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Walter Schlüter

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Walter Schlüter
NationalityGermany German
Born1911
DiedNovember 1977

Walter Schlüter, (1911 – November 1977), was a West German racing and rally driver, who won the 1954 European Rally Championship.[1]

Racing Driver

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Walter was a fuel wholesale by trade, from Velbert. He became racing in the 1930, notably in a modified BMW 328. After the World War II, he played an instrumental in the re-establishing of the Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD), and getting motor racing underway in Germany.[2] In 1950, he entered the inaugural season of the Deutsche Meisterschaft Formel 3 where he raced a Monopoletta-BMW. During the season, he won F3 support race at the Großer Preis von Deutschland, on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. This result helped him to third overall in the championship.[3]

In return the following season, but without much success, although he became to first German driver to complete in England following the war, when he drove his Monopoletta-BMW at Brands Hatch in the August Bank Holiday meeting.[4]

Rally Driver

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Walter, now aged forty switched to rallying for the 1952 season. He scored his first international victory in the sport when he was finished in second on the Rallye Travemünde, as co-driver to Helmut Polensky. The pairing continuing into 1953, where they took two victories as Polensky won the European Rally Championship.[5][6]

Back on the track, Walter scored his greater result when he and Richard Trenkel took fourth place in the 1953 Internationales ADAC-1000 Kilometer Rennen Weltmeisterschaftslauf Nürburgring, a round of the World Sportscar Championship.[7]

When in the Autumn of 1953, DKW created their new motor sport department, and Walter was one of the trio of drivers signed to tackle the European Rally Championship. By now, Walter had moved across to the driver’s seat. After victory on the Rallye Wiesbaden and two further podium finishers, he had been enough to secure the championship title for himself, ahead of the other two DKW drivers.[8]

He continues with DKW for the next couple seasons, when 1955 he scored his first outright victory outside of Germany, when he wins Norway’s Viking Rally. This would turn out to be his last international victory as well.[9]

Racing record

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Career highlights

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Season Series Position Team Car
1950 Großer Pries von Deutschland [F3] [10] 1st Walter Schlüter Monopoletta-BMW
Deutsche Meisterchaft Formel 3 [11] 3rd Walter Schlüter Monopoletta-BMW
Preis von Deutschland für Motorräder [12] 3rd Walter Schlüter Monopoletta-BMW
1952 Rallye Travemünde * [13] 2nd Porsche 356
1953 Coupes des Alpes * [14] 1st Porsche 356 1500 S
Internationale ADAC-Rallye Travemünder * [14] 1st Fiat 1100
Viking Rally * [5] 2nd Fiat 1100
Rally Automovel Int. de Lisboa-Estoril * [5] 3rd Porsche 356 1500 S
1954 European Rally Championship [15] 1st DKW DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse
Rallye Wiesbaden [16] 1st DKW DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse
Coupes des Alpes [17] 2nd DKW DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse
Rally International de Genèe [16] 2nd DKW DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse
1955 Viking Rally [9] 1st DKW DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse
  • = he was a co-driver on the event

Complete Rallye de Monte Carlo results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Pos.
1955 West Germany DKW West Germany ??? DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse 222nd
1956 West Germany DKW West Germany ??? DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse DNF

Complete RAC Rally results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Pos.
1955 West Germany DKW West Germany ??? DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse 13th
1956 West Germany DKW West Germany ??? DKW 3=6 F91 Sonderklasse started

References

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  1. ^ [1][dead link]
  2. ^ "Home". 500race.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  3. ^ "Home". 500race.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  4. ^ "Home". 500race.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  5. ^ a b c Shacki. "rally database". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  6. ^ "Home". 500race.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  7. ^ "Nürburgring 1000 Kilometres 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  8. ^ [2][dead link]
  9. ^ a b Shacki. "rally database". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "500 Owners Association". Archived from the original on 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "1952 Miscellaneous Rallies". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  14. ^ a b [3][dead link]
  15. ^ "European Rally Champions / FIA >>> MotorSports Etc". Archived from the original on 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  16. ^ a b [4][dead link]
  17. ^ Markham, Paul (2019-05-05). "Heinkel Scooter Project". Heinkelscooter.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
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