Martin Schneeweiß
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| Complete name: Martin Schneeweiß |
| Birth date: 26.Jun.1907 |
| Birth Place: Wien, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Austria) |
| Death date: 04.Oct.1947 |
| Death Place: Graz, Austria |
| Nationality: Austria |
| Gender: male |
| Age at death: 40 |
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| Event date: 04.Oct.1947 |
| Series: unknown |
| Race: |
| Event type: race |
| Country: Austria |
| Venue: Grazer Trabrennbahn |
| Variant: horse track |
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| Role: rider |
| Vehicle type: motorcycle |
| Vehicle sub-type: speedway |
| Vehicle brand/model: unknown |
| Vehicle number: ?? |
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Notes:
Born in Wien, Austria, in 1907, Martin Schneeweiß was a prominent dirt track rider in the years before World War II. He got his first taste of racing at a very tender age, thanks to the influence of his father Martin-Franz Schneeweiß, who ran a driving school in Vienna. Martin Schneeweiß won the Österreichische Touren Trophäe in 1929, riding a Rudge and in 1932 on a NSU in the 500 cm3 class.
He built his own 350 cm3 "Schneeweiß-Spezial" with Husqvarna engine in which he started competing in dirt track racing, dominating in the Central Europe scene in the 1930s. In 1937 he won the Dirt Track European Championship in Prague, achieving one of the greatest successes of Austrian motor racing in the interwar period.
During his career, he earned outright wins on the 1.4-kilometer street course in the city of Gmünd, near the Czechoslovakian border, in 1932 on a Rudge-Whitworth; then in the Wien-Krieau in 1934 and 1936, and in Weitra in 1937 and 1938. Martin Schneeweiß also took part to prestigious hillclimbs, such as the Großglockner, where he set the fastest time in the motorcycle class in 1935 and in 1939 riding a DKW 250 with a homemade rotary compressor.
During a dirt track race held at the Grazer Trabrennbahn on Saturday, 04 October 1947 Martin Schneeweiß was dicing for the lead with his arch-rival Hermann Gunzenhauser. The two bikes collided and the duel ended with a fall of both riders. Martin Schneeweiß succumbed to his injuries three days later. He was interred at the Wiener Zentralfriedhof.
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Sources:
- Book "Zwischen Start und Ziel. Aus meinem Rennfahrerleben" by Martin Schneeweiss, Globus, Wien, 1948.
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Book "Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950"(ÖBL) by the Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1994, ISBN 3-7001-2186-5.
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Book "Weg Circuits - Motor Racing Circuits in The Netherlands Belgium Germany Austria" by Rob Semmeling, by website http://www.wegcircuits.nl/RennenRacesVitesse.pdf .
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Website Bahnsporttechnik.de, article "Martin Schneeweiss-Story", page http://www.bahnsporttechnik.de/Jawa/Blijham/Triumph/body_schneeweiss.html .
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Website Reisemosaik, by Peter Krackowizer, page http://www.reisemosaik.at/Oldtimer/Personen/Rennfahrer_Schneeweiss.html .
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Website Historia sportu żużlowego, page http://www.lubusports.pl/mat05/zawodnik.php?imie=Martin&nazwisko=Schneeweiss .
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Website Österreichisches Motorradmuseum, page http://www.motorradmuseum.at/Leseecke_2.html .
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Website Technisches Museum Wien, page http://www.technischesmuseum.at/motorsport-in-oesterreich/person/articleid/1642 .
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Website Wikipedia, page https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Schneeweiss#/media/File:Schneeweiss-grave.JPG .
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E-mail by Toon Sleegers, dated 29 February 2008.
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