Adolf Weil (25 December 1938 – 12 May 2011) was a German professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships between 1960 and 1978, most prominently as a member of the Maico factory racing team. Nicknamed of the “Iron Man of Motocross” for the longevity of his racing career, Weil was one of the most accomplished West German motocross racers of the 1970s.
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Motorsports career Weil was born on December 25, 1938, in Solingen, Germany. He competed in his first Motocross World Championship event at the 1960 250cc West German Grand Prix as a 21-year-old privateer aboard a Maico motorcycle. He first came to prominence after placing third behind perennial World Championship contenders, Joël Robert (ČZ) and Torsten Hallman (Husqvarna) at the 1968 250cc West German Grand Prix.
After finishing the season ranked thirteenth in the 250cc world championships, Weil participated in the 1968 Inter-AM series in the United States. The Inter-AM was an international series established as a pilot event to help establish motocross in the United States by Edison Dye, the American importer for Husqvarna motorcycles. At the Akron, Ohio round of the Inter-AM series, Weil defeated the reigning 250cc World Champion, Joël Robert. Robert was considered to be the fastest motocross racer in the world at the time, but he was often hampered by his lackadaisical attitude towards physical fitness training as well as numerous mechanical issues he endured with his ČZ motorcycle. Weil then took the overall victory in both 250 and 500 classes at the final round, at Saddleback Park in Southern California.
Weil was 30-years-old when he began his first full World Championship season as a Maico factory team rider in 1969. He won the first overall victory of his career by winning both motos at the 1969 250cc West German Grand Prix. In the 1969 500cc Motocross World Championship, Weil placed 14th in the season final points standings with his best result being a third place behind Roger De Coster (ČZ) and John Banks (BSA) at the 500cc Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian Grand Prix was held on a rugged, narrow track in the forests surrounding the picturesque hilltop Citadel of Namur. First held in 1947, the Namur Grand Prix was revered by motocross enthusiasts in the same manner that auto racing enthusiasts considered the Monaco Grand Prix to be the crown jewel of the Formula One season.
Weil improved to a sixth-place ranking in the 1970 500cc Motocross World Championship, including a second-place finish behind the eventual World Champion, Bengt Åberg (Husqvarna) at the 500c West German Grand Prix, and another second-place behind his Maico teammate Åke Jonsson at the 500cc East German Grand Prix.
In 1971, Weil finished on the podium in seven of the twelve Grand Prix races including an overall victory at the 500cc West German Grand Prix in Bielstein. He finished the season ranked third in the 500cc World Championship behind Roger De Coster (Suzuki) and Åke Jonsson (Maico). After the world championship season ended, he participated in the 1971 Trans-AMA series in the United States where he won two rounds and ended the series in second place behind Sylvain Geboers (Suzuki).Trans-AMA Motocross Records, American Motorcyclist, January 1975, Vol. 29, No. 1,
His inconsistent results in 1972 saw him drop to eighth place in the season final points standings, however he posted second-place finishes at the Swedish and French Grand Prix races. Weil was invited to compete in the 1972 250cc West German Grand Prix where he defeated Robert in the first heat, however he was excluded from the results as he was competing for the 500cc Motocross World Championship.
Weil had his best season in 1973 when he switched to the 250cc class and scored three Grand Prix victories in Italy, Russia and Austria. Unfortunately for Weil, at the third round in Belgium Yamaha introduced a new and innovative rear suspension with a single shock absorber that would revolutionize the sport of motocross. Yamaha factory rider, Håkan Andersson took advantage of the new technology to win six Grand Prix victories and clinch the 1973 250cc World Championship. After finishing the season ranked second to Andersson in the world championships, Weil won the 1973 Trans-AMA series with five overall victories to claim the series title over his Maico teammates Gerrit Wolsink and Willy Bauer.
At an age when many of his contemporaries had retired, Weil continued to race in the World Championships well into his thirties, earning himself the nickname of the “Iron Man of Motocross”. Weil became the oldest competitor in FIM history to win a 250cc Motocross Grand Prix race when, he won the 1973 250cc Austrian Grand Prix at the age of 34 years and 244 days.
Weil returned to the 500cc class in 1974 where he won the 500cc West German Grand Prix, however the season was dominated by Heikki Mikkola (Husqvarna) and Roger De Coster (Suzuki), who won 17 of the 22 races. He finished the season ranked third in the World Championship. Weil was the top individual points scorer at the 1974 Trophée des Nations event, winning both motos to help the German team finish second to the Belgian team. Weil placed third in the 1974 Trans-AMA motocross series behind Suzuki teammates Roger De Coster and Gerrit Wolsink.
Weil continued to race competitively until 1976, when he became the oldest 500cc Grand Prix winner in the history of the Motocross World Championships with a victory at the 1976 500cc French Grand Prix at the age of 37. He finished the 1976 season ranked third behind Suzuki teammates Roger De Coster and Gerrit Wolsink.
In 1976, Weil was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf, the highest state award for athletic performance in Germany. He ended his professional motocross racing career after the 1978 season at the age of 39. Weil became so synonymous with Maico motorcycles that the company named the Maico AW model in his honor. He won 21 individual races and seven Grand Prix overall victories during his career in the Motocross World Championships. While he was never able to win a World Championship title, Weil was a 14-time German Motocross National Champion. After retiring from competition, he operated a motorcycle business with his two sons Frank and Jürgen in his hometown of Solingen, Germany.
