Ernst Henne: a racing legend turns 100

Munich. His name has gone down in BMW history alongside those of Georg
("Schorsch") Meier, Hans Stuck senior and junior, and Nelson
Piquet. Ernst Jakob Henne, racer extraordinaire, is approaching his
100th birthday. Back in the 1930s, he claimed one motorcycle world
speed record after another. On four wheels, he won international car
races and Grands Prix. After being taken on as a works rider in 1926,
his sporting home for the remainder of his active career would be BMW.
Ernst Jakob Henne was born in Weiler near Wangen in the Allgäu on
22nd February 1904, the fourth child of master saddler Jakob Henne.
Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by a farming family. In
1919 Henne took up an apprenticeship as a mechanic and set up his own
motorcycle repair shop. On 1st July 1923, Ernst Henne combined a Sunday
outing with a visit to a motor racing event. He made a snap decision to
sign up for the race and rode straight into third place in the class up
to 750 cc. Ernst Henne's ambitions had been whetted. In the autumn of
1925, he made his first major international appearance at the Monza
Grand Prix, in which he took sixth place in the 350 cc class. One keen
observer at Monza was Rudolf Schleicher, BMW's racing manager, who
instantly recognized Henne's talent und signed him on. Henne claimed
his first win for BMW on 2nd May 1926 at the Karlsruhe Wildparkrennen.
In the Eifelrennen that same year, he not only took first place but
also won the German Championship title, which in those years was still
decided on the basis of a single race. Henne went on to rack up one
success after another. In the late 1920s he ranked as one of Germany's
best and most versatile motorcyclists. His various racing involvements
demonstrated his command of every discipline, from sprints to endurance
events, from tarmac to dirt track. In search of new challenges, he
entered the International Six Day Trials in the early 1930s. The years
1933, 1934 and 1935 saw Henne and the German team - an all-BMW line-up
- win the team title. But Ernst Henne, whose sporting ambitions drove
him to the limits time and again, had his mind set on bringing a
completely different record back to Germany at least once: that of the
fastest motorcycle rider in the world. When Henne presented his
proposal for a record attempt to Franz Josef Popp, Chairman of the BMW
Board, the latter agreed. A supercharged engine already under
development was swiftly completed, while the chassis and fairing came
from Ernst Henne's own workshop. The big day arrived on 19th
September 1929: Ernst Henne set out on his first record attempt with a
750 cc supercharged BMW. It was an instant success, with Henne smashing
eight world records in a day. Not all of them, however, were
recognized, though the most spectacular of them was: after clocking a
speed of over 216 km/h, Ernst Henne claimed the title of fastest
motorcycle rider in the world. Not long afterwards, on 15th October, he
also took the class records for the flying kilometre in the 500 and 750
cc class. His achievements sparked off hot competition with other
riders, and the speed records went up and up. In 1932 Henne clocked 246
km/h in Hungary, and in 1935 he touched the 256 km/h mark on the new
autobahn near Frankfurt. A year later, riding a bike with full fairing,
he managed 272 km/h. Due to the suggestive shape of his record-breaking
machines, rider and bike became popularly known as "Henne and the
egg" (Henne being the German word for "hen"). The year
1936 saw this prodigious racer entering the history books on four
wheels as well. In the Eifelrennen he was behind the wheel of the first
BMW 328 prototype. Henne not only won the two-litre class without the
aid of a supercharger, but with an average speed of 101.5 kilometres an
hour also claimed the best time of all competing sports cars. On 16th
May 1937, he drove the BMW 328 to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix des
Frontières in Chimay, and two weeks later came first in the
Bucharest Grand Prix. Finally, on the morning of 28th November 1937,
Henne put the icing on the cake of his extraordinary career. Riding his
famous "egg", he posted 279 km/h over the flying kilometre
and 280 km/h on the return run. With that tour de force Ernst Henne
relinquished his pursuit of world records. His title would remain intact
for almost 14 years. After the Second World War, Ernst Henne set up an
authorized Mercedes-Benz garage which was to become one of Germany?s
largest dealerships. In 1991 he invested a large part of his assets
into establishing the Ernst-Jakob-Henne-Stiftung. The aim of this
foundation is to help people who are suffering hardship through no
fault of their own. In 1997 his car business was bought up by
DaimlerChrysler AG. Since 1996, Ernst Jakob Henne has been living in
the Canaries with his second wife, where he celebrates his centenary on
22nd February. BMW Group Mobile Tradition, the classic division of
BMW Group, celebrates Ernst Henne's centenary with a special
exhibition. From 19th February onwards, some of his record motorcycles
are on display in the BMW Museum, Munich, together with medals and
accessories like race suits and helmets. For questions please
contact: Corporate Communications Andreas Klugescheid, Technology
Communications, Heritage Telephone: (+49 89) 382 27797, Fax: (+49 89)
382 27563 Thomas Gubitz, Product and Technology, Director Telephone:
(+49 89) 382 23504, Fax: (+49 89) 382 25965 Media Website:
www.press.bmwgroup.com e-mail: presse@bmw.de