Walter Schneider (15 January 1927 – 27 March 2010) was a German motorcycle, sidecar and car racer. In 1958 and 1959 he became Sidecar World Champion with Hans Strauß.[1]
Beginning his racing as a sidecar passenger in 1949 with Kurt Bäch before switching to the driver's seat the following year with Hans Wahl in the sidecar in the junior category. Moving to senior in 1951, by 1953 he finished fourth in the German Sidecar Championship on a privately prepared machine.
With a works BMW ride for 1954, the team soon were on the pace finishing fourth in their first race, the Sidecar TT on the Clypse Course.[2] With every GP a top five finish including a second in Germany, they ended the title in fourth position.
In 1955 Schneider and Strauß managed their first win, in the Sidecar TT, again on the Clypse Course. With two third places and a second they finished the season in third. The 1955 season was not so good, with only two points finishes ending up in tenth overall. 1957 was much better for the team, with two seconds and a first, at the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing second in the title race.
1958 was their greatest season so far with wins at the Isle of Man, Belgium, and Germany and second at The Netherlands, it was enough to win them the world championship.[3]
The 1959 season saw almost as dominant a performance as the previous year, with two wins and two seconds enough to net another championship.[1]
After winning his second world title, Schneider decided to retire from sidecar competition, only to take up car racing. After a massive crash in a BMW car in 1964 where he plunged several hundred metres down a slope, he decided to retire from competition.[4][5]
In 1958 Schneider had opened a motor garage, later expanding to car repairs and finally a new car dealership selling Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.[6]
walter, schneider, motorcyclist, walter, schneider, january, 1927, march, 2010, german, motorcycle, sidecar, racer, 1958, 1959, became, sidecar, world, champion, with, hans, strauß, walter, schneidernationalitygermanborn, 1927, january, 1927weidenau, germanydi. Walter Schneider 15 January 1927 27 March 2010 was a German motorcycle sidecar and car racer In 1958 and 1959 he became Sidecar World Champion with Hans Strauss 1 Walter SchneiderNationalityGermanBorn 1927 01 15 15 January 1927Weidenau GermanyDied27 March 2010 2010 03 27 aged 83 Siegen GermanyMotorcycle racing career statisticsGrand Prix motorcycle racingActive years1954 1959First race1954 Isle of Man Sidecar TTLast race1959 Belgian Sidecar Grand PrixFirst win1955 Isle of Man Sidecar TTLast win1959 Belgian Sidecar Grand PrixTeam s BMWChampionships2Starts Wins Podiums Poles F laps Points7 N A N AIsle of Man TT careerTTs contested6 1954 1959 TT wins3First TT win1955 Sidecar TTLast TT win1959 Sidecar TTTT podiums4Beginning his racing as a sidecar passenger in 1949 with Kurt Bach before switching to the driver s seat the following year with Hans Wahl in the sidecar in the junior category Moving to senior in 1951 by 1953 he finished fourth in the German Sidecar Championship on a privately prepared machine With a works BMW ride for 1954 the team soon were on the pace finishing fourth in their first race the Sidecar TT on the Clypse Course 2 With every GP a top five finish including a second in Germany they ended the title in fourth position In 1955 Schneider and Strauss managed their first win in the Sidecar TT again on the Clypse Course With two third places and a second they finished the season in third The 1955 season was not so good with only two points finishes ending up in tenth overall 1957 was much better for the team with two seconds and a first at the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix finishing second in the title race 1958 was their greatest season so far with wins at the Isle of Man Belgium and Germany and second at The Netherlands it was enough to win them the world championship 3 The 1959 season saw almost as dominant a performance as the previous year with two wins and two seconds enough to net another championship 1 After winning his second world title Schneider decided to retire from sidecar competition only to take up car racing After a massive crash in a BMW car in 1964 where he plunged several hundred metres down a slope he decided to retire from competition 4 5 In 1958 Schneider had opened a motor garage later expanding to car repairs and finally a new car dealership selling Volkswagen Audi and Skoda 6 References edit a b Walter Schneider TT 1954 Sidecar TT Race Results iomtt com The World s 1 TT Website Grand Prix WM Motorcycle autograph cards Archived from the original on 19 April 2014 Retrieved 17 June 2014 Doppelweltmeister und Autohandler ging von Bord WAZ de www derwesten de Archived from the original on 6 August 2016 Walter Schneider GER verstorben Motorrad News burning out de Archived from the original on 23 September 2010 Retrieved 12 January 2022 Home walter schneider com External links edithttp www eggersdorfer info schneider sidecar walter schneider htm https archive today 20140616095404 http www imageselect nl search walter 20schneider 20and 20helmut 20fath 20competing 20in 20a 20sidecar 20race htmlSporting positionsPreceded byFritz Hillebrandwith Manfred Grunwal World Sidecar Championwith Hans Strauss1954 1959 Succeeded byHelmut Fathwith Alfred Wohlgemuth nbsp This German biographical article related to motorcycle racing is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Walter Schneider motorcyclist amp oldid 1191242175, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
