State racing collective
The State Racing Collective was a state-run racing team in the GDR that existed from the beginning of 1951 to April 1957. Depending on their affiliation, the racing collective was called DAMW-Rennkollektiv , IFA-Rennkollektiv , EMW-Rennkollektiv and most recently AWE-Rennkollektiv .
Initial situation: Racing in the Soviet Zone and the young GDR after the Second World War
After the Second World War , vehicle production in the Soviet occupation zone was largely idle. The production facilities were largely destroyed, and the Auto Union and BMW companies that were producing in Saxony and Thuringia before the war were cut off from their plants in Zwickau and Eisenach . The operations in the Soviet Zone were transferred to the ownership of the Soviet Union and only slowly began to produce again from autumn 1945 as the Soviet joint-stock company Awtowelo . In November 1945, production of the BMW 321 and the BMW R 35 motorcycle were resumed at the BMW plant in Eisenach . In 1947, both BMW (Ost) in Eisenach and Auto Union (Ost) in Zwickau gradually began developing new vehicles and, above all at BMW, they began to think about the continuation of the racing tradition that had been cultivated before the war had set standards with the successful BMW 328 by the end of the 1930s. During the development of the BMW 340, in addition to the series vehicle in 1949, the prototype of a roadster, the BMW 340-1 and a sports car, the BMW 340-S, were created. The streamlined BMW S1 and the 2-liter monoposto BMW-Intertype were produced at BMW in Eisenach especially for racing .
The Soviet occupiers allowed the first motorcycle races on the street circuits in Stralsund and Wittenberg in the summer of 1949 , followed by the first road race for motorcycles and racing cars on a section of the motorway that could be used as a racing track (today: Federal Motorway 9 ) near Dessau on September 4, 1949 . The autobahn was built here in the 1930s so that it could be used as a Dessau race track for road races. Numerous SBZ racing drivers took part in the race, some of whom had already celebrated successes in races before the war. In addition to the three vehicles from the BMW plant described above, several private self-built vehicles based on the BMW 328 were used. Adolf Brudes won the race on his BMW S1.
The first race since 1939 at the Sachsenring near Chemnitz followed on September 25, 1949 , in which the BMWs further developed in the Soviet Zone for the first time met the Veritas racing cars developed in the French occupation zone, also based on the BMW 328 . The most successful driver from the SBZ was Arthur Rosenhammer in the BMW Intertype, with whom he reached third place in front of a record crowd of 380,000 spectators.
After the departure of chief designer Gustaf Apel, there were no more racing car developments at the BMW Eisenach plant in 1950. In the 1950 racing season, drivers such as Paul Greifzu , Ernst Klodwig , Max Wetzig and Kurt Baum celebrated success with their own self-built BMWs.
Racing collective Johannisthal 1951/52
At the 2nd car and motorcycle race on October 1, 1950 on the Dessau racetrack, Veritas driver Ernst Ring from Munich surprised the GDR leadership with an asylum application, which he sent directly to the President, in addition to his victory in the 1.5-liter class Wilhelm Pieck judged. Ring made an impression on the GDR leadership and was able to convince them that the GDR's success in motorsport would promote the reputation of the young country. The GDR regime then commissioned the Central Office for Research and Technology to build four new racing cars in the testing and testing office for vehicle technology of the German Office for Material and Goods Testing (DAMW) in Berlin-Johannisthal in order to improve their performance in road racing to demonstrate the socialist industry. Ring was entrusted with the management of a racing collective, which started work in January 1951 as DAMW racing collective Johannisthal with extensive financial support from the state in a hall of the former Johannisthal airfield . Ring put together a team of twenty-five technicians, engineers and craftsmen who came from the Berlin area or who were seconded from the BMW factory in Eisenach. In addition to Arthur Rosenhammer, who also acted as technical director of the collective, Kurt Baum, Kurt Straubel , Sepp Ortschitt and Theo Fitzau were hired as drivers . The design team developed and built four racing cars based on the BMW 328 for the 1951 season, which were to be launched as DAMW racing cars . The first vehicle started on April 22, 1951 on the Halle-Saale loop with Arthur Rosenhammer at the wheel and was victorious in the sports car class up to 2000 cm³. In the summer of 1951, the head of the racing collective, Ernst Ring, was arrested by the state security after it had emerged that, among other things, he had deceived the government regarding the successful use of components produced in the GDR. In fact, he had imported and used extensively parts from West Germany. It turned out that Dr. Ring was neither a PhD nor was Ring his real name. Ring's successor as head of the racing collective was Arthur Rosenhammer, who, as one of the first measures, retired the driver Sepp Ortschitt.
