Toni Gruber

Toni Gruber (born October 26, 1943 in Weiler im Allgäu ) is a former German motorcycle racer .

biography

Racing career

In addition to music, Toni Gruber discovered his passion for motorcycles very early on and took part in the first race at the age of 20. From 1964 to 1973 he drove in NSU Sportmax, Bultaco , Norton , Maico and Yamaha road races , first as an ID, from 1967 as a licensed driver, from 1968 with an international license. From 1969 to 1972 he took part in the races for the motorcycle world championship .

Gruber achieved many victories on Europe's racetracks, twice becoming the German runner-up and finally up to sixth in the 125 cc World Championship in 1970 .

As a racing and test driver at Maico

Gruber was a works driver for Maico from 1967 and was on the road for motorcycle races and tests all over Europe.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Maico company had achieved a dominant position in motorcycle off-road racing . The company management concentrated all activities on this business area and was surprised by a road racing machine developed secretly in-house. The Austrian graduate engineer and head of the development department Günther Schier had high expectations of the rotary valve engine and, despite company specifications to the contrary, gradually doubled its performance.

Two drivers, who later also formed the first works team, got their chance on the prototype in 1968 and took advantage of it. Manfred Bernsee was Junior Cup Champion (ID class) and Toni Gruber won the international races in Grödig near Salzburg and Nova Gorica in Yugoslavia in the license class . Maico then revised its restrictive stance and had the first series of 40 Maico 125cc MD 125 RS2 racing machines built in the winter of 1968/69, almost all of which were bought by ID drivers. Maico took on a dominant role in the junior cup in the first year and did not give it up until the mid-1970s. The outstanding driver of the 1969 season was Erich Brandl , who won the junior cup ahead of four other Maico RS2 drivers.

After a slightly modified second series MD 125 RS2 was launched in 1970, a good half of the 125 starting field in the ID class drove on Maico, which is why this discipline was already called the "Maico Cup" . The list of winners in the junior cup ranged from Walter Wurster 1971, Peter Frohnmeyer 1972, Wolfgang Rubel 1973, Rolf Thiele 1974 and Wulf Gerstenmaier 1976. Maico also dominated the German championship with first places: 1971 and 1972 Gerd Bender , 1973 Paul Eickelberg as well 1974 and 1975 Fritz Reitmeier .

For the license class, Maico strengthened his works team in 1969 with the two top Swedish drivers Kent Andersson and Börje Jansson . Kent Andersson, who incidentally was the only one who did not have to pay for his racing bike himself, switched to Yamaha after a quick initial success on Maico and expanded his career with several world championship titles. Börje Jansson was a four-time Grand Prix winner by the end of 1973 and came third in the final championship ranking in 1970 and 1971 with the water-cooled six-speed factory motorcycle .

Despite the strong internal competition at Maico, Toni Gruber continued to achieve notable successes (see overview) and, on the driver's side, played his part in the further development of the successful model (called "Schwabenpfeil" and "Yellow Hazard " ).

The single-cylinder Maico RS 2, however, could not withstand the competitive pressure of the more powerful multi-cylinder machines from Yamaha, Morbidelli , Derbi and Malanca in the long term. The short but successful racing history came to an end after 9 years. Maico retired from racing. The development engineer Günther Schier started his own business and built up an engineering house in the automotive supply industry that today consists of several companies in various European countries.

After the career

In 1972 Toni Gruber ended his ten-year racing career, but remained connected to the motorcycle as an entrepreneur. His motorcycle house in his parents' property in the middle of Weiler with the extraordinary combination of Honda-Yamaha representatives (in the time when motorcycling was rediscovered as a leisure activity, it was still possible) developed quickly. In the modern 3-storey office building with around 1,000 square meters of exhibition and storage space including workshop, there is also space for a small Toni Gruber motorcycle racing museum with its diplomas, trophies, newspaper articles and, last but not least, its legendary racing machines.

