In 1949 he still achieved a few podium places in nationally important races, including victory in the sports car class up to 2 liters at the Grenzlandring in 1949. However, Roese could no longer build on his great international successes from the pre-war period.
On February 8, 1950, Ralph Roese and his racing driver colleagues Paul Heinrich (Heinz) Müller, Wilhelm Manske and Franz Josef Geesmeier were on a business trip to Muggensturm near Rastatt to the Veritas racing vehicle production facility to inspect new racing cars as on the Today's A3 near Neuwied the driver of an oncoming vehicle in a construction site area lost control and collided head-on with the car of the four. Gasoline cans carried along caught fire and all occupants of the car were burned.
On February 11, 1950, Adolf Ralph Roese and his friend and sports colleague Heinz Müller were buried in the North Cemetery in Düsseldorf with great sympathy.
In 1950 commemorative races in honor of the deceased were held on the Nürburgring and the Grenzlandring . On May 19, 1951, the DAMC 05 set up a memorial stone at the accident site in honor of Ralph Roese and Paul Heinrich Müller. In the late 1990s, the memorial had to make way for the new or expansion of the Cologne-Frankfurt ICE line and the A3 motorway.
successes
motorcycle
- 1931 - German motorcycle road champion in a BMW , class over 500 cc
- June 21, 1931 - Grillenburger Dreiecksrennen - 1st place
- July 19, 1931 - All about Schotten - 3rd place
- August 23, 1931 - Schleizer triangle race - 3rd place
- 1932 - German motorcycle road champion in a BMW , class over 500 cc
- September 11, 1932 - Schleizer triangle race - 2nd place
- June 9, 1932 - German Grand Prix at the Berlin AVUS - 3rd place
- May 6, 1934 - Marienberger Dreieckrennen - 3rd place
- June 29, 1934 - Hockenheimer motorcycle race - 2nd place
- August 12, 1934 - Cologne City Forest Race - 3rd place
Sports car
- June 15, 1935 - Eifel race Nürburgring - 1st place - BMW 315/1
- October 6, 1935 - Feldberg race - 2nd place - BMW 315/1
- May 24, 1936 - Cologne City Forest Race - 1st place - BMW 315/1
- June 14, 1936 - ADAC Eifelrennen Nürburgring - 1st place - BMW 315/1 Special
- August 23, 1936 - Hohensyburg - 1st place - BMW 315/1 Special
- September 27, 1936 - Feldberg race - 3rd place - BMW 315/1 Special
- May 15, 1937 - GP des Frontières , Chimay / Belgium - 2nd place BMW 328
- June 11, 1937 - Taubensuhlrennen / Landau in der Pfalz - 2nd place - BMW 315/1
- July 27, 1937 - Eifel GP Nürburgring 2nd place - BMW 328
- August 29, 1937 - Hohensyburg triangle race - 2nd place - BMW 315/1 Special
- May 22, 1938 - GP Antwerp - 1st place - BMW 328
- June 5, 1938 - GP des Frontières, Chimay - 1st place - BMW 328
- July 10, 1938 - 24 hours Spa-Francorchamps - 3rd place - BMW 328 (partner: Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe )
- October 16, 1938 - Kurpfalzrennen Hockenheimring - 1st place - BMW 315/1 Special
- 1939 - German sports car champion class up to 1.5 liters displacement
- March 26, 1939 - Litoranea Libica Tobruk- Tripolis 1500 km - 2nd place - BMW 328 (partner: Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe )
- May 7, 1939 - Hamburg City Park Race - 2nd place - BMW 315/1 Special
- May 21, 1939 - Eifel race Nürburgring - 1st place - BMW 315/1 Special
- May 28, 1939 - GP des Frontières, Chimay - 1st place - BMW 328
- June 18, 1939 - 24 Hours of Le Mans - 7th place overall / 2nd place class 2.0 liter displacement - BMW 328 Roadster (partner: Paul Heinemann )
- September 3, 1939 - GP Belgrade - 2nd place - BMW 328
- April 28, 1940 - Mille Miglia - 3rd place - BMW 328 MM Roadster (Partner: Adolf Brudes )
- 1948 - German sports car vice-champion, class up to 2 liters displacement
- May 9, 1948 - Hockenheimring - 2nd place - Veritas RS / BMW
- August 15, 1948 - Schottenring - 3rd place - Veritas RS / BMW
- September 5, 1948 - Eggbergrennen - 3rd place - Veritas RS / BMW
- May 8, 1949 - Hockenheimring - 2nd place - Veritas RS / BMW
- May 22, 1949 - Eifel Cup / Nürburgring - 2nd place - Veritas RS / BMW
- September 11, 1949 - Grenzlandring - 1st place - Veritas RS / BMW
- September 18, 1949 - Saarbrücken - 2nd place - Veritas RS / BMW
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 |
.svg){kind=small} BMW
|
BMW 328 |
Paul Heinemann
|
Rank 7 |
literature
- Gudrun Wolfertz: Mettmann - The series archive images. Sutton Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-336-7 .
- Gudrun Wolfertz, Thomas Wolfertz: Mettmann 1950–1980 - The archive images series. Sutton Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-95400-355-6 .
- Armin Dobrun: memories of a winner. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. March 9, 2009.
- Thomas Wolfertz: The forgotten winner. In: Medamana. 4/2008.
- Tobias Aichele: Huschke von Hanstein, the racing baron.
- D. Schmitz, Folkmar Pietsch: The Grenzlandring, the Avus of the West.
- Karl Kling, Günther Molter: The Hunt for Victory.
- Eberhard Kittler: Essential Bmw Roadsters & Cabriolets: The Cars and Their Story from 328 to Z3.
- Brian Laban: Sports Car Racing 1894-1959 - The Early Years. HF Ullmann, Potsdam 2013, ISBN 978-3-8480-0558-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Motor und Sport , various issues 1939.
- ↑ Der Motorsport + Motorradwelt , Issue 17 (September) 1949.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roese, Ralph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Roese, Adolf Ralph (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German motorcycle and automobile racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 27, 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mettmann |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1950 |
| Place of death | A3 motorway Cologne - Frankfurt near Neuwied - Dierdorf |