Georg Meier
Encyclopedia
| Motorcycle Grand Prix Grand Prix motorcycle racing Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced... Career |
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| Nationality | Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
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| Active years | 1932 - 1953 |
| Team(s) | Auto-Union, BMW BMW motorcycles BMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand... |
| Grands Prix | N/A |
| Championships | N/A |
| Wins | 7 |
| Podium finishes | N/A |
| Pole position Pole position The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she... s |
N/A |
| Fastest laps | N/A |
| First Grand Prix | 500cc 1938 Eilenreiden Hanover |
| First Grand Prix win | 500cc 1938 Belgium GP |
| Last Grand Prix win | 500cc 1939 Belgium GP |
| Last Grand Prix | 500cc 1939 Swedish GP |
Georg ("Schorsch") Meier (9 November 1910, Mühldorf am Inn – 19 February 1999) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
motorcycle racer famous for being the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT
Senior TT
The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festival and takes place on the Friday of race week. The Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars...
the Blue Riband
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
race of the Isle of Man TT Races in 1939 riding for the factory BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
team and the first motor-cycle racer to lap a Grand Prix course at over 100mph.
Biography
Meier was born in Mühldorf am Inn, BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and after leaving school at the age of 14 years, Georg Meier became an apprentice at a local motor-cycle repair shop in Mühldorf am Inn in Bavaria and became known as "Schorsch" (the Bavarian diminutive for Georg) Meier. After hearing that the Bavarian State Police were creating a motor-cycle section, at the age of 19 years, Georg Meier applied to join and was accepted in 1929. A trainee period of three years had to be completed before Georg Meier was able to transfer to the motor-cycle police section in 1932.
Racing career
After becoming a member of the Bavarian Police Team, Georg Meier competed in 1000km endurance trials that where popular at the time and seen as good training for motor-cycle dispatch riders. In 1934, Georg Meier attracted attention of the German Army motor-cycle team after finishing a 1000 km enduro an hour ahead of schedule and also riding an unpopular 400cc single-cylinder BMWBMW motorcycles
BMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand...
R4 with a pressed-steel frame and out-moded trailing-link front forks. With fellow competitors in the German Army team, Fritz Linhardt and Joseph Forstner they won so many enduro events that Georg Meier became known as "Der Gusseiserne Schorsch". (Ironman Georg).
1937 International Six Day Trial
After many success at the 1000 km enduro events, Georg Meier was selected for the German Trophy Team for the 1937 International Six Day TrialInternational Six Days Enduro
The International Six Days Enduro is the oldest 'off road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar.The ISDE was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, apart from interruptions due to World War I and World War II, at various locations throughout the world. The early...
to be held in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Along with team-mates Joseph Stelzer and Ludwig Wiggerl Kraus who competed in an 600cc BMW sidecar outfit, the German Trophy team now used 500cc flat-twin BMW motor-cycles. At the end of the six day trial the British and German Trophy teams where level on points. The event was to be decided on speed-test and the new Castle Donington
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...
race circuit. The British Trophy team used 350cc machines and due to the handicap system the 500cc BMW motor-cycles had to complete an extra-lap to win the 1937 International Six Day Trial. Also, two of the British riders had extensive road-racing experience with Vic Brittain riding a Norton
Norton (motorcycle)
Norton is a British motorcycle marque, originally from Birmingham, founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of "fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade". By 1902, they had begun manufacturing motorcycles with bought-in engines. In 1908, a Norton-built engine was added to the range...
and George Rowley riding an AJS
AJS
AJS was the name used for cars and motorcycles made by the Wolverhampton, England, company A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd, from 1909 to 1931, by then holding 117 motorcycle world records, and after the firm was sold the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on...
motor-cycle. Despite having no road racing experience, Georg Meier won the Donington speed-trial, but the German Trophy Team lost the event to Great Britain Team by 10 seconds on the handicap system. The German Team officials were impressed by Georg Meier's performance that they suggested to BMW that he should be given a trial for their race-team.
Racing for BMW Works Team 1937-1939
The works BMW motor-cycle team where looking for a replacement for Otto Ley who was about to retire from racing. At a race at SchleizSchleiz
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany.- Location :Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia, Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic...
in 1937, Georg Meier was give the opportunity to try out one of the new supercharged BMW motor-cycles during practice. After a few laps, Georg Meier pulled into the pits and reputedly told the BMW racing manager that "Road Racing is far too dangerous for me." The BMW team were able to persuade Georg Meier to continue and finished the practice session with fourth fastest time, but did not start the race as he was not officially entered by the BMW works team. After replacing Otto Ley in the BMW motor-cycle team for the 1938 season, Georg Meier began 1938 by winning the Eilenreiden Race at Hanover, setting race and lap records after a poor start which had left him in last place".
