Bruno Kleinsorge, Gustav Rosenow & Wilhelm Klose's Fatal Crash @ AVUS 1926 (Aftermath)
The 1926 edition of the Großer Preis Von Deutschland, run by the AvD-Automobil-Club von Deutschland, was the first major international race at the AVUS (Automobil-Verkehrs-und-Übungs-Straße), and the first racing meeting opened to European drivers, in Germany since the end of World War I. A crowd of about 230,000 spectators had gathered at the 19.569-kilometer (12.16-mile) flat-out circuit, which was opened in 1921 and used only for minor national events. Drivers coming from France, Italy, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia contested the 20-lap race, held on Sunday, 11 July 1926.
The event was marred by a number of accidents that resulted in the deaths of four men. The first fatality occurred at the end of Friday practice session, when Luigi Platé in a Chiribiri Monza collided with Wilhelm Heine's NAG shortly before the Südkurve. Platé's riding mechanic Carlo Cattaneo lost his life in the crash.
On race day, at 14h00 o'clock thirty-eight drivers, divided in three classes started the race, each class separated by two minutes. Although he started from the last row of the Class E up-to 2000 cm3 grid, Adolf Rosenberger, was leading the race since the opening lap, at the wheel of his white Mercedes bearing the race number #19. Racing under heavy rain, he had opened an advantage of over 40 seconds over Czechoslovakian Hugo Urban-Emmrich's 1.5-litre Talbot 3VC Supersport.
At the end of his seventh lap, Rosenberger lapped a backmarker in a NSU at the Nordkurve. On leaving the turn, he lost control of his Mercedes which slid sideways on the slick asphalt at about 150 km/h (93 mi/h). The car hit the wet grass slope on the right side and skidded right round, crashing at full speed into a timekeepers stand. The scaffolding structure of the scoreboard was demolished and the two young university student who served as timekeepers and the board painter, jointly in charge of the scoreboard, got victims of the crash.
The victims were Wilhelm Klose, one of the young men who was killed on the spot; the scoreboard painter, Gustav Rosenow, died 12 hours after the accident in a Berlin hospital, the second track official, Bruno Kleinsorge who succumbed to his injuries in the following days; his exact date of death is still uncertain.
Rosenberger received head injuries on impact, his riding mechanic Curt Coquelline was badly injured too. According to eyewitnesses report, a small ether tank on the Mercedes used to aid starting, was leaking and released fumes into the cockpit of the car. It is believed that, while leaning out of the car to get fresh air, Rosenberger lost control on the wet asphalt and crashed.
R.I.P
The event was marred by a number of accidents that resulted in the deaths of four men. The first fatality occurred at the end of Friday practice session, when Luigi Platé in a Chiribiri Monza collided with Wilhelm Heine's NAG shortly before the Südkurve. Platé's riding mechanic Carlo Cattaneo lost his life in the crash.
On race day, at 14h00 o'clock thirty-eight drivers, divided in three classes started the race, each class separated by two minutes. Although he started from the last row of the Class E up-to 2000 cm3 grid, Adolf Rosenberger, was leading the race since the opening lap, at the wheel of his white Mercedes bearing the race number #19. Racing under heavy rain, he had opened an advantage of over 40 seconds over Czechoslovakian Hugo Urban-Emmrich's 1.5-litre Talbot 3VC Supersport.
At the end of his seventh lap, Rosenberger lapped a backmarker in a NSU at the Nordkurve. On leaving the turn, he lost control of his Mercedes which slid sideways on the slick asphalt at about 150 km/h (93 mi/h). The car hit the wet grass slope on the right side and skidded right round, crashing at full speed into a timekeepers stand. The scaffolding structure of the scoreboard was demolished and the two young university student who served as timekeepers and the board painter, jointly in charge of the scoreboard, got victims of the crash.
The victims were Wilhelm Klose, one of the young men who was killed on the spot; the scoreboard painter, Gustav Rosenow, died 12 hours after the accident in a Berlin hospital, the second track official, Bruno Kleinsorge who succumbed to his injuries in the following days; his exact date of death is still uncertain.
Rosenberger received head injuries on impact, his riding mechanic Curt Coquelline was badly injured too. According to eyewitnesses report, a small ether tank on the Mercedes used to aid starting, was leaking and released fumes into the cockpit of the car. It is believed that, while leaning out of the car to get fresh air, Rosenberger lost control on the wet asphalt and crashed.
R.I.P
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Motor