Helmut Polensky (10 October 1915, Berlin – 6 November 2011, Saint-Tropez) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

moto racer, racing driver and racing car constructor.

Life outside racing

Polensky was the youngest of four sons. His father was an architect. After leaving school and finishing military service, he began a career as a professional motorcycle and auto racer. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he married. He spent the last decades of his life in Saint-Tropez.

The 1930s and the Second World War

Polensky began racing

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s as a club racer in the mid-1930s. In 1939, he switched to

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, piloting a used BMW 328. The same year, he signed as an engineer apprentice with

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm fo ...

, and also joined the

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the old ...

. Polensky spent the

as a

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

specialist in Berlin. In 1945 he escaped from a Soviet

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camp, fleeing to Hamburg. He worked there in 1946 as managing director of a small motor company.

Racer and designer

In 1947, Polensky returned to Berlin and in the ruins opened one of the first

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to ...

dealerships in Germany. He also began racing again, designing and in his own workshop constructing a

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

racer with a motorcycle engine, akin to the Cooper 500. Polensky's first model was the ''Kurpfalz''. This was followed by the '' Monopoletta'', a BMW-powered ''monoposto''. Polensky raced his '' Monopoletta'' throughout the late 1940s across

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 1950, he was fifth overall in the West German Formula Three Championship. In the early the 1950s, Polensky began to concentrate increasingly on sports car races. He entered the ''

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

'' in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. His wife served as co-driver several times in the ''Tour de France''. Around the same time, he moved his family to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, where he opened a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

dealership. Driving a Porsche, he won the 1953 ''Coupe des Alpes'' and

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has b ...

, coming first overall in the championship. He was also eighth overall at the

12 Hours of Reims The 12 Hours of Reims (official name: 12 Heures internationales de Reims) were a sports car endurance racing series held from 1953 to 1967 at the Reims (Gueux) circuit in the Marne district of the Champagne region in north-eastern France. The 192 ...

in 1954.12 Hours of Reims 1954
/ref> Polensky entered the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

three times. In 1955, he was shared a

Porsche 550 The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...

with journalist Richard von Frankenberg, coming fourth overall and earning a class win. He also took the 21st Biennial Cup. In 1956, Polensky quit racing to become a successful

automobile dealer A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

Le Mans results

Books

* Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu. ''24 Heures du Mans, 1923-1992''. Éditions d'Art, Besancon, 1992 .

External links

Biography of Helmut Polensky

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polensky, Helmut 1915 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from Berlin German racing drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers German automobile designers German motorsport people National Socialist Motor Corps members German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union German escapees Escapees from Soviet detention Porsche Motorsports drivers