For the 1938 Isle of Man TT
1938 Isle of Man TT
The 1938 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the Senior TT lap record of 90.27 mph set by Freddie Frith the previous year broken in 1938 when Harold Daniell completed a lap at 91.00 mph on his Norton, a record which would stand for 12 years. He managed to win, beating Stanley Woods by only...
, Georg Meier was entered by the BMW team along with Jock West
Jock West
John Milns "Jock" West, MBE was a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Great Britain.-Motorcycle career:West was born in Belvedere, Kent to an English father and a Scottish mother. He initially concentrated on grasstrack racing on an Ariel motorcycle and, was successful enough that the Ariel factory...
and Karl Gall
Karl Gall (motorcycle racer)
Karl Gall was an Austrian motorcycle racer with the works BMW motor-cycle team and a former German national motor-cycle champion.-Biography:...
. First the BMW team suffered a setback when Karl Gall was injured in an unofficial practice crash and was found in a ditch above the Gooseneck
Gooseneck
The gooseneck is the swivel connection on a sailboat by which the boom attaches to the mast. The boom moves from side to side and up and down by swiveling on the gooseneck....
and was unable to race. On the startline for the 1938 Senior TT
Senior TT
The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festival and takes place on the Friday of race week. The Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars...
Race, one of the BMW mechanics changing a spark-plug stripped a cylinder thread on the engine of Georg Meier's BMW Type 255 Kompressor motor-cycle. Despite starting the 1938 Senior TT Race on one-cylinder, Georg Meier retired on lap 1 at the bottom of Bray Hill
Bray Hill
Bray Hill formerly a country lane known as the Great Hill during the time of the ownership of the Duke of Atholl. Previously known as Siberia a former triangle shaped parcel of land in the Murray Estate...
. The race was won Harold Daniell riding for Norton at an average race speed of 89.11 mph and Jock West riding the works supercharged BMW finished in 5th place at an average race speed of 85.92 mph. In 1938, Georg Meier went on to win the 500cc Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the 500cc Dutch TT
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
, the German Grand Prix at the Hohenstein-Ernstthal
Hohenstein-Ernstthal
Hohenstein-Ernstthal is a town in the Zwickau rural district, Free State of Saxony, Germany. The towns of Hohenstein and Ernstthal were united in 1898, and the town is either known by its hyphenated form, or simply called Hohenstein....
or Sachsenring
Sachsenring
The Sachsenring racing circuit is located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship.- History :...
course and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Monza
Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...
. The 500cc 1938 Ulster Grand Prix was won by BMW team-mate Jock West and Georg Meier became the 1938 500cc European Motor-Cycle Champion.
For the 1939 racing season, despite being a Sergeant-Instructor with the Military Police, Georg Meier continued racing for the factory BMW team during his periods of leave. Also for the 1939 season Georg Meier along with fellow motor-cycle racer Hermann Paul Müller
Hermann Paul Müller
Hermann Paul Müller was a German sidecar, motorcycle, and race car driver....
drove as reserve drivers for the German Auto-Union Racing Team. During practice for the 1939 Isle of Man TT
1939 Isle of Man TT
The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last race festival until 1947 due to the interruption of World War II. It was the last of ten TT victories for the 34 year old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 mph and came 4th in the Senior TT race...
Race, Georg Meier's BMW team-mate, Kall Gall crashed at Ballaugh Bridge and later died of his injuries and the effects of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in hospital.
After considering to withdraw from the Isle of Man TT Races, the BMW management decided that Georg Meier and Jock West would compete in the 1939 Senior TT Race and Georg Meier led from start to finish winning at an average race speed of 89.38 mph and Jock West finished in second place.
1939 Senior Isle of Man TTIsle of Man TTThe International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world...
(500cc)
16 June 1939 - 7 laps (264.11 miles) Mountain Course
| Rank | Rider | Team | Speed | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Georg Meier |
BMW BMW motorcycles BMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand... |
89.38 mph | 2:57:19.0 |
| 2 |  Jock WestJock West John Milns "Jock" West, MBE was a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Great Britain.-Motorcycle career:West was born in Belvedere, Kent to an English father and a Scottish mother. He initially concentrated on grasstrack racing on an Ariel motorcycle and, was successful enough that the Ariel factory... |
BMW | 88.22 | 2:59:39.0 |
| 3 | Freddie Frith Freddie Frith Frederick Lee "Freddie" Frith OBE was a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. A former stonemason and motor-trader dealer was a stylish rider and five times winner of the Isle of Man TT... |
Norton Norton (motorcycle) Norton is a British motorcycle marque, originally from Birmingham, founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of "fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade". By 1902, they had begun manufacturing motorcycles with bought-in engines. In 1908, a Norton-built engine was added to the range... |
87.96 | 3:00:11.0 |
Two weeks after becoming the first foreign winner of the prestigious Isle of Man Senior TT Race, Georg Meier won the 500cc 1939 Dutch TT
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
at Assen
Assen
Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...
