60 Years of MSC Teutschenthal: The Wild 80s to the End of the GDR

Heinz Hoppe, who had begun his career as a team-mate of three-time world champion Paul Friedrichs, was the superstar in the Talkessel in the early 1980s. Following his successes in 1971, 1973 and 1976, he added yet another triumph to his impressive record in 1980. To the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators, Hoppe won the Kalikumpel Cup against strong Czechoslovakian opposition with World Championship experience.

Hoppe gewann 1980 vor Chara und Starec

Foto: Joachim Lutz

Sidecars were also enjoying increasing popularity in the Talkessel. The Czechs Hejnal and Kaminar caused a sensation with their 651 cc twin-cylinder Yamaha and won the day’s race. Their extraordinary sidecar team was a real attraction.

1981: The most high-calibre race since the World Championship

On 23 August 1981, another round of the Peace and Friendship Cup was held in the valley basin. The field of competitors was of the highest calibre and included several riders from the world’s elite.

1981: Die bulgarische Mannschaft mit dem WM-Dritten Dimitar Rangelov

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

What many spectators lining the track could hardly have known was that some of the foreign guests were among the very best in the world. Information about the Motocross World Championship, which was predominantly held in Western Europe on the other side of the Iron Curtain, was difficult to come by in the GDR.

1981 am Start: Der spätere Sieger Zdenek Velky und Jiri Churavy

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

The Bulgarian Dimitar Rangelov had finished third in the 250cc World Championship in 1980. The Czechs Jiri Churavy and Zdenek Velky had finished as runner-up and third respectively in the 125cc class World Championship in 1976. Vladimir Chudjakov also arrived in Teutschenthal with recent World Championship experience.

1981 Einmarsch der Nationen: Hoppe, Müller, Hünecke, Pfeil, Wolff, Jahnke

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

With these top riders, a taste of that international World Championship atmosphere returned to the valley in 1981 – the very atmosphere that had thrilled the crowds ever since the first World Championship round in 1971.

1981, die Husqvarna von Dimitar Rangelov im Talkessel

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

Start 1981: 71-Hünecke, 63-Hoppe, 55-Velky, 53-Rangelov, 54-Churavy

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

Zdenek Velky gewann 1981 im Talkessel

Foto: MSC Teutschenthal

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes: local hero Jens-Uwe Jahnke

Jens-Uwe Jahnke was, at the time, the host club’s great young hope. He was a native of Teutschenthal and grew up just one kilometre from the race track.

In 1981, he became GDR Junior Champion and was regarded as one of the country’s most promising talents. The Talkessel was his home track. Back then, it was possible to train there practically at any time. Jahnke made the most of this opportunity and at times did his laps every day. He was therefore particularly strong on this demanding circuit.

Jens-Uwe Jahnke war im Talkessel eine Klasse besser als anderswo

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

As early as the Saturday before the cup races, there was a remarkable duel between two young GDR riders: Jens-Uwe Jahnke from the GDR’s second team faced Torsten Wolff from the first team. When the local hero fearlessly overtook the favourite, Wolff, it caused quite a stir.

1981: Jens-Uwe Jahnke und Torsten Wolff duellierten sich schon am Samstag

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

In his first major international appearance, Jahnke then had to compete against experienced riders such as the Czech Petr Kovar.

In the first 125cc race, the rider from Teutschenthal got off to an excellent start. But as early as the first lap, a catastrophic engine failure in his air-cooled ČZ dashed all his hopes.

Jens-Uwe Jahnke fällt bei seinem ersten internationalen Rennen aus

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

The man who is now the club chairman had to wait another four years for his great triumph in front of a home crowd.

1981: German riders hold their own against the World Championship elite

In front of more than 25,000 spectators, the GDR 1 team, comprising Heinz Hoppe, Norbert Müller and Klaus Hünecke, won the team classification in this high-calibre race.

In the individual classification, the Czech rider Zdenek Velky came out on top ahead of Norbert Müller and the Bulgarian Atanasov. In the junior class, the Czech World Championship rider Petr Kovar triumphed.

1982: Favourite Jens-Uwe Jahnke forced to watch from the sidelines due to injury

Following his junior championship title in 1981, Jens-Uwe Jahnke could have progressed directly to the A-licence class. However, the rider from Teutschenthal opted for a different path and initially competed in the qualifying round, where he was considered the clear favourite.

In 1982, the battle for the Kalikumpel Cup took place once again in the valley basin. The supporting programme also included a race as part of the 125cc qualifying series.

Im Fahrerlager wurden permantetn Reparaturen durchgeführt

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

However, Jahnke’s hopes of a home victory suffered a severe setback as early as the spring. He suffered a torn ligament during a race and was forced to watch his home race from the stands.

Other riders from the host club stepped into the breach. Lutz Gartenbach had an exceptional day and, to everyone’s surprise, won the first race. Frank Mielke from Querfurt, who also rode for MC Teutschenthal, secured the day’s victory.

Lutz Gartenbach vom MC Teutschenthal fuhr 1982 das Rennen seines Lebens

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

Frank Mielke gewann 1982 das Rennen zur 125er Bestenermittlung

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

The Kalikumpel Cup was won by the Pole Stanislaw Olszewski. To this day, he remains the only Polish winner in the valley.

Die deutschen Fahrer beim Einzug der Nationen 1982

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

Olszewski finished level on points with Matthias Ernst from MC Kali Merkers. The Polish rider’s shorter total race time proved decisive.

Stanislaw Olszewski gewann 1982 den Pokal der Kalikumpel

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

The 1982 race once again turned into an extreme dust battle. Nevertheless, more spectators than ever before flocked to the valley basin.

