Munich. After the Tourist Trophy (TT) races in June,
the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea will once again be the centre of
attention for motorcycle fans from all over the world up until
30 August 2016. The Classic TT not only celebrates recent victories
but also the most spectacular accomplishments of the past. At this
year’s meet-up of two wheel legends, BMW Group Classic particularly
recalls the year 1976. This was when Helmut Dähne and Hans Otto
Butenuth won the 1000 cubic centimetre class of the Production TT on a
BMW R 90 S. Since then, Dähne and his teammate Butenuth – who passed
away in 1997 – have belonged to the exclusive group of riders able to
enter their names in the winners’ list of the oldest most demanding
and also most hazardous motorcycle road race in the world. The now
71-year-old Dähne returns to the scene of his great triumph at the
2016 Classic TT. 40 years after his victory, he will once again ride
his original BMW racer around the Isle of Man – this time by way of a
lap of honour, not as fast as in 1976 but undoubtedly to the applause
of thrilled spectators once again.
Dähne’s anniversary ride on Monday, 29 August 2016, will be the
highlight of the BMW Group Classic’s appearance at the Tourist Trophy
paddock next to the grandstand in the island capital of Douglas and at
the festival on the airfield in Jurby. In a large display area, motor
racing fans will be able to see not just the winning boxer motorcycle
of 1976 but also numerous other BMW racing bikes with a TT history.
The selection ranges from a BMW R 5 SS from the year 1937 and a
BMW R 51 of 1939 to the BMW RS 54, which was designed as a racing
machine in 1954 and already reached top speeds of over 200 km/h. The
current model program is represented with the two latest new
additions, the BMW R nineT Scrambler and the BMW G 310 R.
Helmut Dähne – motorcycle racer, tyre expert, record holder.
At a special exhibition in honour of Helmut Dähne, there will also be
a display of numerous trophies, historical pictures and other
memorabilia from his impressive racing career. Born in Bavaria, Dähne
was active in motor racing for more than 40 years. At the age of 17 he
took part in his first slalom race, and he went on to enter motocross
competitions shortly afterwards. Dähne achieved his first success in a
road race in 1968. After this he won 15 German championship titles in
serial production motorcycle racing. All in all Helmut Dähne ran a
total of 383 races, of which he won 131, before finishing his career
in 2006. One particular feat that ensured Dähne a place in the history
of motorcycle racing was his record run on the Nürburgring
Nordschleife. In 1993 he completed the circuit in 7:49.71 minutes:
this outstanding time can no longer be improved on as the track has
since been modernised, so Dähne’s motorcycle lap record is “eternal”.
Helmut Dähne started his career by training as a motor mechanic with
BMW. In the company’s motorcycle racing department he was then
involved in the maintenance and repair of the legendary vertical shaft
engines for customer racing. In addition, he specialised in
reliability testing and at the beginning of the 1970s developed racing
machines based on the BMW R75/5. In 1972 Dähne rode this type of
motorcycle in the 200-mile race in Imola, Italy. The talented mechanic
was also quick to get hold of the BMW R 90 S launched in 1973 – the
brand’s first superbike. With full trim, stub handlebars, turned back
footrests, a short jump seat and a boxer engine with its output
increased by 9 hp to 76 hp, his machine reached speeds of well over
200 km/h. After this, Dähne attracted attention at numerous races with
his elegant riding style and fast lap times – and his red leather
racing suit with white stripes became a striking trademark, too.
Dähne remained faithful to the powerful BMW boxer motorcycles when he
moved to tyre manufacturer Metzeler in 1974 to work in racing. Here he
advanced the development of tyres for fast road bikes and serial
production racing. Dähne was both a test rider and a racer, and this
was how he came to be involved in the Tourist Trophy, which he first
entered in 1972. Up until 1994 Helmut Dähne entered a total of
26 Tourist Trophy races, including several in the same year on some
occasions. He became a TT legend when he secured victory in 1976, only
narrowly failing to repeat his triumph in 1984 and 1986, when he
finished second.
The Tourist Trophy – the biggest challenge in motorcycle road
racing since 1907.
“The Tourist Trophy is in no way comparable to a conventional race on
a permanent track,” says Helmut Dähne. The 60.725-kilometre Snaefell
Mountain Course consists of cordoned-off country roads – with front
gardens instead of gravel beds and curbs instead of safety fences at
the side. The motorcyclists speed through towns and villages, passing
fields and meadows and riding up and downhill through forest and
coastal landscapes.
The first motorcycle race was held on the Isle of Man as long ago as
1907: the original route was just 25 kilometres long, to be covered
ten times. The Snaefell Mountain Course has been in use by motorcycle
racers ever since 1911 and remains so to this day. While the route has
stayed the same, the regulations and categories have changed over the
decades. The Production TT category with its various cubic capacity
classes is now no longer part of the program, for example. In addition
to the sidecar contests, the highlights of the event nowadays are the
Superbike TT, the Superstock TT and the Senior TT for solo riders.
