Ernst Henne

Ernst Jakob Henne was a German motorcycle racer and racing car driver, born in 1904 in the village of Weiler near Wangen im Allgu, who lived to the age of 101. Trained as a motor vehicle mechanic, he began racing in 1923 and joined the BMW works team, becoming German champion in the 500cc class in 1926 and in the 750cc class in 1927, and winning the motorcycle Targa Florio in 1928. Starting in 1929 he set a total of 76 land speed world records on supercharged BMW motorcycles, raising his speed year by year until a fully faired 500cc machine reached 279.5 kilometres an hour in 1937, a record that stood for 14 years. He also rode in the International Six Days Trial, drove for the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix team in 1934, and won the two-litre class at the 1936 Eifelrennen in the first outing of the BMW 328.