Wilhelm Duden

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Wilhelm Duden (born January 8, 1947 in Heeslingen ) is a German motorcycle track racer from the 1970s and 1980s, who mainly drove grass track and sand track races, but also speedway races.

Career

Although he was never able to win a major national or international individual title, he is still considered one of the most popular German motorcycle track racers to this day. Duden was considered the fastest track racing driver of his time, because he broke several track and lap records and held the grass track world record on the 900 meter grass track in Cloppenburg with an average speed of 137.17 km / h over one lap from 1981 to 1993 flying start.

Duden also made it into the final of the long-course world championship five times , drove for several years for MC Norden in the Speedway-Bundesliga , started together with Christoph Betzl at the Best-Pairs World Cup in 1976 and became German long-course runner-up again in 1987 at the age of 40. Duden drove internationally for Germany motorcycle track races from 1974 to 1988 and ended his career on July 17, 1988 with his farewell race on the grass track in Cloppenburg, where he held the track world record for years.

During his career, but also afterwards, Duden got into the tuning business and supported a number of top drivers, including a. also Karl Maier in his world title in 1987.

successes

singles

  • Long course World Cup finalist in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981
  • German long-course runner-up in 1987
  • Track speed world record holder 1981-1993 with 137.17 km / h

team

  • Best Pairs Speedway World Championship 1976 (with Christoph Betzl)
  • Speedway Bundesliga: MC North

Personal

Duden was also known as the “World Training Champion” because he had often broken the track record in free practice in the morning before the main race. A quote from Egon Müller at the farewell race for Wilhelm Duden in Cloppenburg on July 17, 1988 in an interview with the stadium: “Wilhelm was always one of the best and the fastest. He definitely deserved a world title once. And I think Wilhelm would have been so many times, with a little more luck and a little more nerve strength. "

Wilhelm Duden remained loyal to motorcycle track racing as an engine tuner and supervisor for young drivers.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Speedweek - website: Willy Duden. From: www.speedweek.com , accessed December 17, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Duden, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German motorcycle track racer
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Heeslingen