Walter Winkler (racing driver, 1926)

Walter Winkler (born December 18, 1926 , † January 28, 2010 ) was a German enduro athlete and long-time team leader of the GDR teams in enduro sports.

Life

The Six Days successes of the 1960s, stamped on the fuel filler cap of an MZ motorcycle

As an active player, he took part in the international six-day race in Gottwaldov in 1953 , and in 1956 he won a silver medal in this competition. 1952–1954 he was three times in a row GDR team champion with BSG Motor IFA Karl-Marx-Stadt on an RT 125 . In 1956 he was GDR champion in the class up to 250 cm³ on an MZ ES . In the following year he won the team competition at “ Around Zschopau ” together with Hans Fischer and Werner Stiegler .

After the end of his active motorsport career, he was appointed the responsible team leader and trainer for off-road sports in the MZ sports department. In these functions he looked after the GDR teams at the international off-road sport events. Under his leadership, they won the Trophy competition at the Six Days seven times ( 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1966 , 1967 , 1969 and 1987 ). The drivers Peter Uhlig , Werner Salevsky , Fred Willamowski , Manfred Jäger , Harald Sturm and Jens Scheffler won a total of 13 European championship titles . Horst Lohr , Bernd Uhlmann and Karlheinz Wagner won the European Cup in 1967.

With the end of the sports department at MZ, he went into well-deserved retirement in 1990.

literature

• Steffen Ottinger: International six-day trip - ISDE - 1987. Jelenia Gora / Poland. Photo journal of a great German motorsport success . HB-Werbung und Verlag, Chemnitz 2011, OCLC 780362091 .