. This was followed by a win at 500cc 1939 Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and the first motor-cycle racer to lap a Grand Prix course at over 100mph. Despite missing the French Motor-Cycle Grand Prix, Georg Meier competes instead for Auto Union driving to 2nd place in Grand Prix De L'Automobile Club de France at Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams...
. Returning to ride for the BMW motor-cycle for the Swedish Grand Prix, Georg Meier falls twice after chasing Dorino Serafini
Dorino Serafini
Teodoro "Dorino" Serafini was a motorcycle road racer and racing driver from Italy.A native of Pesaro , he won the 1939 500cc European Championship on a Gilera...
riding for Gilera and suffers a back-injury which stops him from racing for the rest of the 1939 racing season. With further wins at the 500cc German, Ulster and Italian Grand Prix races, Dorino Sefafini wins the 500c class for the 1939 European Championship.
Auto Union Team 1939
Hermann Paul Müller
Hermann Paul Müller was a German sidecar, motorcycle, and race car driver....
acted as reserve drivers for the Auto Union team. After qualifying for the 1939 Eifelrennen, Hans Stuck
Hans Stuck
Hans Stuck was a German motor racing driver...
injured his foot playing skittle and the place was taken by Georg Meier, however did not start the race after a technical failure of the Auto Union Type D that he was driving. The 1939 Eifelrennen was won by Hermann Lang
Hermann Lang
Hermann Lang was a German champion race car driver.Born in the Bad Cannstatt district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at age fourteen Hermann Lang had to go to work to help support his family following the death of his father...
driving the Mercedes-Benz W154
Mercedes-Benz W154
The Mercedes-Benz W154 was a Grand Prix racing car designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut. The W154 competed in the 1938 and 1939 Grand Prix seasons and was used by Rudolf Caracciola to win the 1938 European Championship....
after Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian motorcycle and racecar driver, known as Il Mantovano Volante or Nivola. He was the 1932 European Champion in Grand Prix motor racing...
driving for Auto Union tried to run the race non-stop. For the 1939 Belgium Grand Prix, Georg Meier again deputised Hans Stuck in the Auto Union team. The race held in heavy rain and poor visibility was dominated by the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939, and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954/55.For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each...
of Dick Seaman and Hermann Lang. On lap 14, Georg Meier driving the Auto Union Type D was forced into a ditch by the privateer Adolphe Mandirola driving a Maserati 6CM at Blanchemont on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and then retired. The 1939 Belgium Grand Prix was again won by Hermann Lang, but was domininated by the death of Dick Seaman in a crash at La Source hairpin. The 1939 French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....
at Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams...
was dominated by Auto Union after the retirement of the Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
drivers, after Rudolf Caracciola
Rudolf Caracciola
Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola , more commonly Rudolf Caracciola , was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times...
crashed on lap 1, on lap 17 an engine failure for von Brauchitsch
Manfred von Brauchitsch
Manfred Georg Rudolf von Brauchitsch was a German auto racing driver who drove for Mercedes-Benz in the famous "Silver Arrows" of Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s....
and Hermann Lang on lap 36. The race was won by Hermann Paul Müller for Auto Union and Georg Meier finished in 2nd place after a pit-fire burnt his arm.
1939 Race Results Auto Union Type D
| Rank | Race | Circuit | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DNS | ADAC Eifelrennen | Nürburgring Nürburgring The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about... - Nordschleife |
10 laps - 228.10 km | —— |
| DNF | Grand Prix de Belgique | Spa-Francorchamps | 35 laps - 507.50 km | —— |
| 2nd | Grand Prix De L'Automobile Club de France | Reims-Gueux Reims-Gueux Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams... |
51 laps - 398.60 km | - 1 lap |
| DNF | Großer Preis von Deutschland | Nürburgring | 22 laps - 501.82 km | —— |
War Service
After the crash at the Swedish Grand Prix in August 1939, Georg Meier spent two months recovering from a serious back-injury. This led to Georg Meier being declared unfit for military service and spend the war as a motor-cycle instructor for the German Military Police and as a driver to Wilhelm CanarisWilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
head of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, the German military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
service, from 1935 to 1944.
Post War Racing
Walter Zeller (motorcyclist)
Walter Zeller was a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Germany who rode for the BMW factory racing team. His best year was in when he finished the season second in the 500cc world championship behind John Surtees....
and became German Sportsman of the Year in 1949 the first time a motor-cycle racer had won the prize. Also, Georg Meier formed the BMW Veritas Team and won the German sports car championship in 1948.
After regaining the German Championship from Walter Zeller in 1953, Georg Meier retired from racing to concentrate on his BMW motor-cycle business. In 1983 Georg Meier appeared in the BMW campaign to celebrate 60 years of motor-cycle production and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1939 Senior TT Race win, Georg Meier demonstrated the BMW Type 255 Kompressor in the Lap of Honour during the 1989 Isle of Man TT Race.
External links
- TT database rider profile iomtt.com
- TT database TT results iomtt.com