Reinhard Böhler
NationalityGermany Germany
Born1945
Died(1995-01-19)January 19, 1995
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Sidecarcross World Championship
Active years1971 - 1985
Championships(1) 1980
1985 championship position8th
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
137 19 63 1154

Reinhard Böhler (1945 – 19 January 1995)[1] was a German sidecarcross rider and the first-ever World Champion in the sport, together with his passenger Siegfried Müller.

He has also won the German national sidecarcross championship seven times, from 1975 to 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984, which, as of 2009, still stands as the record.[2]

Biography

Reinhard Böhler, a native of the South Baden region of Germany, started racing motocross in 1963, originally in the solo class. He soon moved across to sidecarcross, where he initially had to race mostly in neighbouring Switzerland because the sport was not yet very well established in Germany at the time.[1] He started for the motocross club in Schopfheim.[3]

Böhler became the most successful German sidecarcross racer, being the only German to have won the world championship and also the record holder in national German sidecarcross championships. He retired from the sport in the mid-1980s, when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He supported his son Achim in his, less successful, sidecarcross career and died on 19 January 1995, a few weeks before his 50th birthday.[1]

Sidecarcross world championship results

Reinhard Böhler made his debut in the FIM Cup, a predecessor of the world championship, in 1971, in the first year of the competition. With his passenger Walter Frech he competed in only one race, the Swiss GP in Wohlen.[4] In the four years the FIM Cup was held, he only competed in one or two races of it per season.

With the re-branding of the competition as FIM European Championship, he continued to make only occasional appearances. Böhler concentrated on the German championship at the time, winning national titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977. The year 1977 saw him also for the first time competing in every race of the European championship. With Hans Georg Peppinghausen as his passenger, he came second in the championship and won his first race, finishing on top in both races of the Austrian GP at Feldkirch.[5]

The following two seasons proofed less successful, coming only sixth and ninth in the competition and losing the German title to Josef Brockhausen.

From 1980 onwards, the European championship was renamed the FIM World Championship and Reinhard Böhler, together with passenger Siegfried Müller, became the first world champion and the only ones from Germany so far. They took out the title with an 88-point gap to the second placed team and also won the German championship again.[6]

Böhler was unable to defend his title in 1981, missing a number of races and having to swap passengers during the season. The following season, he only took part in very few events and came 19th overall.[7]

Reinhard Böhler returned to old form in 1983 and 1984, winning the German title for a sixth and seventh time and coming third in both world championship seasons. The 1985 season was his last in the championship, taking out his last race win in the first GP of the season in Warching and then taking part in only the occasional GP during the season.[8]

Season by season

The competition which was to become the sidecarcross world championship in 1980 originated as the FIM Cup in 1971 and was renamed to European championship in 1975. Böhler's results in these three competitions were:

Season Passenger Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third
1971 Walter Frech Suzuki 28 5 1 — — —
1972 Walter Frech Suzuki-Kawasaki 20 7 2 — — —
1973 Walter Frech Yamaha-Wasp 32 4 1 — — —
1974 Egon Wuchner Yamaha-Wasp 14 22 2 — 1 1
1975 Egon Wuchner Yamaha-Wasp 16 21 6 — — —
1976 Walter Frech Yamaha-Wasp 21 13 2 — — —
1977 Hans Georg Peppinghausen Yamaha-Wasp 2 148 16 2 7 1
1978 Hans Georg Peppinghausen Yamaha-Wasp 6 77 14 1 2 1
1979 Siegfried Müller Yamaha-Wasp 9 50 10 — 1 1
Switzerland Karl Büsser 10 2 — — 1
1980 Siegfried Müller Yamaha-Wasp 1 236 22 6 7 2
1981 Siegfried Müller Yamaha-Wasp 5 47 6 — 1 2
Eric Mies 45 6 1 1 1
1982 Franz Burkhard Yamaha-Wasp 19 9 4 — — —
1983 Franz Burkhard Zabel-Wasp 3 139 18 2 3 4
1984 Ekhard Bauer Wasp 3 215 16 6 2 2
1985 Jürgen Hassold Wasp 8 106 10 1 1 2
Overall 1971 - 1985 1154 137 19 26 18

Source:"REINHARD BOHLER GP RECORD". John Davey. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

  • All passengers are German nationals unless otherwise shown.

Honours

World Championship

  • Champions: (1) 1980

European Championship

  • Runners-up: (1) 1977

Germany

  • Champions: (7) 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984

References

  1. 1 2 3 Motocross Böhler/Peppinghaus (in German) Article on Reinhard Böhler, accessed: 7 November 2009
  2. ↑ Motocross - Diverse Meister (in German) Article on sidecarcross championships in 2009, accessed: 7 November 2009
  3. ↑ Wir wollen die Jungen etwas ärgern (in German) Badische Zeitung, published 26 May 2008, accessed: 7 November 2009
  4. ↑ FIM Cup 1971 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
  5. ↑ FIM European Championship 1977 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
  6. ↑ FIM World Championship 1980 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
  7. ↑ FIM World Championship 1982 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
  8. ↑ FIM World Championship 1985 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
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