The leading riders of 1960

Ernst trained as a motor mechanic and started racing circa1952 – first victories in 1953. Runner-up in the East German Championship in 1955 racing a ZPH-powered 125 (engine by Daniel Zimmermann) he was head hunted by Walter Kaaden for the MZ team as rider/engineer in early 1956. He won the East German 125cc championship in 1957 and his first GP, the ‘Nations’ at Monza, Italy, in 1959. At the Swedish GP he stopped with a ‘faulty engine’ (some doubt this claim), costing him the chance of winning the year’s 125cc world title. He swiftly hopped in a waiting car and drove, via ferries, to the west.

Ernst was victorious in the 1962 50cc World Championship and the 1962 IoM 50cc TT (Suzuki). Seriously burned in a crash at the 1963 Japanese GP, he spent the rest of his life on painkillers. He returned to racing to win more GPs with Suzuki and then retired to try car racing, then technical work for German