Georg Meier

Georg "Schorsch" Meier (; 9 November 1910 – 19 February 1999) was a German motorcycle racer famous for being the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT, the Blue Riband race of the Isle of Man TT Races, in 1939 riding for the factory BMW team and the first motorcycle racer to lap a Grand Prix course at over 100 mph.

Biography Meier was born in Mühldorf am Inn, Bavaria, and after leaving school at the age of 14 years, he became an apprentice at a local motorcycle repair shop in Mühldorf am Inn, Bavaria, and became known as "Schorsch" (the Bavarian diminutive for Georg). After hearing that the Bavarian State Police were creating a motorcycle section, at the age of 19, Meier applied to join and was accepted in 1929. A trainee period of three years had to be completed before Meier was able to transfer to the motorcycle police section in 1932.

Racing career After becoming a member of the Bavarian Police Team, Meier competed in 1000 km endurance trials that were popular at the time, considered as good training for motorcycle dispatch riders. In 1934, Meier attracted attention from the German Army motorcycle team after finishing a 1000 km enduro an hour ahead of schedule, riding an unpopular 400 cc single-cylinder BMW R4 with pressed-steel frame and out-moded trailing-link front forks. With fellow competitors Fritz Linhardt and Joseph Forstner in the German Army team, they won so many enduro events that Meier became known as "Der Gusseiserne Schorsch" (Ironman Georg). The BMW team persuaded Meier to continue and he 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 team for the 1938 season, Meier began 1938 by winning the Eilenriede 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, Meier was entered by the BMW team along with Jock West and Karl Gall. The BMW team suffered setbacks when Karl Gall was injured in a crash during an unofficial practice, was found in a ditch above the Gooseneck, and was unable to race. On the startline for the 1938 Senior TT Race, one of the BMW mechanics stripped a cylinder-head thread during a spark plug change on the engine of Meier's Type 255 machine. Trying to start the 1938 Senior race on one cylinder, Meier soon retired on lap one at the bottom of Bray Hill. 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 fifth place at an average race speed of 85.92 mph. In 1938, Meier went on to win the 500 cc Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the 500 cc Dutch TT, the German Grand Prix at the Hohenstein-Ernstthal (or Sachsenring) road course and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The 500 cc 1938 Ulster Grand Prix was won by BMW teammate Jock West and Meier became the 1938 500 cc European Motor-Cycle Champion.

For the 1939 racing season, despite being a Sergeant-Instructor with the Military Police, Meier continued racing for the factory BMW team during his periods of leave. During the 1939 season, Meier along with fellow motorcycle racer Hermann Paul Müller were reserve drivers for the German Auto-Union Racing Team. During practice for the 1939 Isle of Man TT Race, Meier's BMW teammate Kall Gall crashed at Ballaugh Bridge and later died of injuries combined with the effects of pneumonia in hospital. After considering withdrawing from the TT races, BMW management decided that Meier and Jock West would compete in the 1939 Senior TT race which Meier led from start to finish, winning at an average race speed of 89.38 mph. Jock West finished in second place.

1939 Senior Isle of Man TT (500cc) 16 June 1939 - 7 laps (264.11 miles) Mountain Course Rank Rider Team Speed Time 1 Georg Meier BMW 89.38 mph 2:57:19.0 2 Jock West BMW 88.22 2:59:39.0 3 Freddie Frith Norton 87.96 3:00:11.0

Two weeks after becoming the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT race,

1939 Race Results Auto Union Type D Rank Race Circuit Distance Time DNS ADAC Eifelrennen Nürburgring - 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 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, Meier spent two months recovering from a serious back-injury. This led to Meier being declared unfit for military service and spend the war as a motorcycle instructor for the German Military Police and as a driver to Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944. Between 1947 and 1953, Meier won the German 500 cc championship on a modified pre-war supercharged BMW motorcycle for six years out of seven. In 1952 he narrowly missed out to young teammate Walter Zeller and became German Sportsman of the Year in 1949, the first time a motorcycle racer had won the prize. 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, Meier retired from racing to concentrate on his BMW motorcycle business. In 1983 Meier appeared in a BMW campaign to celebrate 60 years of motorcycle production and the 50th anniversary of the 1939 Senior TT Race win, Meier demonstrated the BMW Type 255 Kompressor in the Lap of Honour during the 1989 Isle of Man TT race events.