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Sports report: A portrait of the ice speedway driver Gunther Bauer
Sports report: Ice Speedway
A portrait of the ice speedway driver Gunther Bauer
On a weekend with Germany’s best ice speedway driver, you learn what Bosna tastes like; sees how the most spectacular lean angles in motorcycle racing are driven; understands why racing drivers can be best friends and bitter rivals at the same time – and above all understands why men like Gunther Bauer do everything for 60 seconds of racing. Ice speedway – wow, what a sport.
Klaus Herder
02/02/2011
He has a fever. He coughs and gasps like someone with lung disease. He freezes (quote from his tuner: “He’s always freezing.”). He has just finished the seven-minute training session for the World Cup qualifying race with the last of his strength. And he doesn’t care about anything, because such a filth virus doesn’t let a Gunther Bauer stop doing a cherished ritual: Bosna food in downtown Saalfelden. For the 39-year-old Upper Bavaria and his team, the Austrian version of the hot dog is the crowning glory of the day when you’ve milled up the ice in the neighboring country.
And anyway: Good food and drink keep body and soul together, and so it is completely normal for Gunther to go out to eat pork knuckle and spare ribs with the two Khomitsevitch brothers and their team on the evening before training.
In contrast to Gunther, the two Russians are professionals who can make a living from the ice speedway race. Gunther was runner-up behind Vitaly in 2003, and the two of them are still on the ice today as ever. The younger brother Dimitri is the current Russian champion, which counts at least as much in the ice speedway as the world title. These tough fighting Russians have to be defeated if you want to be at the forefront of the iceracing world leaders. But first of all, Gunther takes care of an urgently needed spare part for the Russians’ transporter with umpteen phone calls and organizes their accommodation.
Incredible helpfulness and warm friendships on the one hand, uncompromising fights and merciless rivalry on the other and with one and the same people – maybe that’s exactly what makes the special charm of the ice speedway scene. The one that sounds slightly like a phrase “large family of athletes” is really lived here, which may be due to the fact that this family with around 200 active people worldwide is not so very big – you know and you need each other.
Anyone who accepts several thousand kilometers of travel on often snow-covered roads, mostly at night and in box vans packed to the max, to drive a total of just twelve minutes of motorcycle on mirror-smooth 400-meter ovals (said seven minutes of training plus five races one minute each), must be a very special type, if not to say slightly to moderately crazy. Or simply a personable stubborn head like Gunther Bauer, who works as a greenkeeper on the golf course in Reit im Winkl in the summer months.
The Schlechinger with the nickname “cut” (Bavarian for “Rascal”) came to the ice speedway by chance in 1990: “An acquaintance bought a machine and I thought what it can do for a long time.” He was able to and became German Champion for the first time in 2000, won his first Grand Prix in 2002 and has since been one of the 16 finalists who compete in the World Championship at four locations and on eight days of racing. Gunther is an amateur, but his team is absolutely professionally organized. Three mechanics (little Michael, big Michael and “Mandi”), Logistician Wolfgang and sponsor Robert are usually there when it comes to training in Sweden or a preparatory race on the Russian / Chinese border.
For his tuner Manfred, Gunther Bauer is a very special challenge, because the giant weighs 95 kilograms, a good 20 to 30 kilograms more than his fiercest rivals. Something has to be conjured up, and so Gunther’s machine with a fighting weight of 110.3 kilos (minimum weight 110 kg) and 70 hp peak power (the Russians have around 62 hp) should be one of the absolute top devices in the ice speedway touring circus. Gunther also knows people like Wladimir, the gray eminence of the scene. A man of no age or surname, but with an infinite amount of experience and healing hands. Wladimir screwed several world champions, was brought by Gunther to Bavaria for a few days by plane and works, among other things, as a tire whisperer, because the spike distribution and the correct inflation pressure are a science in themselves. It takes three days for the 28 millimeter long steel pins to be fitted: around 160 go to the front tires and around 200 to the rear rubber. After two days of racing, the carcasses are ready to go.
Anyone who wants to understand what defines the Gunther Bauer type will quickly get very clear statements in their environment: “He is thoroughly honest, very direct and quite resentful” (the tuner). “A farmer, not always very diplomatic, resentful even to the death” (the sponsor). “A real racing driver with bite and instinct who practically requires no preparation. He knows exactly when it applies – but also when it should be better. Gunther polarizes, if it has to be, he is absolutely uncompromising” (the logistician). “In the early days he drove without a brain, but has been with him for a good ten years now, has a lot of routine, is gentle on materials and can be very self-critical when defeated. Even with the greatest hectic pace, it does not allow itself to be infected” (a mechanic). Gunther Bauer’s older sister also sums it up well: “He doesn’t do anything behind the scenes and is always very direct.” “I can always absolutely rely on him, Gunther is a real family man”, says his mother. When asked about his strengths and weaknesses, the married father of a 12-year-old boy also has clear answers ready: “I have strong nerves. But I can also get extremely upset quickly.”
Gunther Bauer’s success is certainly due to the fact that a large part of the characteristics mentioned must be part of the skills of a good ice speedway driver. This fascinating and – apart from the temperatures – extremely spectator-friendly sport is tough, direct and uncompromising. Mutual probing, eternally long maneuvering – forget it. A race run (“Heat”) takes about 60 seconds. There is no time for any banter. Full throttle, fold down, straighten up, full throttle.
30 meters after the start, the second and last gear is cut with the right foot. It stays there for four laps with an average speed of almost 100 km / h. The gladiators chase around the course at a slope of 70 degrees or more and in close contact. After a minute it’s all over – and family is announced.
Gunther Bauer is a privileged ice speedway driver because the financing of his sport is covered by sponsors. With a budget of around 75,000 euros per season, you can be up front. So it worked out in Saalfelden with the World Cup qualification – four wins in five heats. The one-man team of Englishman Mark Uzzel, who came last five times in Saalfelden, has to make do with just 5000 euros per season. But Mark sums it up: “We’re not a little crazy. It is you because you do NOT drive an ice speedway.”
Only around 200 active people drive ice speedways worldwide, around 70 of them in Russia, of which 20 are real professionals. There are around ten drivers in Germany, Gunther Bauer and Stefan Pletschacher are the only Germans who have qualified for the 2011 World Cup. It is driven with machines whose engine base (500 cm³ single cylinder, only two-valve) almost always comes from the Czech manufacturer Jawa and which are operated with methanol. Jawa also offers complete motorcycles (around 10,000 euros), but they are not competitive in series production. The chassis of the top devices are therefore self-made or come from small series. In top machines such as B. Gunther Bauer’s motorcycle, is around 20,000 euros in material value alone. You can drive on natural or artificial ice rinks. 16 drivers compete against each other, four drivers start each individual run (heat), which lasts four laps. Every driver gets five heats per race day, i.e. just under five minutes net driving time. The closest races: 24. and 26./27.2. Berlin (www.eisspeedway-berlin.de); 12./13.3. Assen / NL (www.ijsspeedway-assen.nl), 26./27.3. Inzell / D (www.dmv-lg-suedbayern.de).
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