Rupert Karner

Rupert Karner 1921

Rupert Karner (* 1896 ; † May 20, 1928 in Budapest , Hungary ) was an Austrian motorcycle racer . He competed in road, rail and mountain races and was able to achieve around 40 victories in his career.

Life

Rupert Karner began motorcycle racing in 1920. From 1923 to 1927 he started on machines from the English manufacturer Sunbeam , as his brother Anton was an importer of this brand in Vienna , but was also a works driver for the Austrian manufacturer Puch . At the III. Grand Prix of Nations on September 6, 1924 at the Circuito di Milano in Monza ( Italy ), where the European Championship title was awarded for the first time with the European Motorcycle Championship in 1924 , he finished behind Belgian Maurice van Geert (Rush- Blackburne ) on Puch and his compatriot and brand colleague Hugo Höbel took third place. The following year he won the Austrian TT in Hinterbrühl auf Puch in the 175 cm³ class.

In 1926 Karner placed on Sunbeam at VI. Belgian Grand Prix on the almost 15-kilometer Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the half-liter class behind the Briton Jimmie Simpson ( AJS ) in second place and thus became vice European champion in 1926 .

Rupert Karner had a serious accident on May 20, 1928 in the 350 cm³ race for the Hungarian TT near Budapest . He came off the track at about 130 km / h , probably on a DSH with a MAG engine, and hit his head against a kilometer stone . The Austrian was taken to hospital with a fractured skull base and other injuries, where he died shortly after arrival. His grave is in the Baumgartner Friedhof (group F1, number 454) in Vienna-Baumgarten .

Race wins

year	class	machine	run	route
1925	175 cc	Puch	Austrian TT	Hinterbrühl
1926	500 cc	Sunbeam	Czechoslovak TT	Karlova Studánka

Web links

• Rupert Karner. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed December 27, 2012 (English). 
• Peter Krackowizer: Rupert Karner. www.reisemosaik.at, March 2011, accessed on December 27, 2012 .