Helmut Dähne
| Helmut Dähne | |||||||||||
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Dähne during practice for the 1976 German Grand Prix.
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| Nationality |
 German |
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| Born | 29 November 1944 | ||||||||||
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Helmut Dähne (also rendered as Daehne or Dahne, born 29 November 1944 in Altenmark, Germany) is a German former motorcycle racer, active not in Grand Prix races, for which the rather tall Dähne (190 cm) is not well suited, but in endurance racing with production machines, comparable to touring cars and rallying with automobiles. From the 1970s to the 1990s, he was active on the longest circuits of motorcycle racing, the over 20 km long Nürburgring Nordschleife, and the over 60 km long Snaefell Mountain Course of the Isle of Man TT.
He started his career in 1961 as a teenager began working for BMW motorcycle department as a mechanic, then since 1976 developed motorcycle tyres for German brand Metzeler and provided service at race tracks to customers, is now a PR manager, a Works BMW motorcycling legend and known for his trademark red and white leathers.
He entered off-road contests from 1965 to 1971, starting road racing in 1968 with a hillclimbing win at Sudelfeld in the Bavarian Alps. From 1972 to 1986 he started 23 events at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. In 1976, he and partner Hans-Otto Butenuth were the fastest finisher in the Production TT with a 900cc BMW R 90 S. Being one of the few non-British riders who could keep up with the locals, Dähne came second twice, in 1986, and in 1984 by only 2 seconds.
He entered in the German "Seriensport" championship, a series of contests for road legal machinery, where he could test and showcase the products of his employers. In 1973 he won the first of these Rally German Championships in the 1000cc class, 15 in total, the last in 1993. The 1000 km Hockenheimring, an Easter Saturday event for a team of two riders doing a long-distance reliability run concluded with a timed raced, was won by Dähne and his partners 18 times in 26 entries, the last success coming in 2001. Dähne also entered more competitive series, like the Endurance world championship series, in which he finished 3rd in 1980, riding a Honda privately tuned by Eckert. In the 8 Hour race at the Nürburgring, then still 22.8 km long, he and partner Alois Tost finished second behind a factory-entered Honda RCB.
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