Forgotten men of racing?


Dear CR

I am writing to correct some comments made by your contributor Mr Cathcart in his test on the EMC, issue 201.

He says that Ewald Kluge won the 1938 Lightweight TT, the first non-British rider/combo to do so.

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Did not the Italian combination of Omobono Tenni on his Guzzi, the year previously, in 1937 count?

Later in the same article, it’s stated that Giacomo Agostini won the first title for a stroker in his debut 1975 season with Yamaha.

In fact, the first world championship won by a two-stroke was in 1962 by Ernst Degner on a 50cc Suzuki, followed by in 1963 Hugh Anderson 125cc Suzuki and in 1964 Phil Read 250cc Yamaha.

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Ernst Degner was the first man to win a world championship on a two-stroke, by clinching the 1962 50cc crown.

In 1974 Giacomo Agostini won the first 350cc two-stroke world title on his Yamaha, the following year the first 500cc two-stroke title on a Yamaha.

Ralph Crellin, via email.

Read more Letters, Opinion, News and Features online at www.classicracer.com and in the July/August 2020 issue of Classic Racer – on sale now!

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