Siegfried Wartbichler provides the basic structure of the vehicle and achieves several national successes. The engine is also used in the sidecar class. Nevertheless, there are notable achievements, including for Alois Maxwald, who gained seventh place in the GDR Grand Prix and became Austrian state champion in 1973. The scope for entering it into World Championship races is limited, however, because it would be competing against four-cylinder engines. The engine is mounted on a console and connected to a five-speed gearbox via a dry clutch. Rotax supplies Bombardier with water-cooled 500cc snowmobile engines, which are suitable for installation in racing motorcycles – the double rotary valve control provides sufficient power.
Competing against the Japanese makes, he comes fifth in the 1969 World Championship, and, among other things, takes second place at the Sachsenring.
International races follow, and Kriwanek in particular achieves notable successes. When the machines are presented at the Jochen Rindt Show in 1967, Jochen Rindt and Jack Brabham are among the admirers. Rotary valve control and a five-speed gearbox also advance the team and they trade under the name “Rotax Renngemeinschaft Austria” (Rotax Racing Alliance Austria). These successes prompt Rotax Managing Director Helmut Rothe to offer the team further support in the form of body-mounted engines. In 1966, 19, Lippitsch is Austrian state champion. Lippitsch and Kriwanek recognize the importance of having the right mental attitude during races and develop a technique for remembering the course’s 170 bends. At the Schauinsland race in 1966, a well-known Swiss motorsport journalist credits him with “staggering acceleration”.
TOR MILLER AMERICAN ENGLISH M4A DRIVERS
At a respectable 20 HP from 125cc, he is often faster than drivers on motorcycles in higher categories, especially in mountain races. He and Heinz Kriwanek join races in Austria and Germany. The doctoral candidate contributes modern technology, such as an aluminum cylinder, which delivers higher performance. Rotax is already providing support with spare parts. In 1963, Heinz Lippitsch, who has hitherto been driving a Puch, joins a circle of Viennese students who, like him, are interested in motorcycle racing. HIGHER PERFORMANCE WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
TOR MILLER AMERICAN ENGLISH M4A DRIVER
The driver is also successful on the Delta Gnom, which has a Rotax Type 98 engine.
The wet cobblestone pavement requires maximum concentration. Binder-Jambor on a Lohner 125 at the high-altitude road race in 1953, wearing workman’s overalls. “Rotax engines outstanding” says a telegram from KTM after the 1,278 km non-stop run from Paris to Vienna in 1954 on the KTM Tourist 125. And with secretly traded tips and craftsmanship, this goes up to 7.5 HP. The Rotax Type 125 used by KTM and Lohner delivered 5.6 HP – and as much as 6.1 HP without a fan. KTM’s type 98 wins first, second and third place in the 1953 Gaisberg race. FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PLACE WITH 5.6 HP Initially, the engines are Fichtel & Sachs units built under license, so it is not until the 1960s that Rotax builds these and develops its own. Rotax Type 98, for example, still has a deflector piston. The simple two-stroke engine, using pre-war technology, dominates the scene. ROTAX ENGINES IN DEMAND AT AN EARLY STAGEĪpart from Puch, nobody in Austria is producing engines so Rotax engines are in demand from everyone (such as KTM and Lohner) requiring powertrains. Races are often run to compare performance, taking place on racing circuits as well as on public roads that are not always asphalted. Speeds may be modest, but what counts is how they compare with each other. It all starts with scooters, with a great wave of this kind of mobility spreading northwards from Italy. “Citius, altius, fortius” (Latin for faster, higher, stronger) has long been one of mankind’s driving forces and so we build engines for racing cars.
However, it’s not long before increasing numbers of people get the urge for mobility and vehicle engines start to be built. Rotax is under US administration and initially starts producing industrial engines. The German and Austrian economies slowly recover after the war.
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