Ralf Waldmann

Ralf Waldmann (14 July 1966 – 10 March 2018) was a German Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Ralf Waldmann
Nationality	German
Born	14 July 1966 Hagen, West Germany
Died	10 March 2018 (aged 51) Ennepetal, Germany
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1986 - 2002, 2009 First race 1986 80cc Baden-Württemberg Grand Prix Last race 2009 250cc British Grand Prix First win 1991 125cc West German Grand Prix Last win 2000 250cc British Grand Prix Team(s) Honda, Modenas, Aprilia Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 169 20 50 10 16 1668

Motorcycle racing career

In 1996, Waldmann finished second to Max Biaggi in the 250cc world championship.[1][2] In the 1997 season, he gave Biaggi a strong challenge, winning four races and finishing only two points behind the Italian.[1][2] Kenny Roberts offered him a job for the 1998 season on a 500cc Modenas but the competition was too strong and he finished in 14th place.[1][2] He returned to the 250 class the following year riding for the Aprilia team and retired from motorcycle competition after the 2002 season. Waldmann came out of semi-retirement in 2003 and signed with the new Harris WCM MotoGP team, but quit before the year began after failing to adapt to the new four-stroke Grand Prix bikes.[1][2]

His final win at the British Grand Prix in 2000 is of particular note. On a drying track, he came from nearly a whole lap down to win at the final corner at the notoriously slippery Donington Park circuit.[3]

In 2009, he joined Martin Wimmer in buying out the motorbike manufacturing company MZ, from the Hong Leong Group.[4] He also had a brief return to Grand Prix motorcycle racing, substituting for the injured rider Vladimir Leonov at the British Grand Prix.

Death

Waldmann died on 10 March 2018 in Ennepetal, Germany of a suspected heart attack at the age of 51.[5]

Career statistics

By class

Class	Season	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
80cc	1986–1989	1986 Baden-Württemberg			12	0	0	0	0	24	0
125cc	1988–1993	1989 Great Britain	1991 Germany	1991 Germany	55	6	15	2	6	432	0
250cc	1994–1997, 1999–2000, 2002, 2009	1994 Australia	1994 Italy	1994 Italy	90	14	35	8	10	1166	0
500cc	1998	1998 Japan			12	0	0	0	0	46	0
Total	1986–2000, 2002, 2009				169	20	50	10	16	1668	0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos.	Pts
1986	80cc	Krauser	SPA	NAT	GER	AUT	YUG	NED	GBR	RSM	BWU 19								NC	0
1987	80cc	ERK	SPA	GER 10	NAT	AUT 12	YUG	NED 19	GBR	CZE Ret	RSM	POR							25th	1
1988	80cc	Seel	SPA	EXP	NAT	GER 17	NED	YUG	CZE										NC	0
	125cc	Rotax	SPA	NAT	GER DNQ	AUT	NED	BEL	YUG	FRA	GBR	SWE	CZE						NC	0
1989	80cc	Seel	SPA 8	NAT 14	GER 7	YUG Ret	NED 12	CZE 19											14th	23
	125cc	Seel	JPN	AUS	SPA DNQ	NAT	GER DNQ	AUT	NED	BEL DNQ	FRA	GBR Ret	SWE 19	CZE Ret					NC	0
1990	125cc	JJ Cobas	JPN	SPA Ret	NAT 25	GER 11	AUT 16	YUG 4	NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 15	SWE 23	CZE Ret	HUN Ret	AUS Ret			23rd	19
1991	125cc	Honda	JPN 7	AUS 5	SPA 7	ITA 9	GER 1	AUT 2	EUR 6	NED 1	FRA 2	GBR Ret	RSM 4	CZE 8	MAL				3rd	141
1992	125cc	Honda	JPN 1	AUS 1	MAL 3	SPA 1	ITA Ret	EUR 12	GER 3	NED 9	HUN 2	FRA 10	GBR 7	BRA 15	RSA 6				3rd	112
1993	125cc	Aprilia	AUS Ret	MAL 5	JPN 6	SPA 2	AUT 9	GER 5	NED Ret	EUR 2	RSM 4	GBR 3	CZE Ret	ITA 5	USA 3	FIM 1			4th	160
1994	250cc	Honda	AUS 7	MAL 6	JPN Ret	SPA 4	AUT 5	GER 6	NED 4	ITA 1	FRA 4	GBR 7	CZE 2	USA 10	ARG 8	EUR 7			5th	156
1995	250cc	Honda	AUS 1	MAL 4	JPN 1	SPA 5	GER Ret	ITA 4	NED 2	FRA 1	GBR 3	CZE 3	BRA 4	ARG 6	EUR 3				3rd	203
1996	250cc	Honda	MAL DNS	INA 3	JPN 8	SPA 3	ITA 3	FRA 2	NED 1	GER 1	GBR 2	AUT 1	CZE 3	IMO 1	CAT 3	BRA 2	AUS 2		2nd	268
1997	250cc	Honda	MAL 4	JPN 5	SPA 1	ITA 4	AUT 2	FRA 3	NED 2	IMO 4	GER 3	BRA 12	GBR 1	CZE 4	CAT 1	INA 7	AUS 1		2nd	248
1998	500cc	Modenas	JPN Ret	MAL 9	SPA 10	ITA 11	FRA 12	MAD 10	NED DNS	GBR	GER 7	CZE 13	IMO 15	CAT 12	AUS Ret	ARG 15			14th	46
1999	250cc	Aprilia	MAL DNS	JPN	SPA 6	FRA 4	ITA 2	CAT Ret	NED 6	GBR 8	GER 3	CZE 2	IMO 7	VAL Ret	AUS 5	RSA Ret	BRA 7	ARG 11	6th	131
2000	250cc	Aprilia	RSA 7	MAL 4	JPN Ret	SPA 1	FRA 8	ITA Ret	CAT 7	NED 24	GBR 1	GER 8	CZE 5	POR Ret	VAL 13	BRA 6	PAC 7	AUS 4	7th	143
2002	250cc	Aprilia	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED 11	GBR	GER 9	CZE 11	POR	BRA	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL	19th	17
2009	250cc	Aprilia	QAT	JPN	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	GBR Ret	CZE	IND	SMR	POR	AUS	MAL	VAL	NC	0
Source:[1]

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Make	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		Pos.	Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2005	Honda	QAT	QAT	AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	ITA	ITA	EUR	EUR	SMR	SMR	CZE	CZE	GBR	GBR	NED	NED	GER Ret	GER DNS	ITA	ITA	FRA	FRA	NC	0

References

1. Ralf Waldmann career statistics at MotoGP.com
2. Ralf Waldmann profile at crash.net Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
3. Ralf Waldmann on speedweek.com
4. Visordown.com news
5. Ralf Waldmann died at age 51 Archived 2018-03-12 at the Wayback Machine