In the subsequent races in both German states, the racing collective caused a stir, on the one hand due to its modern equipment up to two modern transport trains based on the IFA H3A with integrated workshop, spare parts store and trailers for the transport of racing vehicles, and also due to driving successes. At the end of the 1951 season, the DAMW drivers Baum and Straubel secured the GDR championship in sports cars up to 1500 and 2000 cm³, Rosenhammer came third in Formula II cars behind Paul Greifzu and Ernst Klodwig. Also delivered Edgar Barth , who came into the team for the retired Sepp Ortschitt, promising results from.
After the end of the 1951 racing season, efforts were made by the Association of Nationally Owned Enterprises in the Vehicle Construction Industry Association (IFA) to gain control of the racing collective subordinate to the Office for Material and Goods Testing. Collective manager Rosenhammer defended himself against these ambitions, since he saw no positive effects in the development of racing cars for the series production of utility vehicles at the IFA. After engineer Erich Koch, chief designer for the engines, left the racing collective in a dispute with Rosenhammer, Herbert Otto , the president of the motor racing section of the GDR , convened a crisis meeting on April 7, 1952, as a result of which Rosenhammer was replaced as head of the racing collective and from then on belonged to the collective as a driver. Furthermore, the racing collective was affiliated to the IFA engine plant Johannisthal , which mainly produced boat engines, and officially renamed the IFA racing collective Johannisthal . Furthermore, at the behest of the politically responsible of the SED -near Jürgen Perduss was included in the driver squad, although he was overweight and therefore only partially suitable as a racing driver.
After chief engineer Koch left the company, the further development of the engines and vehicles of the racing collective stagnated. It was only just possible to get two race-ready vehicles to the start at the AVUS race on May 29, 1952. Edgar Barth developed into the team's most important driver during the 1952 season with victories at the races in Leipzig, Halle / Saale and the Sachsenring. Kurt Straubel was able to defend his GDR championship title in the class up to 1500 cm³, but caused a fatal accident while racing on the Halle-Saale loop when his car drove into a group of spectators and a child died. Arthur Rosenhammer became champion of the 2000 cc class and only Jürgen Perduss could not claim a victory.
EMW racing collective 1953–1955
On November 8, 1952, the Ministry of Mechanical Engineering issued instructions to subordinate the IFA racing collective directly to the former BMW plant in Eisenach, which had operated as the state-owned company Eisenacher Motorenwerk (EMW) since July 5, 1952, from the 1953 season . The EMW department was now called the EMW racing collective and was housed in a former tank barracks in the north of the Eisenach city area. The engineer Walter Gerstenberg became the leader of the collective. In addition to the racing vehicles and the two H3A transport trains from Johannisthal, the racing vehicles from the BMW factory, including the BMW 340-S, were also incorporated into the racing team. Only a few staff moved from Johannisthal to Eisenach, so that the collective was increased with employees from EMW who had built the racing cars at BMW as early as 1947 to 1950. The racing drivers Barth, Rosenhammer and Perduss stayed with the racing collective, Kurt Straubel left the collective. From the ranks of the EMW workforce, Otto Reichhardt , Paul Thiel and Gerhard Gebhardt could recommend themselves as replacement drivers after test drives . At the start of the 1953 season, the racing collective had the following vehicles:
- No. 1: 1.5-liter racing car, DAMW built in 1951
- No. 2: Two-liter Formula II racing car, DAMW built in 1951
- No. 3: Two-liter Formula II racing car, DAMW built in 1951
- No. 4: 1.5-liter racing car, DAMW built in 1951
- BMW two-liter Formula II racing car "Intertyp", built in 1949
- BMW 328 sports car
- BMW Roadster 340-1 prototype, manufactured in 1949
- BMW sports car 340-S, model year 1949
The newly established collective began preparations for the 1953 season and upgraded the existing vehicles for the upcoming races. Barth competed in the 2-liter class and was able to win the GDR championship, Rosenhammer competed with a 1.5-liter racing car with a new streamlined light metal body and confidently won the title in this racing car class. Paul Thiel took part in the Formula II races in the almost five-year-old BMW Intertype and was able to achieve a remarkable third place with the comparatively old vehicle on the Halle-Saale loop on July 5, 1953. Edgar Barth competed for the EMW racing collective at the 1953 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. It was the only time that a GDR racing team took part in a race for the automobile world championship. Arthur Rosenhammer took fourth place in the 1.5-liter class.
