Rolf Steinhausen

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Steinhausen / Huber 1976
Steinhausen / Hiller at the Great Britain Grand Prix in 1989

Rolf Steinhausen (born July 27, 1943 in Nümbrecht ) is a German bus operator, motorcycle racer and two-time world champion in the sidecar racing class.

life and career

Steinhausen made his debut in motorcycle racing in 1961. Through his friendship with the team legend Max Deubel , who supported the young Steinhausen with advice and action with his know-how, Steinhausen gained his first experience in the national ID class. Max Deubel recognized Steinhausen's talent and left him one of his teams.

In 1972 Steinhausen switched from BMW boxer engines to König four-cylinder two-stroke engines from the Berlin company König Motorenbau , which had their origins in motorboat racing. The new engines with different dimensions allowed Steinhausen to build them better in the trailer and the aerodynamics of the vehicle were significantly improved.

With this new two-stroke engine team, Steinhausen made his debut in the 1972 World Team Championship and achieved fourth place in the Austrian World Championship race with his lubricant Werner Kapp. In 1975 and 1976 he was team world champion. In 1977 Steinhausen switched to Yamaha two-stroke engines and was runner-up in 1979.

successes

With his co-drivers Karl Scheuer, Erich Schmitz and Josef Huber, Steinhausen achieved the following overall successes:

Altogether Steinhausen drove ten victories in world championship races, in 1989 Steinhausen drove his last season in the team world championship which he finished with an 8th place. Steinhausen was active in racing for around 25 years until 1989 and today he passes his experience on to younger drivers. He particularly looks after his son Jörg, who also competes successfully in sidecar races.

For his sporting success in motorsport, he received the Silver Laurel Leaf from Federal President Walter Scheel in 1975 .

Web links

Commons : Rolf Steinhausen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Jörg Steinhausen. In: steinhausen.de. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on January 25, 2019 .
  2. Bundesarchiv, Bundespräsidialamt: Sports prizes: Awards of the Silver Laurel Leaf . Acc. BArch B 122 / "... to world champion in the 500 cm³ sidecar ..."