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Competitor Profile: Max Deubel

TT Career Summary

Position128DNF
No of times3112

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Biography

Max Deubel commence racing in May 1955 with work-mate Horst Hoehler in an ex-Walter Schneider sidecar outfit, competing in three races they finished none. It was to be 1957 before their first win was achieved, then there was no stopping them, winning every race the started in the following seasons. In 1960 Deubel and Hoehler was offered another ex-Schneider BMW, this time from the BMW factory as a ‘works team’. Making their debut at the TT, on the Mountain Circuit, they failed to finish the race. Hoehler retired from the sport at the end of the season, Max was introduced to a new passenger – Emil Hoerner – who was to remain with him until the pair retired at the end of 1966. Winning their first Grand Prix together, the German, in 1961, Max and Emil followed that with a record breaking Sidecar victory in that years TT, increasing the race record by over 3.5 mph. At the end of the season they were world champions for the first time. 1962 was to be a milestone in the Sidecar TT, having set a record of 87.97 mph the previous year they went round the 37.73 mile course at 90.70 mph – the first 90+ sidecar lap! An engine problem forced their retirement of the final lap, letting Chris Vincent on his BSA twin through to win. The Germans however retained their world title for 1962. 1963 brought another championship, although their luck at the TT wasn’t always with them. Max and Emil crashed during practice, the resultant injuries kept Hoerner out of the chair. Barry Dungworth was a late substitute – the ‘new crew’ finishing 8th. It was business as usual in 1964 and 1965 with back-to-back wins on the Snaefell Mountain Course, setting both new race and lap records each year. His last TT in 1966 was unusual in more than one way, firstly the meeting was held in August, instead of the ‘traditional’ June, and secondly, although Max and Emil were originally placed 2nd just 0.8 sec. behind rivals, Scheidegger and Robinson, they were promoted to first place when the ‘winners’ were excluded on a fuel technicality. Three months later on appeal Fritz Scheidegger and John Robinson were reinstated as TT winners, which also gave them the 1966 world championship. Max Deubel and Emil Hoerner both retired from the sport at the end of ’66. In 1968 Max returned to ‘his sport’ not as a competitor, but as an official of the governing body of the sport, the FIM.

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