Part 4 of the story of an idol of the German youth of the 1960s

Hans Georg Anscheidt had reached the peak of success. This immediately made motorcycle racing interesting again for many magazines. Many media had left this sport by the wayside since the exit from NSU and after the title of H. P. Müller. Things got more interesting again at the beginning of the 1960s with Ernst Degner, but he was injured several times and had to resign at the end. Now, with the man the size of a hobbit, someone had appeared again, whose face reminded a little of the German Elvis, Peter Kraus. He was made to be the idol of the youth of that time. Thanks to the German, as in England through Bill Ivy, more of the public again became aware of motorcycle racing, which was good.

Autograph card from Luigi Taveri, the son of Italian immigrants to Switzerland. Another driver with the perfect jockey figure like H. G. Anscheidt, who became an icon for Honda in the smaller classes. The little man was of course very popular in Italy too.

The 1967 Season of H. G. Anscheidt

From 1961, the Japanese brands began to dominate the smaller classes. With his 50cc Kreidler, H. G. Anscheidt had no chance to have a serious say about the title in the first years up to 1965 until he switched to Suzuki. It was only when Ernst Degner was injured that he received an offer from the Japanese factory.

New opponents in the title fight of the 1967 season
The promotion of 50cc runner-up Ralph Bryans in the middle classes up to 250cc and 350cc was justified with the factory withdrawal of Honda from the 50cc class. H. G. Anscheidt now had the strongest competition from his brand colleagues Yoshimi Katayama (JAP) and Stuart Graham (GBR). In addition, the Derbi pilots, led by the increasingly strong Spaniard Angel Nieto. The following is the list of the works teams that competed in the 1967 motorcycle world championship.

Ralph Bryans on Honda – the Northern Irishman was one of the toughest opponents in the fight for the 50cc World Championship until 1966. In the title fight in 1965, H. G. Anscheidt had fought with blunt weapons on the defeated Kreidler, but in 1966 he fought back at Suzuki.

Start made to measure in Spain
With a victory, the defending champion from Germany made a tailor-made start in the new season. In Montjuic, Barcelona, the Spanish GP on April 30th, Hans Georg won the first 50cc race of the season His eammate Yoshimi Katayama had set the fastest lap in Spain and finished in second place ahead of Spaniard Benjamin Grau on Derbi.

Start of the GP of Spain in the Montjuic Park in Barcelona – Anscheidt had an undisputed start-to-finish victory at the season opener.
The checkered flag at the Spanish GP in 1967 with the German 50cc winner.

Austrian GP win for Anscheidt
At the Austrian GP, which is not part of the world championship, Hans Georg won the 125cc race in front of various MZ drivers from the GDR. Taveri had to give up his 4-cylinder Honda with an overheated engine, so victory was free for the Suzuki driver.

Luigi Taveri and his Honda – a difficult combination to beat in the smaller classes of the 1960s.

Home race win on the Hockenheim-Ring
At Hockenheim, the Japanese challenger only got one lap before his Suzuki broke down with a technical defect. Second was the German Rudolf Schmälzle on a private Kreidler in front of Derbi driver José Maria Busquets. Katayama won the 125cc race at the German GP ahead of Anscheidt and Szabó from Hungary, after finishing second behind Bill Ivy in Spain. Three weeks later they went to Clermont-Ferrand and Anscheidt traveled to the French GP as favorite and World Championship leader.

The perfect start to the 1967 season for the German 50cc Suzuki rider.
Anscheidt’s 50 and 125cc competitor of the last year, Ralph Bryans won the 250cc race in Hockenheim on a 6-cylinder Honda.

Katayama’s revenge at the French GP
But the Japanese took revenge in Clermont-Ferrand. After Angel Nieto (SPA) had taken the lead on Derbi, the three Suzuki factory drivers Anscheidt, Katayama and Graham battled hard for the lead. However, due to a leaky fuel cap, the Englishman had to back off from the middle of the race and Yoshimi Katayama won his second career Grand Prix after winning the 1966 season finale in Fuji (Japan) ahead of Hans Georg and Graham.

Scetch of the Clermont-Ferrant Racetrack in France.
Start of the 50cc race for the French Grand Prix 1967 in Clermont-Ferrand.
Yoshimi Katayama (Suzuki) – the Japanese and team-mate was Anscheidt’s greatest challenger in the 1967 season.

Isle of Man Grand Prix
The next round took place on the infamous 60 km long Tourist Trophy route on the Isle of Man. It was the prey of the local hero Graham, who won ahead of H. G. Anscheidt and the Northern Irishman Tommy Robb. All three were on a Suzuki. Katayama’s bike had engine failures during the race and he tried to track down the problem while driving. He fell and did not see the checkered flag for the second time this season after the German GP.

H. G. Anscheidt, Yoshimi Kagayama and Stuart Graham – the most time unbeateable 50cc Suzuki Trio.

On the Circuit van Drenthe
At the Assen GP in the Netherlands, Hans Georg missed the podium for the first time this year, finishing fourth. Katayama won his second GP of the season, ahead of two Derbi riders Angel Nieto and Barry Smith. In the 125cc race there was nothing for Hans Georg and he shouldn’t get any more points until the Nations Cup in Monza. Since the 50s were not advertised there, he did not go to the Sachsenring, Brno or Finland. But first the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps was waiting for him.