The formula for success in 1976: fast and furious with brief
fuelling stops.
With the expertise acquired at the Nürburgring and the knowledge
gained from his five previous entries in TT races, Helmut Dähne
already had extensive experience of long-distance racing when he set
off for the Isle of Man once again at the end of May 1976. His BMW R
90 SS sporting the standard Daytona Orange finish also seemed
excellently prepared – almost 30 kilograms lighter than the road
version, fitted with softer springs and featuring various
modifications to the engine. He was also backed by a strong team made
up of mechanic Helmut Bucher and the second rider Hans Otto Butenuth.
The latter was from Dortmund and also had a wealth of experience in
motorcycle racing. The fact that he was familiar with both the BMW and
the island race course further qualified him for the role of co-rider.
“I knew Hans Otto was the right man for the job,” says Dähne.
Butenuth immediately put in an impeccable training lap on the BMW R
90 S. Meanwhile Dähne was confronted with technical difficulties. The
intake manifold bolted onto the right-hand cylinder came loose. This
problem was solved with a two-component adhesive. Not long after this
an entire engine overhaul was required: here the trio joined forces to
deal with the setback by fitting a substitute power unit they had
brought along with them. The intake manifold again proved unstable, so
extra work was done to permanently eliminate the problem with a
flexible carburettor mounting bracket: this time the crew believed
they had finally overcome all obstacles. “We were the fastest in
training,” said Dähne, “so I thought I had a good chance of winning
the race itself.” But then the rain set in. The start was postponed
several times, which was good for the BMW team since Dähne’s new
employer did not have rain tyres in its program at the time.
When the race finally got under way, the weather conditions were
ideal. The racers now faced ten laps covering a total of more than 600
kilometres on the Snaefell Mountain Course. Dähne took the lead right
away. His BMW R 90 S was as fast as he had hoped, clearly outrunning
most competitors on the numerous bends of the island course in
particular. After three laps it was time for the first fuelling stop
and rider changeover. Here the BMW team was able to play another
joker. The trio had developed its very own fast-filling system which
significantly accelerated the fuelling process. Dähne arrived in the
pits 30 seconds behind, Butenuth rejoined the race with a ten-second
lead. The two other stopovers also went very smoothly, so the two
riders were unstoppable. They finished the Production TT race as
winners of the 1000 cubic centimetre class and fifth in the overall
ratings. “The fact that Rolf Steinhausen and Josef Huber also won the
500 cc sidecar class at the 1976 TT perfectly rounded off the success
as far as BMW was concerned,” says Helmut Dähne today.
BMW and the Tourist Trophy: the success story began with
“Schorsch” Meier.
By winning the Production TT in 1976, Dähne and Butenuth were the
first BMW solo riders to successfully follow in the footsteps of Georg
Meier. It was in 1939 that Meier became the first non-British rider to
win a title at the Tourist Trophy. “Schorsch” won the Senior TT on the
Isle of Man riding a BMW racing machine with a 500 cubic centimetre
boxer engine, a vertical shaft and compressor charging; it produced an
output of 60 hp and reached a top speed of over 220 km/h. British
rider Jock West finished second, securing a perfect victory for BMW.
After this, BMW was mainly successful in sidecar racing, also in the
Tourist Trophy. From 1955 to 1976, 28 racing victories went to
sidecars powered by BMW engines. But another 37 years were to pass
before the BMW team won its next solo victory with Helmut Dähne. And
it was to be another two decades before BMW tasted victory on the Isle
of Man once more. In 1997, 1998 and 1999, British rider Dave Morris
won three times in a row in the Singles TT riding a motorcycle
developed by Chrysalis Racing Team and powered by the single-cylinder
engine of the BMW F 650.
Another 15 years later, Northern Ireland’s Michael Dunlop started his
winning streak at the most famous of motorcycle races on his BMW S
1000 RR. In June 2014, exactly 75 years after Georg Meier’s legendary
win, Dunlop crowned a superb performance on the 4-cylinder BMW
superbike by clinching the Tourist Trophy triple. He finished first in
the Superstock TT, the Superbike TT and the Senior TT. And the BMW S
1000 RR dominated the 1000 cubic centimetre class in the very latest
Tourist Trophy, too. Michael Dunlop won the Superbike TT, while the
UK’s Ian Hutchinson secured first place in the Superstock TT. What is
more, the two BMW riders won a double victory in the Senior TT, with
Dunlop in first place and Hutchinson finishing second. On this
occasion Dunlop also completed the fastest lap ever run on the
Snaefell Mountain Course when he travelled at an average speed of 215.6 km/h.