At the same time, a new technical era was dawning. The Hungarian Kornel Nemeth turned up with a brand-new, water-cooled Yamaha. The modern technology, featuring water cooling and central suspension, impressively demonstrated the direction in which international motocross was heading.

Die Yamaha von Kornel Nemeth 1982

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

1983: Technical progress cannot be stopped

Technical development in motocross was advancing at an enormous pace. Water cooling and modern rear suspension systems were increasingly becoming the norm. As a result, the CZ technology permitted in the GDR was falling further and further behind.

As early as 1983, the first GDR riders appeared on Suzuki and Honda motorbikes, which were officially declared to be home-built.

The reason for this was the technical regulations: Western motorbikes were not permitted in GDR motocross. In order to benefit from modern technology nonetheless, the machines had to be modified and declared as home-built. This led to some rather adventurous solutions.

In 1983, Klaus Hünecke won the Kalikumpel Cup on a Suzuki he had received from Gunter Frohn. How Frohn acquired his Japanese motorbikes is a story in itself.

The sidecars also generated a great deal of excitement once again. The brothers Walter and Eberhard Dietrich from Torgau once again prevailed against the strong Czechoslovakian competition.

1984: Kornel Nemeth triumphs in the Talkessel

Kornel Nemeth im Talkessel von Teutschenthal

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

In 1984, the Hungarian Kornel Nemeth Senior won the Kalikumpel Cup. In the 125cc class, Egbert Böhme from MC Lok Halle celebrated his second victory in the Talkessel.

Egbert Böhme siegte 1983 und 84 im Talkessel

Foto: Boehme

There was also a significant change in the organisation: Dietrich Spiekermann handed over race management to founding member Joachim Jahnke.

1985: Triumph of the GDR national team

The competitions for the Peace and Friendship Cup were, in a sense, the Motocross of Nations of the Eastern Bloc.

Unlike the classic Motocross of Nations, however, the competition was not decided at a single venue. Instead, each participating country hosted its own round.

On 9 June 1985, Teutschenthal hosted the GDR round. Each host country was allowed to field two teams per class. Local hero Jens-Uwe Jahnke was part of the second GDR team.

Together with Torsten Wolff and Harald Pfeil, he achieved a great triumph in front of a home crowd: the GDR team won the day’s competition against top-class international opposition.

Jens-Uwe Jahnke fährt 1985 im Talkessel zu seinem größten Erfolg

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

For Jens-Uwe Jahnke, it was the crowning glory of his career to date and, at the same time, the great success in the valley basin towards which he had been working ever since his unfortunate international debut in 1981.

1986 to 1988: Top international riders remain crowd-pullers

In the years that followed, top-class international riders continued to draw tens of thousands of spectators to the valley basin. In 1986, the Czechoslovakian World Championship rider Josef Chara won the Kalikumpel Cup. A year later, Uwe Martin from MC Kali Merkers thrilled the crowds with his dynamic riding style. In 1988, two GDR riders dominated: Torsten Wolff won the 250cc class, whilst Harald Pfeil came out on top in the 125cc class. Local hero Jens-Uwe Jahnke made it onto the podium once again at his home race. But behind the scenes, a development was already taking shape that was set to fundamentally change international motocross in Teutschenthal.

1988 gewann Harald Pfeil vor Jens-Uwe Jahnke und Klaus Hünecke

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

Mission to Sofia: Joachim Jahnke overcomes ideological barriers

From the very beginning, Joachim Jahnke had a clear goal: motocross at the highest international level was to take place in the valley basin. Yet even the top riders from Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Hungary and the other socialist countries were not enough in the long run. Jahnke wanted to bring riders from Western Europe back to Teutschenthal. It was an ambitious undertaking, as the sporting and political boundaries between East and West remained ideologically barricaded. Jahnke was not deterred by this. He overcame numerous obstacles and eventually travelled to the FIM office in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on a special mission. His negotiations were successful.

Just a few weeks later, the Teutschenthal Motorcycle Club received a landmark resolution from the ADMV, signed by Secretary-General Gerd Thom: ‘On the basis of a secretariat decision by the DTSB of the GDR and the stipulations of the motorcycling federations of the socialist countries, the Cup races for Peace and Friendship may in future be held as open events, that is to say with the participation of riders from non-socialist countries. In the interests of enhancing the appeal and sporting standard of motocross in the GDR, your club has been commissioned by the Presidium’s office to organise this race on 10 and 11 June 1989.”

This set the course: top riders from Western Europe were once again allowed to compete in the valley basin.

The Talkessel is to be refurbished for the future

To accommodate the return of international riders, the infrastructure also had to be modernised. The construction of a new starting gate was particularly urgent. According to FIM regulations, the starting straight was not permitted to end immediately at a jump. Furthermore, the individual starting gates had to open against the direction of travel. Using pickaxes and spades, the club members dug out the foundations for the new facility. A completely new and modern starting facility was constructed. The distinctive start-finish building, which still characterises the valley today, was also widened.

The club was thus preparing for a new era on the international stage – even before the political changes of 1989 were on the horizon.

1989: Top Western European skiers return to the valley basin

On 11 June 1989, the moment had arrived: riders from Western Europe were back on the starting grid in the valley basin. The international field of competitors comprised riders from a total of 13 nations.

In the 250cc class, Belgian World Championship rider Jean Blanchy triumphed. In the 125cc class, the Czech rider Jan Mrazek came out on top. MC Teutschenthal had thus achieved what its organisers had been working towards for years: the international motocross elite had returned to the valley. Just five months later, the world changed.

On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. The inner-German border opened, and with it disappeared the political barriers that had shaped motor sport in Teutschenthal for decades. A completely new era began for MC Teutschenthal. The club seized the opportunities presented by its regained freedom and went on to set new standards in motocross across the whole of Germany over the following decade.