The only new development for the 1953 racing season was a 2-liter Formula II monoposto with a 135 hp six-cylinder engine. At the end of the season, the vehicle was supposed to start the race in Bernau for the first time with Edgar Barth at the wheel, but the De-Dion rear axle of the new vehicle broke during practice . The vehicle was the collective's last 2-liter development.
Barth and Rosenhammer competed in the last race of the season in Bernau with the 2-liter vehicles still designed by the DAMW. Rosenhammer won by a second over Barth and Hans Stuck , after overtaking Barth to his annoyance just before the finish.
For the 1954 season, the racing collective concentrated on the 1.5-liter class, as the 2-liter racing car class expired after the season. During a consultation on April 18, 1953, the collective decided to replace the existing vehicles, which were still based on the technology of the BMW 328, which is now almost twenty years old, with a completely new design. For the 1954 season, four completely newly developed racing sports cars were then to be used.
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As their completion was delayed, the collective started the season opener on May 16, 1954 in Leipzig with just one new vehicle, which was reserved for Arthur Rosenhammer as the collective's most experienced driver. The second car was then ready for the Eifel race on May 23 at the Nürburgring and was driven by Edgar Barth.
After Rosenhammer was able to take first place in the first race in Leipzig, he retired at the Nürburgring with a damaged clutch, Barth achieved tenth place. In August 1954, Rosenhammer and Barth competed again at the Nürburgring, this time for the 1.5-liter sports car race as part of the supporting program for the 1954 German Grand Prix , in which Barth finished sixth and Rosenhammer retired again, this time already in training with a gearbox failure. Paul Thiel took a remarkable twelfth place with the vehicle last used last year. On September 19 at the AVUS , Barth and Thiel reached positions four and seven, and Rosenhammer's vehicle caught fire after a break in the fuel line, so that he had to give up. Also in the subsequent races in Dresden and Bernau no victories could be achieved.
On December 3, 1954, Arthur Rosenhammer achieved an FIA- recognized world speed record over 10 miles with an average speed of 229.5 km / h on the race track near Dessau .
During the winter break of 1954/55, four more vehicles were designed, with which, based on the experience of the 1954 season, targeted improvements were made to the chassis, steering, brakes and body, but the design and construction of the previous year's vehicles were retained. The engine, newly developed in 1954, also received a further technical development, especially a new crankshaft. It was possible to finish all four new vehicles at the start of the season on May 15, 1955 in Dessau. In addition to Barth, Rosenhammer and Thiel, Egon Binner was signed as a driver. Barth, Rosenhammer and Thiel managed a triple victory over Ernst Lautenschlager in a Porsche 550 .
Edgar Barth and Paul Thiel also achieved a highly acclaimed result in the 1955 Eifel race at the Nürburgring, when Barth won in the sports car class up to 1.5 liters in front of his teammates Thiel and Wolfgang Seidel in a Porsche 550. At the Leipzig city park race , the EMW drivers took places one to four, Rosenhammer achieved third place at the AVUS.
AWE collective and dissolution
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At the turn of the season in 1955/56, the racing collective was renamed AWE Rennkollektiv , after the Eisenacher Motorenwerke had operated as the state-owned company Automobilwerk Eisenach since 1954 . On April 29, 1956, Rosenhammer and Barth took part in their 1955 AWE racing cars in the Paris Grand Prix in the French capital, finishing third and fourth. After the race in France, the vehicles were technically overhauled again at the start of the season in the two German states, including a five-speed gearshift and further optimization of the engines.
In the ADAC 1000 km race on May 27, 1956 , the AWE racing collective started with two vehicles. Paul Thiel and Egon Binner's car had an engine failure, Edgar Barth and Arthur Rosenhammer finished third in the sports car class up to 1500 cc and seventh in the overall classification, one lap behind.
On the fringes of the 1956 racing season, DEFA produced the feature film Rivals at the Wheel , which deals with the EMW racing collective and its successes and was released in GDR cinemas in early 1957. The film is about a fictional racing driver who decides against a career in West Germany to work in the EMW racing collective. The drivers of the collective worked on the film as drivers of the racing cars or extras, numerous vehicles of the racing collective can be seen in the film. The BMW 340-Sport was scrapped during the shooting.
The last meeting with the racing drivers from Porsche took place on September 16, 1956 at the AVUS, at which AWE came third and fourth after Porsche. The racing collective started for the last time on September 23, 1956 in Dessau in a race in which the West German competition did not take part. In addition to the pilots Bart, Thiel, Rosenhammer and Binner, Rudi Krause competed with the AWE 2-liter car, which, however, remained in the race due to a technical defect. Barth won ahead of Rosenhammer and Thiel.