Weil died in Solingen, Germany on 12 May 2011 at the age of 72.
Motocross Grand Prix Results Points system from 1952 to 1968: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1
Points system from 1969 to 1980:
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1964 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- BEL13 BEL- CH- CH- CZE- CZE- GER6 GER- LUX13 LUX- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- USR- USR- POL- POL- GDR- GDR- FRA- FRA- - 0 1966 250cc Montesa ESP- ESP15 FRA- FRA- BEL- BEL- CH- CH- CZE- CZE- GER- GER- NED11 NED- LUX- LUX- ITA- ITA- POL- POL- GDR- GDR- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- USR- USR- AUT- AUT- - 0 500cc Maico CH- CH- AUT- AUT- ITA- ITA- DEN- DEN- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- GDR- GDR- CZE- CZE- USR- USR- UK- UK- NED- NED- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- GER5 GER4 19th 3 1967 250cc Maico ESP5 ESP19 CH- CH5 FRA11 FRA29 BEL10 BEL14 GER3 GER- NED- NED- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- USR- USR- POL- POL- - 0 500cc Maico AUT- AUT- ITA- ITA- SWE- SWE- CZE- CZE- USR- USR- FRA- FRA- GER- GER3 UK- UK- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- CH- CH- - 0 1968 250cc Maico ESP7 ESP8 BEL- BEL- CZE- CZE- FRA- FRA- NED15 NED18 GER2 GER3 LUX9 LUX5 POL- POL- USR- USR- YUG- YUG- FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- UK- UK- AUT- AUT- 13th 6 500cc Maico AUT12 AUT5 ITA- ITA- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- GDR- GDR- CZE- CZE- UK- UK- GER- GER1 FRA- FRA- NED- NED- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- CH- CH- 20th 2 1969 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- CH- CH- YUG- YUG- CZE- CZE- POL- POL- GER1 GER1 NED- NED- FRA- FRA- UK- UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- USR- USR- 14th 16 500cc Maico AUT36 AUT3 SWE4 SWE7 NED- NED- ITA17 ITA12 CZE11 CZE2 USR- USR- GER4 GER- BEL3 BEL3 LUX10 LUX- FRA- FRA3 CH2 CH- GDR- GDR- 14th 4 1970 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- FRA- FRA- BEL7 BEL7 YUG- YUG- ITA- ITA- USR- USR- POL- POL- UK- UK- FIN- FIN- GDR- GDR- CH- CH- AUT- AUT- 22nd 4 500cc Maico CH- CH- AUT8 AUT10 NED5 NED30 FRA2 FRA3 FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- CZE6 CZE4 USR- USR- GER3 GER1 GDR3 GDR3 BEL2 BEL3 LUX1 LUX- 6th 55 1971 500cc Maico ITA2 ITA2 AUT3 AUT2 SWE3 SWE5 FIN2 FIN3 CZE3 CZE1 USR3 USR4 GDR5 GDR- UK- UK- GER1 GER2 BEL4 BEL- LUX3 LUX18 NED2 NED6 3rd 90 1972 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- FRA- FRA- NED- NED- CZE- CZE- YUG- YUG- GER1* GER2* POL- POL- USR- USR- FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- UK- UK- CH- CH- - 0 500cc Maico AUT- AUT- CH4 CH- SWE3 SWE1 FRA2 FRA2 USR- USR- CZE4 CZE- UK2 UK4 GER- GER- GDR- GDR- BEL3 BEL4 LUX- LUX1 8th 42 1973 250cc Maico ESP3 ESP1 ITA4 ITA2 BEL5 BEL3 CH2 CH2 POL4 POL- YUG- YUG- FRA1 FRA2 FIN2 FIN- USR1 USR1 SWE5 SWE4 AUT1 AUT2 2nd 157 1974 500cc Maico AUT2 AUT2 FRA- FRA7 ITA3 ITA- DEN2 DEN6 CZE3 CZE2 GER1 GER2 UK3 UK- USA7 USA6 NED5 NED- BEL- BEL3 LUX3 LUX4 3rd 133 1975 250cc Maico ESP- ESP1 AUT10 AUT8 BEL2 BEL5 CZE5 CZE- POL3 POL- YUG2 YUG- GER6 GER- UK7 UK- FRA1 FRA3 SWE4 SWE2 FIN5 FIN6 CH2 CH6 4th 129 1976 500cc Maico CH6 CH2 FRA1 FRA2 ITA7 ITA3 AUT1 AUT7 SWE3 SWE2 FIN- FIN7 GER- GER4 USA- USA6 CAN8 CAN- UK- UK1 BEL2 BEL10 LUX3 LUX- 3rd 141 1977 500cc Maico AUT- AUT- NED- NED- SWE- SWE- FIN9 FIN7 GER- GER- ITA9 ITA6 USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK10 UK5 BEL6 BEL4 LUX7 LUX8 CH- CH6 10th 45 1978 500cc Maico CH- CH- AUT- AUT- FRA- FRA- DEN- DEN- FIN- FIN- SWE7 SWE8 USA- USA- ITA5 ITA10 UK- UK- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- NED- NED- 15th 14*Weil is invited to compete in the 1972 250cc West German Grand Prix in which he is awarded second place, however he is not awarded points since he is competing for the 1972 500cc World Championship. Sources:
References