Walter Bäumer

Walter Bäumer (1908 to 1941) was a German racing driver whose greatest triumph was sharing the winning car in the 1940 Mille Miglia. He began racing motorcycles on an NSU in 1928, and after an accident moved to four wheels, first in Dixi and BMW sportscars and, in the mid-1930s, in an Austin, chiefly in hillclimbing. Between 1937 and 1939 he was a reserve driver for the Mercedes Grand Prix team but appeared in only four Grande Epreuves. In 1940 he shared a BMW 328 Touring-Coupé with Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and drove the last three laps of the wartime nine-lap Brescia event to win it. He died in a car crash in Herford on 30 June 1941.