Helmut Polensky

Helmut Polensky (10 October 1915 in Berlin – 6 November 2011 in Saint-Tropez) was a German moto racer, racing driver and racing car constructor.

Life outside racing

Polensky was the youngest of four sons. His father was an architect. After leaving school and finishing military service, he began a career as a professional motorcycle and auto racer. After the Second World War, he married. He spent the last decades of his life in Saint-Tropez.

The 1930s and the Second World War

Polensky began racing motorcycles as a club racer in the mid-1930s. In 1939, he switched to sports car racing, piloting a used BMW 328. The same year, he signed as an engineer apprentice with Auto Union, and also joined the National Socialist Motor Corps.

Polensky spent the Second World War as a logistics specialist in Berlin. In 1945 he escaped from a Soviet prisoner of war camp, fleeing to Hamburg. He worked there in 1946 as managing director of a small motor company.

Racer and designer

In 1947, Polensky returned to Berlin and in the ruins opened one of the first Vespa dealerships in Germany. He also began racing again, designing and in his own workshop constructing a Formula Three racer with a motorcycle engine, akin to the Cooper 500. Polensky's first model was the Kurpfalz. This was followed by the Monopoletta, a BMW-powered monoposto. Polensky raced his Monopoletta throughout the late 1940s across West Germany. In 1950, he was fifth overall in the West German Formula Three Championship.

In the early the 1950s, Polensky began to concentrate increasingly on sports car races. He entered the Mille Miglia in 1952. His wife served as co-driver several times in the Tour de France. Around the same time, he moved his family to Karlsruhe, where he opened a Volkswagen dealership. Driving a Porsche, he won the 1953 Coupe des Alpes and European Rally Championship, coming first overall in the championship. He was also eighth overall at the 12 Hours of Reims in 1954.

Polensky entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times. In 1955, he was shared a Porsche 550 with journalist Richard von Frankenberg, coming fourth overall and earning a class win. He also took the 21st Biennial Cup.

In 1956, Polensky quit racing to become a successful automobile dealer.

Le Mans results Year Team Vehicle Teammate Placement Failure reason 1954 Porsche Porsche 550/4 RS Coupé 1500 Hans Herrmann Failure Engine failure 1955 Porsche KG Porsche 550/4 RS Spyder 1500 Richard von Frankenberg Fourth overall, and class win 1956 Olivier Gonzague Porsche 550/4 Spyder Claude Storez Failure Distributor

Books

Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu. 24 Heures du Mans, 1923-1992. Éditions d'Art, Besancon, 1992 .