Ernst Degner

Ernst Degner (born Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek on 22 September 1931 in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany - died 10 September 1983 in Arona, Teneriffe, Spain) was a German Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Degner's father died just before the end of World War II and Degner, his older sister and their mother wound up in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) at the end of the war. When Degner's mother died shortly after, he left home and became an apprentice motorcycle mechanic in Potsdam.

Degner later joined the Potsdam Motorcycle Club where he met Daniel Zimmermann who had built an exceptionally fast 125cc racing motorcycle based on the DKW RT125. It was called the ZPH in recognition of its designer and engineer (Daniel Zimmermann), its rider at that time (Bernhard Petruschke) and its mechanic (Diethart Henkel). The ZPH proved faster than the East German factory IFAs (later renamed MZ) whose machines were also based on the DKW RT125. Degner started racing and Zimmermann provided him with a ZPH engine which Degner used in the East German 125cc Championship.

His racing successes on the ZPH were noted by the MZ team manager, Walter Kaaden, who signed Degner to ride the factory MZs for the 1956 season. Degner raced successfully for the East German manufacturer which used two-stroke engines, for which Kaaden had discovered principles regarding how sound waves and expansion chambers affect engine tuning. He won the 1957 East German 125cc road racing national championship, and scored his first world championship victory at the 1959 125cc Nations Grand Prix at Monza. He ended the season ranked fifth in the 125cc world championship and fourth in the 250cc world championship. In 1960, he improved to third in the 125cc world championship.

After the Berlin Wall was built in August 1961, Degner arranged the escape (Republikflucht) of his family from the GDR on the weekend he was racing in the Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad. In that race he could have secured the 125cc World Championship for himself and for MZ, but his engine failed early in the race. Ironically, his main rival for the 125cc World Title, Honda rider Tom Phillis, also failed to finish the Swedish race. After the race, Degner hid in the trunk of a car and defected to West Germany via Denmark.

After the MZ team had discovered his defection, the East Germans accused Degner of deliberately destroying his engine in the Swedish race. The East Germans' accusations resulted in Degner's East German racing licence being revoked. This prevented him from racing a borrowed EMC 125cc racer in the final 125cc World Championship round in Argentina. Had he won that race, he could still have been crowned 125cc World Champion.

In November 1961, the Japanese company Suzuki hired him and he moved to Hamamatsu, Japan to work in the Suzuki race-shop over the winter. Using the specialist two-stroke knowledge he had gained at MZ, Degner designed Suzuki's new 50cc and 125cc racers. The following year, in 1962 Degner won Suzuki's first World Championship in the 50 cc class.

In November 1963, Degner crashed his Suzuki 250cc racer at the Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka Circuit. The fuel tank burst into flames and Degner suffered horrific burns which required over fifty skin grafts. As a mark of respect, the double-apex right-hand curves past the esses where Degner had crashed so badly were named Degner Curve. Degner returned to the Suzuki team to race in September 1964, and won the 125cc Japanese Grand Prix. He won three more Grands Prix in 1965 before retiring from motorcycle racing at the end of the 1966 season.

After dabbling with single-seater car racing, he worked for a spell as Technical Manager at Suzuki's German importer in Munich. He then moved to Tenerife where he ran a car hire business. It was there, in 1983 that he died under mysterious circumstances. Degner had become dependent on medication after his crash in Japan, and his death possibly occurred from an overdose. Rumors persisted for years that Degner committed suicide or that he was murdered by the East German secret police (Stasi) to avenge his defection.