Motorcycle World Championship: Edmund Czihak, Germany’s only 500cc GP winner, has died

After Edmund Czihak, born on 20 June 1944, had won the OMK Cup in 1973, he was set to continue his campaign in the German Championship in 1974. However, one of the first races of that year was the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, for which ‘Edi’, as he was usually known, immediately entered.

It was the weekend of 26–28 April 1974. The German World Championship round at the Eifel circuit – which at that time comprised the Südschleife and the demanding Nordschleife – was the second Grand Prix of the year and the first since 1972. In that era, the Nürburgring and Hockenheim took turns hosting the German World Championship round. After the 1973 race had been held in North Baden, it was the Eifel’s turn again in 1974. As early as 1972, the stars of the scene had criticised what they saw as inadequate safety measures at the Nürburgring. In 1974, the organisers had failed to take the top riders in all classes into account, for this time they made good on their threat and boycotted the races.

On the morning of race day, there was even snow in the Eifel, meaning that top riders such as Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, Gianfranco Bonera and Teuvo Länsivouri left largely having achieved nothing. At least the German riders and a handful of second- and third-tier international riders saw reason and completed a few laps for the fans’ sake.

In the ‘DM-Lauf-Plus’, Ingo Emmerich won the 50cc class race and Fritz Reitmaier won the 1/8-litre category. In the 250cc and 350cc classes, Helmut Kassner snatched the unbelievable Grand Prix victories. Before Werner Schwärzel and Karl Kleis won the sidecar race to round off the day, seven riders lined up on the starting grid for the premier class race up to 500 cc.

After seven laps of the circuit, which was 22.835 kilometres long at the time, Edmund Czihak crossed the finish line on his privately entered 351cc Yamaha just under two minutes ahead of the runner-up, Helmut Kassner. Walter Kaletsch finished third. The last rider to finish, Udo Kochanski, was already just under seven minutes behind the (Grand Prix) winner, Edmund Czihak. It was Edmund Czihak’s only appearance in the Motorcycle World Championship, for after finishing as German runner-up in the 500cc class that year, he brought his short but actually very promising career to an end. In the final World Championship standings for 1974, Edmund Czihak is listed in 14th place overall with his 15 World Championship points from the Nürburgring.

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08.08.2026 - 10:35

Edmund Czihak passed away on 6 June 2026, two weeks before his 82nd birthday, at the age of 81 following a serious illness.