Since the EMW / AWE racing drivers within the GDR had been increasingly unrivaled since 1954 and the GDR championship could only be held to a limited extent, those in charge felt that it would only make sense to use it in the future on an international level. And it was precisely here that AWE was unable to keep up with technical failures in the 1000 kilometer races in Paris and Monza in 1956. In addition, the interest of those responsible in the 1.5-liter machines decreased, because in the passenger car production in the Eisenach plant with the IFA F9 and its successor, the Wartburg 311 , introduced in 1955/56 , the focus was on 900 cc two-stroke engines , for which no technical knowledge or advantages resulted from the activities of the racing collective.
Collectively manager Werner Gerstenberg presented on 9 October 1956 analysis before, dernach since 1955 ongoing development work on the 8-cylinder boxer engine AWE Type 125 , the Formula 1 were should be -tauglich and 256 horsepower to break off because the necessary developer resources not to Were available. The idea of entering Formula 1 was thus shelved. Furthermore, Gerstenberg pointed out in the analysis that it was a possibility to say goodbye to racing car sport and to use the capacities of the racing collective for the development of series vehicles. The production of sports cars would benefit a larger group of interested parties in the form of company sports associations and the Society for Sports and Technology . Finally, Gerstenberg asked those responsible for a decision on the future tasks of the collective.
AWE Operations Director Martin Zimmermann forwarded Gerstenberg's analysis as an attachment to a confidential submission on December 28, 1956 to the head of the head office of the automobile construction of the vehicle construction industry association in Karl-Marx-Stadt, who in turn passed it on to the chairman of the GDR's Council of Ministers on March 12, 1957 , Fritz Selbmann , forwarded.
On March 14, 1957, Selbmann ordered the dissolution of the racing collective on April 15, 1957. The skilled workers and capacities that became available were assigned to the development and testing department of the AWE, and the competition group was renamed a sports department. The sports department should take part in national and international motorsport events with series vehicles.
As a result, a press release was published on January 25, 1957, which announced that the tried and tested 1.5-liter racing cars would no longer be used in the 1957 season. The reasons given were the immense tied capacities and the lack of added value of racing activities for series production as well as the future focus on rally racing with series vehicles.
"The sport with the series vehicle [...] will provide further indications of the constantly increasing quality of the Wartburg and will have an immediate economic impact as a result of the direct evidence of the work's achievements."
AWE rally sport department after the dissolution of the racing collective
After the dissolution of the racing collective, Edgar Barth moved to Porsche in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957. Rosenhammer also went to West Germany in 1959.
The now AWE rally sport department took up the fact that the IFA F9 had already competed successfully in road races across Europe since 1953. And the new Wartburg 311 also completed its first international rally season in 1956. The AWE rallying department, which emerged from the racing collective, registered for 14 races across Europe for the 1957 season. At a race in the Netherlands, the 311s finished second and fourth in the 1000cc class, and at the Adriatic Rally in Yugoslavia , they finished fifth and sixth. A side effect of the quite successful race participation were the first Wartburg orders from Western European vehicle importers. Those responsible had hoped for exactly this advertising effect from the reorientation towards series vehicle rallying. In the years that followed, the Wartburg 311 successfully took part in international races, a highlight being the first participation in the XXVIII. Rally Monte Carlo 1959, in which the vehicles did not convince with good placements, but with robustness and reliability. Kurt Otto was one of the most successful drivers of this time . After the Wartburg 311 had proven itself in rallies until 1965, the successor Wartburg 353 had problems with keeping up with the Western European competition from the start. Nevertheless, the racing department of the AWE competed under sometimes difficult logistical conditions with the 353 and 353W at events all over Europe until the end of the 1980s. With the dissolution of the automobile plant in 1991, the racing department also ended.
literature
- Horst Ihling : Motor racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing car construction and motorsport, Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, October 2006, ISBN 9783768857888
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Spiegel 9/1951: If you be a goer - Dr. Ernst Ring , accessed April 23, 2014
- ↑ This vehicle on traumautoarchiv.de , accessed on April 26, 2014
- ↑ Motorsport archive ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 27, 2014
- ↑ Arthur Rosenhammer set a world record on EMW. In: Automotive Technology. 2/1955, p. 61.
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, October 2006, ISBN 9783768857888 , page 139
