Among the riders competing before Second World War, German ace Georg Meier was one of the most talented. As member of the Bavarian Police Team, he used to compete in various Trial competitions (today called Enduro) and won so many events that he was selected for the German team which would race in the 1937 ISDT. The team lost to Great Britain for a few seconds, but officials suggested to BMW team that Georg Meier be selected for road racing. In 1938, he raced in the Tourist Trophy Senior TT on the famous RS 255 Kompressor BMW, but he stopped on lap one because of a mechanical problem. Meier won the Belgium Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, the Dutch TT in Assen, the German GP on the Sachsenring and the Nations GP in Monza, and thus became the 1938 500cc European Motorcyle Champion.
In 1939 he brilliantly won the Senior TT race leading from start to finish line at a record average speed of 89,38 mph (143 km/h) – being the first foreign rider to achieve this success. Injured following a crash in Sweden, he stayed out of racing for the rest of the season, and the title was won by Dorino Serafini on the four-cylinder 500cc Gilera. He stopped racing in 1953 after a couple of good racing fights against teammate Walter Zeller. He passed away in 1999 aged 88.
Marc Petrier