Florian Camathias (23 March 1924 – 10 October 1965) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

professional

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motorcycle and

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

racer. Born in

Wittenbach Wittenbach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of St. Gallen in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Wittenbach is first mentioned in 1297 as ''Witebach''. Geography Wittenbach has an area, , of . Of this area, 58 ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

in the canton of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Camathias owned a garage

Veytaux Veytaux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The Chateau of Chillon provides a view of the entire Lake of Geneva located in Avenue de Chillon. History Veytaux is first mentioned in 13 ...

, near

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

Race career

He began his

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

career in 1945. Camathias placed fifth in the World Sidecar Championship in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

. In

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, he entered his first

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

, finishing in ninth place in the Lightweight 250 event on an NSU solo motorcycle, and in third place in the

Sidecar TT The Sidecar TT is a motorcycle-with-sidecar road race competition held over two legs which takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1954 and 1976 this race was part of the Gr ...

driving a BMW. Camathias won his first Grand Prix victory in the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed'. The event attained world champ ...

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

. He also finished as runner-up position in the British Sidecar Championship. Repeating the achievements in 1959, he was Swiss and British Champion in 1960 and once again finished fifth in the World Championship. Camathias crashed in the 1962 Sidecar TT, a race won by English racer Chris Vincent with a BSA-engined outfit. Camathias won his one and only TT at the 1963 races. Camathias was a renowned engine builder associated with the desirable BMW RS54 ''Rennsport'' overhead camshaft competition engine, and began an association with English sidecar racer

Colin Seeley Colin Jordan Seeley (2 January 1936 – 7 January 2020) was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rot ...

, who used Camathias' engine for the 1964 Sidecar TT, placing third on a machine he dubbed as FCSB — ''Florian Camathias Special 'B, whilst Camathias finished 15th in the same race using a

Gilera Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio. History In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was, at ...

engine.

Death

He died after crashing during a race at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, Kent, England, on 10 October 1965. Camathias' passenger, Franz Ducret, was injured but recovered in

West Hill Hospital West Hill Hospital was a health facility in West Hill, Dartford, Kent, England. It was managed by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. History The facility had its origins in the Dartford Union Workhouse which was designed by John Whichcord and ope ...

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, Kent. ''Motor Cycle'', 28 October 1965. p.627. ''Making good progress'' Accessed 12 December 2015 An inquest, presided over by

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

for North Kent, Col. W.H. Harris, found that the crash was caused by welding failure where a front-fork tube had broken-away, and recorded a verdict of misadventure. Around 1,000 people attended the funeral with many from the motorcycle and car racing fraternity. ''Motor Cycle'', 28 October 1965. p.633. ''Welding failure'' Accessed 12 December 2015

Legacy

A European sidecar classic racing series was established named ''Camathias Cup Championship'' with classes for two engine capacities, under 750 cc and over 750 cc, with winners decided on the overall highest points score in each class. In 2015, 45 teams participated achieving full grids in five countries, including a 2-race short road-course event on the

Billown Circuit The Billown Circuit is a motorcycle road-race course used for the Southern 100, the Pre-TT Classic races and the National Road Races meetings near Castletown on the Isle of Man. Racing is held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynw ...

at the Pre-TT races, part the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

race festival.

Family connections

Florian was the uncle to Romeo Camathias, a car racer born in 1947, whose son

Joël Camathias Joël Camathias (born 9 February 1981) is a Swiss race car driver born in Lugano. In 2001 he raced in the International Formula 3000 championship and in 2002 in the European F3000 series. In 2003 he made 7 starts in the American Champ Car series fo ...

is also a car racer.The Family (connections)
Joel Camathias.com Retrieved 13 December 2015

References

External links

Florian Camathias
Family connection at

' website
Camathias Cup homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camathias, Florian 1924 births 1965 deaths Sportspeople from the canton of St. Gallen Swiss motorcycle racers Sidecar racers 250cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in England