The pursuit of perfection
Through his work as a racer and constructor of two and four-stroke motorcycles, Helmut Fath collaborated with a number of big names from the English motorcycle history – men like Colin Seeley, Chris Vincent, Phil Read, John Blanchard and Billie Nelson. Fath successfully raced his legendary URS on many famous British tracks, and, of course, at the Isle of Man TT races. Helmut Fath was the most exceptional racer and tuner of his time.
Sidecar racing
In Europe, sidecar racing has been popular for decades. Big names like Eric Oliver and Cyril Smith on the English Nortons and Ercole Frigerio, Ernesto Merlo and Albino Milani on the Italian Gileras competed for the highest honours in the early 1950s.
In 1954 there was a major change. Although the drivers at Norton battled hard during the world championships, the Germans gradually gained the upper hand with their superior BMW Boxer engines. From that year on, top position was occupied by BMW and it would take 24 years before George O’Dell would take the world championship title back to England.
Drivers such as Wilhelm Noll, Walter Schneider and Willi Faust, with their passengers, had taken the BMW motorcycles to a higher level. From 1959, the top five places in the world ranking were occupied by German riders on BMW motorcycles. In 1960, private rider Helmut Fath (born 1929) took the lead in the sidecar world championship classification.
The enthusiastic Fath was a remarkable figure and had already caused quite a stir during his racing career. Early on, he had recognised the importance of a low centre of gravity and aerodynamics. In 1955, this had led to the world’s first ‘kneeler’ sidecar outfit, named for the literally kneeling position adopted by the driver.
The motorcycle’s frame was built as low as possible and the light aluminium fairing was aerodynamically shaped. The combination of factors (low centre of gravity, less weight, better aerodynamics) meant Fath was too fast for the competition. As well as significant improvements in acceleration and top speed, Fath was also able to corner harder. But Fath had also set high standards for the power source of his sidecar. He did everything