In the 125cc race, Katayama was behind Bill Ivy here and finished fourth. The Japanese did even better in the 50cc race when he won his second race of the season.
Yoshimi Katayama – the winner after the 50cc run, on top of the podium.

The last European race of 1967
In Spa-Francorchamps at the Belgian GP, ​​however, Anscheidt struck back and secured the third victory of the season ahead of his teammates Katayama and Graham. Katayama had led the GP for a while but made a mistake at La Source and had to let Anscheidt pass.

There was still one round left for the 50cc, and the Japanese could only have achieved the same number of wins as the German, but with a 4th place less in this case. Hans Georg Anscheidt could almost not loose his second title anyway. Now Anscheidt was almost impossible to catch up with 3 wins against 2 of the Japanese in the lead in the World Cup intermediate ranking.

The cover of the German magazine “Motorrad” from 1967 with the young German 50cc star and reigning world champion on the cover.

Hans Georg’s only Grand Prix after Spa before the season finale
In the next 6 World Championship rounds, the 50cc class was not at the start. During this break for the 50cc class, H. G. Anscheidt was able to record another success for himself. At the Nations GP in Monza he finished second behind Bill Ivy, the dominator in the 125cc category. With that he had equalized the best 125s result so far at his home GP in Hockenheim before heading to Japan for the season finale.

Start of the 50cc Grand Prix of Nations in Monza, Anscheidt with the number 1 is already sitting on his Suzuki and the eventual winner Bill Ivy with number 4 is currently jumping on his Yamaha.

Showdown in Fuji – with the World Cup decision before the start
The peaks of Mount Fujijama, located near the Fuji Racetrack, were covered with snow. It was cold and rainy weather at the season finale in Japan and many drivers crashed during practice. Including Yoshimi Katayama, who broke his collarbone in the process. In the finale, Anscheidt was not very lucky because he had engine problems during the race and only managed fourth place. Mitsuo Ito won ahead of Stuart Graham (both Suzuki works drivers) and Hiroyuki Kawasaki on a private Suzuki. Hans Georg Anscheidt was already established as 50cc defending World Champion before the start. Suzuki also won the Manufacturers’ Championship for the first time in 1966, after all victories that year had gone to a driver of this make.

The old and new world champion – Hans Georg Anscheidt won World Cup title No. 2 in 1966.

50cc World Championship final score 1967

For the World Championship only the best 4 results in 7 World Championship rounds counted. After only the first 6 drivers of a race were able to win world championship points at that time, here for the sake of completeness also the drivers who finished 7th to 10th in a GP:
Adrijan Bernetič (YUG, Tomos), Trevor Burgess (GB, Yamaha), Ian Burne (ZA, Derbi), Herbert Denzler (CH, Kreidler), Thomas Fearns (GB, Honda), Brian Gleed (GB, Honda), Chris Goosen (IRL, Bridgestone), Bernard Hausel (CH, Derbi), John Lawley (GB, Honda), Yves Le Toumelin (F, Derbi), Martin Mijwaart (NL, Jamathi), André Millard (F, Derbi), Jørgen Nielsen (DK, Kreidler), Oscar Pastro (B, Derbi), Christian Ravel (F, Kreidler), Philippe Ruyssen (F, Derbi), Jos Schurgers (NL, Kreidler), Horst Seidl (GER, Honda), Cees vanDongen (NL, Honda), Julien van Zeebroeck (B, Derbi).

125cc World Championship final score

Of the 12 rounds for the World Cup, only the 7 best results were counted. Since only the first 6 drivers of a race were able to win world championship points, here for the sake of completeness also the drivers who finished 7th to 10th in a GP:
James Allen (CDN, Yamaha), John Allen (CDN, Yamaha), Martin Carney (GB, Bultaco), Herbert Denzler (CH, Honda), Bo Granath (S, MZ), Bo Gustavsson (S, Honda), Peter Inchley (GB, Bultaco), C. Ingram (CDN, Yamaha), Seppo Kangasniemi (SF, Honda), N. Koln (CDN, Yamaha), Heinz Kriwanek (A, Rotax), Vesa Kuusisto (SF, Honda), Siegfried Lohmann (GER, MZ), Eberhardt Mahler (GDR, MZ), Riszard Mankiewicz (PL, MZ), Marcel Morel (F, Bultaco), Angelo Orsenigo (I, Bultaco), George Plenderleith (GB, Honda), Tommy Robb (N.Irl., Bultaco), Philippe Ruyssen (F, Bultaco), Rod Scivyer (GB, Honda), Horst Seel (D, Bultaco), Giuseppe Visenzi (I, Montesa), Pierre Viura (F, Honda).

Bill Ivy – the Englishman was world champion in the 125 cc class in 1967. Two years later, the crowd favorite had an accident during training for the Sachsenring GP because the engine of his 350 cm³ Jawa got stuck after a piston or crankshaft jammed.