Ralf Waldmann
NationalityGerman
Born(1966-07-14)14 July 1966
Hagen, West Germany
Died10 March 2018(2018-03-10) (aged 51)
Ennepetal, Germany
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1986 - 2000, 2002, 2009
First race1986 80cc Baden-Württemberg Grand Prix
Last race2009 250cc British Grand Prix
First win1991 125cc West German Grand Prix
Last win2000 250cc British Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda, Modenas, Aprilia
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
169 20 50 10 16 1668

Ralf Waldmann (14 July 1966 – 10 March 2018) was a German Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Motorcycle racing career

In 1996, Waldmann finished second to Max Biaggi in the 250cc world championship.[1][2] In the 1997 season, he gave Biaggi a strong challenge, winning four races and finishing only two points behind the Italian.[1][2] Kenny Roberts offered him a job for the 1998 season on a 500cc Modenas but the competition was too strong and he finished in 14th place.[1][2] He returned to the 250 class the following year riding for the Aprilia team and retired from motorcycle competition after the 2002 season. Waldmann came out of semi-retirement in 2003 and signed with the new Harris WCM MotoGP team, but quit before the year began after failing to adapt to the new four-stroke Grand Prix bikes.[1][2]

His final win at the British Grand Prix in 2000 is of particular note. On a drying track, he came from nearly a whole lap down to win at the final corner at the notoriously slippery Donington Park circuit.[3]

In 2009, he joined Martin Wimmer in buying out the motorbike manufacturing company MZ, from the Hong Leong Group.[4] He also had a brief return to Grand Prix motorcycle racing, substituting for the injured rider Vladimir Leonov at the British Grand Prix.

Death

Waldmann died on 10 March 2018 in Ennepetal, Germany of a suspected heart attack at the age of 51.[5]

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By class

Class Season 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
80cc 1986–1989 1986 Baden-Württemberg 12 0 0 0 0 24 0
125cc 1988–1993 1989 Great Britain 1991 Germany 1991 Germany 55 6 15 2 6 432 0
250cc 1994–1997, 1999–2000, 2002, 2009 1994 Australia 1994 Italy 1994 Italy 90 14 35 8 10 1166 0
500cc 1998 1998 Japan 12 0 0 0 0 46 0
Total 1986–2000, 2002, 2009 169 20 50 10 16 1668 0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos. Pts
1986 80cc Krauser SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED GBR RSM BWU
19 		NC 0
1987 80cc ERK SPA GER
10 		NAT AUT
12 		YUG NED
19 		GBR CZE
Ret 		RSM POR 25th 1
1988 80cc Seel SPA EXP NAT GER
17 		NED YUG CZE NC 0
125cc Rotax SPA NAT GER
DNQ 		AUT NED BEL YUG FRA GBR SWE CZE NC 0
1989 80cc Seel SPA
8 		NAT
14 		GER
7 		YUG
Ret 		NED
12 		CZE
19 		14th 23
125cc Seel JPN AUS SPA
DNQ 		NAT GER
DNQ 		AUT NED BEL
DNQ 		FRA GBR
Ret 		SWE
19 		CZE
Ret 		NC 0
1990 125cc JJ Cobas JPN SPA
Ret 		NAT
25 		GER
11 		AUT
16 		YUG
4 		NED
Ret 		BEL
Ret 		FRA
Ret 		GBR
15 		SWE
23 		CZE
Ret 		HUN
Ret 		AUS
Ret 		23rd 19
1991 125cc Honda JPN
7 		AUS
5 		SPA
7 		ITA
9 		GER
1 		AUT
2 		EUR
6 		NED
1 		FRA
2 		GBR
Ret 		RSM
4 		CZE
8 		MAL 3rd 141
1992 125cc Honda JPN
1 		AUS
1 		MAL
3 		SPA
1 		ITA
Ret 		EUR
12 		GER
3 		NED
9 		HUN
2 		FRA
10 		GBR
7 		BRA
15 		RSA
6 		3rd 112
1993 125cc Aprilia AUS
Ret 		MAL
5 		JPN
6 		SPA
2 		AUT
9 		GER
5 		NED
Ret 		EUR
2 		RSM
4 		GBR
3 		CZE
Ret 		ITA
5 		USA
3 		FIM
1 		4th 160
1994 250cc Honda AUS
7 		MAL
6 		JPN
Ret 		SPA
4 		AUT
5 		GER
6 		NED
4 		ITA
1 		FRA
4 		GBR
7 		CZE
2 		USA
10 		ARG
8 		EUR
7 		5th 156
1995 250cc Honda AUS
1 		MAL
4 		JPN
1 		SPA
5 		GER
Ret 		ITA
4 		NED
2 		FRA
1 		GBR
3 		CZE
3 		BRA
4 		ARG
6 		EUR
3 		3rd 203
1996 250cc Honda MAL
DNS 		INA
3 		JPN
8 		SPA
3 		ITA
3 		FRA
2 		NED
1 		GER
1 		GBR
2 		AUT
1 		CZE
3 		IMO
1 		CAT
3 		BRA
2 		AUS
2 		2nd 268
1997 250cc Honda MAL
4 		JPN
5 		SPA
1 		ITA
4 		AUT
2 		FRA
3 		NED
2 		IMO
4 		GER
3 		BRA
12 		GBR
1 		CZE
4 		CAT
1 		INA
7 		AUS
1 		2nd 248
1998 500cc Modenas JPN
Ret 		MAL
9 		SPA
10 		ITA
11 		FRA
12 		MAD
10 		NED
DNS 		GBR GER
7 		CZE
13 		IMO
15 		CAT
12 		AUS
Ret 		ARG
15 		14th 46
1999 250cc Aprilia MAL
DNS 		JPN SPA
6 		FRA
4 		ITA
2 		CAT
Ret 		NED
6 		GBR
8 		GER
3 		CZE
2 		IMO
7 		VAL
Ret 		AUS
5 		RSA
Ret 		BRA
7 		ARG
11 		6th 131
2000 250cc Aprilia RSA
7 		MAL
4 		JPN
Ret 		SPA
1 		FRA
8 		ITA
Ret 		CAT
7 		NED
24 		GBR
1 		GER
8 		CZE
5 		POR
Ret 		VAL
13 		BRA
6 		PAC
7 		AUS
4 		7th 143
2002 250cc Aprilia JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED
11 		GBR GER
9 		CZE
11 		POR BRA PAC MAL AUS VAL 19th 17
2009 250cc Aprilia QAT JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER GBR
Ret 		CZE INP SMR POR AUS MAL VAL NC 0
Source:[1]

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2005 Honda QAT QAT AUS AUS SPA SPA ITA ITA EUR EUR SMR SMR CZE CZE GBR GBR NED NED GER
Ret 		GER
DNS 		ITA ITA FRA FRA NC 0

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ralf Waldmann career statistics at MotoGP.com
  2. ^ a b c d Ralf Waldmann profile at crash.net Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Ralf Waldmann on speedweek.com
  4. ^ Visordown.com news
  5. ^ Ralf Waldmann died at age 51 Archived 2018-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
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