The 2006 German motorcycle world champions

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The 2006 German motorcycle world champions
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The 2006 German motorcycle world champions

The 2006 German motorcycle world champions
Drift Scholars

They are on their toes: Robert Barth and Bernd Hiemer, the current German world champions of motorcycle drifting sports, long track and supermoto. Is there a reason German drifters dominate? MOTORRAD invited the masters in their field to an interdisciplinary exchange of experiences.

Andreas Schulz

04/24/2007

Motorcycle world champions from Germany, especially those who have recently won their title, have become rare in recent years. In the recent past, people have only ever relied on Robert Barth, dirt track champion in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. But Barth, who is “well over 30” years old according to the entry on his website, officially said goodbye by winning the last title of the hunt for World Cup points ?? after 20 years in the saddle of track racing machines.
It can be considered a lucky coincidence that on time for Barth’s honorable departure someone enters the stage who is ready to take over the baton. Bernd Hiemer, 24 years old, won his first world title in 2006 in the supermoto S1 class, dominated by the 450 cm four-stroke engine. He will be the only KTM factory rider to contest the 2007 World Championship on a prototype made by the Austrians.

Is it a coincidence that the two reigning German motorcycle world champions shine in sports where skilfully staged rear wheel drifts are part of the basics of success? That both were born in Memmingen in the Allgau? And what if it is not a coincidence, if it is the greater southern German climate or some other local phenomenon that promotes the development of drift boys? then the two of them would have to get along well with their colleague’s sports equipment right away.

MOTORRAD wanted to know and asked the champions to put them to the test. In the Landshut Speedway Stadium, Bernd Hiemer was supposed to show what he could do with Robert Barth’s Jawa-GM on the 390-meter sand track. The kart and supermoto track in Garching was supposed to reveal how Barth felt on Hiemers KTM SX-F 450 SM turns on.
In the preliminary talk from world champion to world champion, it quickly becomes apparent that track and supermoto sports have something in common. Drifting is part of the trade, the motorcycles are powered by single-cylinder four-stroke engines with a displacement of around half a liter and generate between 70 and 75 hp. Both machines reach a top speed of around 200 km / h on appropriate racetracks.

But that’s about the comparability, the comparison of the motorcycles shows it all too clearly. Here the huge 23-inch front wheel with the pathetic-looking 2.75-inch studded tire of the track athlete, there, on the supermoto, a treadless one
Low-cross-section slick size 125/80 on a 16.5-inch rim as in Rossi’s Grand Prix factory Yamaha. The radially screwed Brembo brake caliper and radial pump on Hiemer’s KTM are also in Grand Prix format.

Brakes are nowhere to be seen on the speedway motorcycle, and there is no need for a gearbox either. The experienced train traveler Barth will have to make unfamiliar decisions on board the Supermoto KTM ?? with regard to the choice of the right gear or the dosed use of the brake at the right time, for example. Bernd Hiemer logically has to do without these things when he made his infidelity into the rail industry. “I reduce speed by making the motorcycle drift at the end of the short straight,” says the 38-year-old, explaining the intricacies of his profession. And: “The more I accelerate, the more the machine goes sideways?” then the wobbling goes away too. “

After just a few laps it looks very well mannered, what “asphalt surfer” ?? so his nickname ?? Hiemer demonstrates on the dirt track. “Let him try 30 or 40 laps ??”, says Barth appreciatively, in order to immediately put the performance of his colleague in the right light: “He sits, has all the weight on the saddle. He should actually be in the break. ”Bernd Hiemer is still having fun. “The drift feeling is completely different,” he states after his test drive, “here I have to initiate the drift with the throttle grip, in a supermoto I trigger it by braking the rear wheel more than the front wheel.”

Part two of the world championship exchange of experiences takes place on a kart track in Garching. Robert Barth torments himself into the unfamiliar, heavy Supermoto boots, then there is no stopping him. A driving time of 30 minutes is set, which corresponds to the racing distance of a World Championship run. That also puts a lot of strain on professionals, as confirmed by Bernd Hiemer’s brother Dani, who ?? even active supermoto athlete who is currently injured? Barth’s use observed. It goes without saying that Dani has a cell phone with a stopwatch function. With 49.2 seconds he registered one of the fastest Barth laps, his own best time in Garching is 43.2 seconds.

A difference, whether the long-course champion does not want to let gray hair grow, rather he takes it as an incentive for future Supermoto activities. As expected, braking into the corners caused the most problems: »Once the rear wheel lifted at the end of the straight? I was already running out of pump, “Barth admits frankly,” and I was always busy trying to accommodate my legs somehow. “Nevertheless, he thinks his first contact with the Supermoto factory KTM is” really cool “.

He will remain in the track sport, initially as a coach of the Landshut Speedway Bundesliga team, at some point perhaps in the field of youth development. “There will be no more world champions at 38,” he is certain, “the youngest start at the age of seven, while the newcomers were 17.” That begs the question of what time horizon Bernd Hiemer is for sees his career in supermoto sport. The refers ?? who would hold it against him? Far away thoughts about the end of your career: »World champion at 38? Why not. Look at Kurt Nicoll. «The former British top crosser and current race director of KTM America won a national supermoto championship title in the USA in 2004. To celebrate his 40th birthday.

Technical data Supermoto – KTM factory machine SX-F 450 SM

Engine: single-cylinder four-stroke, displacement: 450 cm³, fuel: petrol, power: 70 hp at 11700 rpm, gearbox: five-speed, weight without petrol: 108 kg, brakes: Brembo, front tires: 125 / 80-16.5, rear: 170 / 55-17. Wheelbase: 1420 mm, seat height: 930 mm, handlebar width: 820 mm, handlebar height: 1200 mm.

Technical data track motorcycle – Jawa ANR GM

Engine: single-cylinder four-stroke, displacement: 500 cm³, fuel: methanol, power: 75 hp at 13500 rpm, gearbox: none, weight without petrol: 80 kg, brakes: none, front tires: 2.75-23, rear: 3.75- 19th Wheelbase: 1340 mm, seat height: 750 mm, handlebar width: 800 mm, handlebar height: 1030 mm.

Long track world champion: Robert Barth

Date and place of birth: August 10, 1968 in Memmingen, age: 38 years, place of residence: Memmingen, nickname: Nutcracker, height: 178 cm, weight: 78 kg, marital status: single, autograph address: Am Zehntstadel 9, 87700 Memmingen, website: www.robert-barth.de.

SUCCESSES
1987: German junior grass track champion, 1988: German junior grass track champion, 1989: European grass track champion, 1990: European grass track champion, 1992: Speedway team champion, 1994: European grass track champion, 1996: third place in the world sand track championship, 1998: vice world champion sand track, 1999: vice world champion sand track 2000: Vice world champion sand track, 2001: Third place world championship sand track, 2002: sand track world champion, 2003: sand track world champion, 2005: sand track world champion, 2006: sand track world champion.

Supermoto world champion: Bernd Hiemer

Date and place of birth: February 23, 1983 in Memmingen, age: 24 years, place of residence: Leutkirch, nickname: Asphaltsurfer, height: 176 cm, weight: 62 kg, marital status: single, autograph address: Ellmeney 2, 88299 Leutkirch, homepage: www .bernd-hiemer.de.

SUCCESSES
1996: Swabian Motocross Champion 80 cm³, 2001: first Supermoto season, 2002: Sixth place German Supermoto Championship, 2003: Supermoto European Champion, 2004: German Supermoto Champion Prestige Open, 2005: Supermoto Vice World Champion S1, 2006: Supermoto -World champion S1.

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