Reinhard Böhler (1945 – 19 January 1995)Motocross Böhler/Peppinghaus Article on Reinhard Böhler, accessed: 7 November 2009 was a German sidecarcross rider and the first-ever World Champion in the sport, together with his passenger Siegfried Müller.
He has also won the German national sidecarcross championship seven times, from 1975 to 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984, which, as of 2009, still stands as the record.Motocross - Diverse Meister Article on sidecarcross championships in 2009, accessed: 7 November 2009
Biography Reinhard Böhler, a native of the South Baden region of Germany, started racing motocross in 1963, originally in the solo class. He soon moved across to sidecarcross, where he initially had to race mostly in neighbouring Switzerland because the sport was not yet very well established in Germany at the time. He started for the motocross club in Schopfheim.Wir wollen die Jungen etwas ärgern Badische Zeitung, published 26 May 2008, accessed: 7 November 2009
Böhler became the most successful German sidecarcross racer, being the only German to have won the world championship and also the record holder in national German sidecarcross championships. He retired from the sport in the mid-1980s, when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He supported his son Achim in his, less successful, sidecarcross career and died on 19 January 1995, at age 49.
Sidecarcross world championship results Reinhard Böhler made his debut in the FIM Cup, a predecessor of the world championship, in 1971, in the first year of the competition. With his passenger Walter Frech he competed in only one race, the Swiss GP in Wohlen.FIM Cup 1971 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009 In the four years the FIM Cup was held, he only competed in one or two races of it per season.
With the re-branding of the competition as FIM European Championship, he continued to make only occasional appearances. Böhler concentrated on the German championship at the time, winning national titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977. The year 1977 saw him also for the first time competing in every race of the European championship. With Hans Georg Peppinghausen as his passenger, he came second in the championship and won his first race, finishing on top in both races of the Austrian GP at Feldkirch.FIM European Championship 1977 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
The following two seasons proofed less successful, coming only sixth and ninth in the competition and losing the German title to Josef Brockhausen.
From 1980 onwards, the European championship was renamed the FIM World Championship and Reinhard Böhler, together with passenger Siegfried Müller, became the first world champion and the only ones from Germany so far. They took out the title with an 88-point gap to the second placed team and also won the German championship again.FIM World Championship 1980 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
Böhler was unable to defend his title in 1981, missing a number of races and having to swap passengers during the season. The following season, he only took part in very few events and came 19th overall.FIM World Championship 1982 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
Reinhard Böhler returned to old form in 1983 and 1984, winning the German title for a sixth and seventh time and coming third in both world championship seasons. The 1985 season was his last in the championship, taking out his last race win in the first GP of the season in Warching and then taking part in only the occasional GP during the season.FIM World Championship 1985 The John Davy pages, accessed: 7 November 2009
Season by season The competition which was to become the sidecarcross world championship in 1980 originated as the FIM Cup in 1971 and was renamed to European championship in 1975. Böhler's results in these three competitions were: Season Passenger Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third1971 Walter FrechSuzuki2851———1972 Walter FrechSuzuki-Kawasaki2072———1973 Walter FrechYamaha-Wasp3241———1974 Egon WuchnerYamaha-Wasp14222—111975 Egon WuchnerYamaha-Wasp16216———1976 Walter FrechYamaha-Wasp21132———1977 Hans Georg PeppinghausenYamaha-Wasp 2148162711978 Hans Georg PeppinghausenYamaha-Wasp67714121 1979 Siegfried MüllerYamaha-Wasp95010—11 Karl Büsser102——11980 Siegfried MüllerYamaha-Wasp 123622672 1981 Siegfried MüllerYamaha-Wasp5476—12 Eric Mies4561111982 Franz BurkhardYamaha-Wasp1994———1983 Franz BurkhardZabel-Wasp 3139182341984 Ekhard BauerWasp 3215166221985 Jürgen Hassold Wasp810610112 Overall 1971 - 19851154137192618 Source: All passengers are German nationals unless otherwise shown.
Honours
World Championship Champions: (1) 1980
European Championship Runners-up: (1) 1977
Germany Champions: (7) 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984
References
External links The official FIM website The World Championship on Sidecarcross.com