Feldbergrennen
 | |
| Major events |
German Motorcycle Championship Formula 3 |
|---|---|
| 1920-1928 Hill Climb | |
| Length | 8.44 km (5¼ mi) |
| 1934-1936 Hill Climb | |
| Length | 8.44 km (5¼ mi) |
| 1950-1954 Circuit Feldberg-Rundrennstrecke  | |
| Length | 11.6 km (7¼ mi) |
| Lap record | Average speed: 119.1 km/h (Georg Meier, BMW, ) |
The Feldbergrennen was an automobile-and motorcycle racing that took place from 1920-1954 on various courses in the field of the Großer Feldberg (879 m above sea level) in Hesse.
History and route
The race took place from 1920 to 1928, from 1934 to 1936 and most recently from 1950 to 1954 in various motorcycle and automobile classes. The route has been changed several times. The initial hillclimb had a length of eight kilometers in 1921 and it was extended to twelve kilometers in 1935.
Winner of the race in 1928 was Hans Stuck on Austro-Daimler. Other winners at the Feldberg in the 1930s include Paul Pietsch on Alfa Romeo as well as Hans Stuck and Bernd Rosemeyer on Auto Union.
Postwar era
Upon resumption of racing activity on 1 October 1950, an 11.6 km long circuit starting and finishing in the east of Oberreifenberg was the track. The heights of the Feldberg racetrack were between 500 and height. At that time almost all top class German riders had set out, inter alia, the DKW-driver Hermann Paul Müller and Ewald Kluge. Walter Glöckler won in a selfmade car with a VW engine the sports car class up to 1100 ccm.
The races from 1951 to 1954 were also runs of the German Motorcycle Championship. Every year, about 100,000 spectators attended the event.
The Feldbergrennen on 18 July 1954 was an internationally announced German Championship race for motorcycles. The team of the NSU did not attend. Even so, NSU dominated with private drivers on the NSU Max (Sports Max) the class up to 250 ccm. Walter Reichert from Ingelheim am Rhein won the race over 13 laps or 150 km in 1:25:56.7 hours (average 105.0 km/h) before Fritz Kläger from Freiburg im Breisgau. In third place followed Hubert Luttenberger on Adler. The class to 350 ccm dominated August Hobl on DKW (112.4 km/h) before three Australians with Norton and the Australian Jack Ahearn won the 500 rotary Solo class on a Norton (112.6 km/h) ahead of another Norton and Walter Zeller on a BMW.
World Champion Eric Oliver from England crashed during the side car race, so that the first four places safely went to BMW, the number one to Wilhelm Noll/Fritz Cron (105.2 km/h), followed by Fritz Hillebrand/Manfred Grunwald, Willi Faust/Karl Remmert and Walter Schneider/Hans Bouquet. Approximately 50,000 spectators watched the Feldberg race in poor weather conditions, starting with the 125-cm³ class and the victory of Horst Fügner from Chemnitz on an IFA, while Karl Lottes on MV Agusta finished second ahead of Erhart Krumpholz on another IFA.
The end
For 1955, the Supreme Motorcycle Sports Commission had demanded the conversion of a part of the track, but this was not built. Thus, the end of the Feldberg race had come. As a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster many motorsports events throughout Europe were canceled or suspended.
Georg Meier holds the Feldberg lap record on a BMW with an average speed of 119.1 km/h.
Literature
(all books in German)
- Rühl, Holger: Die Feldbergrennen im Taunus 1904–1954 – Die Deutsche TT 1950–1954. Motorsportverlag, Weilrod-Finsternthal im Taunus 2009 (without ISBN)
- Rühl, Holger: Die Automobil-Rennen im Taunus 1904–1926. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-7973-0881-7.
- Steber, Rudolf: Zwischen Start und Ziel – legendäre Rennstrecken in Hessen ; Feldbergring, Dieburger Dreieck, Schottenring, Herkules-Bergring, Battenbergring. Burgwald-Verlag, Cölbe-Schönstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-936291-45-2.
Weblinks
Coordinates: 50°14′37″N 8°26′38″E / 50.2437°N 8.4440°E