In the winter of 2006 Toni Gruber handed over the company to his son Ralph (himself an enduro racing driver), who trained and grew up in his father's company, but is still at his side with help and advice.

Toni Gruber knew the racing driver Ernst Jakob Henne, famous for having set 76 world speed records for motorcycles , personally from his home town of Weiler in the Allgäu.

• Toni Gruber's Motorsport Museum
• 

  Bultaco TSS 250 cc
  race 1966–1968

• 

  AJS 350 cm³ 7R from 1962

• 

  Norton

• 

  Maico 125 RS
  races 1958–1973

Placements (selection)

• 4th place 1964 Berliner ( AVUS ) on 250 cm³ NSU Sportmax (second race; fastest in training)
• x. Place 1964 Nürburgring 250 cm³ (Eifel Pokal race), failure
• 1st place in 1966 Bremerhaven (fishing port race) on 250 cm³ Bultaco
• 1st place 1966 Stadtsteinach on 250 cm³ Bultaco
• 1st place in 1966 Hockenheim on a 250 cm³ Bultaco
• 1st place 1966 Bamberg on 250 cm³ Bultaco
• 1st place 1966 Hockenheim on a 250 cm³ Yamaha (autumn cup race)
• 1st place 1966 junior champion in the 250 cc class
• 1st place 1967 Mainz-Finthen on 350 cm³ Bultaco (airfield circuit races)
• 1st place 1968 Stadtsteinach on 250 cm³ Bultaco
• 1st place 1968 Salzburg Grödig on a 125 cm³ Maico MD 125 RS2 (international race)
• 1st place 1968 Nova Gorica in Yugoslavia on a 125 cm³ Maico MD 125 RS2 (international race)
• 5th place in 1969 Hockenheim in the 250 cm³ class (world championship run)
• 1. Place 1970 Salzburgring on 125 cm³ Maico
• 2nd place 1970 German runner-up on 125 cm³ Maico
• 6th place 1970 World Championship 125 cm³ Maico
• 2nd place in 1971 Hockenheim on 125 cm³ Maico (Grand Prix of Hockenheim) and thus German runner-up
• x. Place 1971 Sachsenring on 125 cm³ Maico (World Championship run)
• 11th place in 1971 World Championship on 125 cm³ Maico
• x. Place 1971 Nürburgring on 350 cm³ Yamaha TD 3
• 4th place 1972 Hockenheim on 125 cm³ Maico (world championship run)
• 1st place 1973 Stadtsteinach on 125 cm³ Maico (hill climb)

Toni Gruber in the motorcycle world championship

World Cup year	class	brand	rank	World Championship run	Racetrack	space
1969	250 cc	Yamaha	26th	GP Germany	Hockenheim	5
1970	125 cc	Maico	6th	GP Germany	Hockenheim	4th
				GP France	Le Mans	5
				GP Yugoslavia	Opatija	8th
				Dutch TT	Aces	5
				GP Belgium	Spa Francorchamps	4th
				GP of Nations	Imola	9
1970	250 cc	Yamaha	41	GP Belgium	Spa Francorchamps	9
1971	125 cc	Maico	11	GP Germany	Hockenheim	4th
				Dutch TT	Aces	6th
				GP Sweden	Anderstorp	6th
				GP of Nations	Imola	8th

Web links

Commons : Toni-Gruber-Museum  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• List of all drivers who came into the points in races for the motorcycle world championship
• Article in the magazine Motorrad about the Maico nostalgia event at the Hockenheimring
• Toni Gruber on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship (English).
• That's how it all started. In: Homepage Motorradhaus Gruber. motorrad-gruber.de, accessed on February 5, 2009 (information about the beginnings of racing driver Toni Gruber.). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ "ID card" (called B license): Beginner category in motorsport competitions only allowed to start at national events.
2. ↑ Maisch brothers and co
3. ↑ see motorcycle racer database in the classic-motorrad-de-forum
4. ↑ see weblink magazine allgaeuBIKE issue 05-2007
5. ↑ see information about motorcycle shop on homepage