# Adolf Weil (motorcyclist)

Adolf Weil (25 December 1938 – 12 May 2011) was a German professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships between 1960 and 1978, most prominently as a member of the Maico factory racing team. Nicknamed of the “Iron Man of Motocross” for the longevity of his racing career, Weil was one of the most accomplished West German motocross racers of the 1970s.

## Motorsports career

Weil was born on December 25, 1938 in Solingen, Germany. He competed in his first Motocross World Championship event at the 1960 250cc West German Grand Prix as a 21-year-old privateer aboard a Maico motorcycle. He first came to prominence after placing third behind perennial World Championship contenders, Joël Robert and Torsten Hallman at the 1968 250cc West German Grand Prix.
Weil was 30-years-old when he began his first full World Championship season as a Maico factory team rider in 1969. He won the first overall victory of his career by winning both motos at the 1969 250cc West German Grand Prix. In the 1969 500cc Motocross World Championship, Weil placed 14th in the season final points standings with his best result being a third place behind Roger De Coster (ČZ) and John Banks (BSA) at the 500cc Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian Grand Prix was held on a rugged, narrow track in the forests surrounding the picturesque hilltop Citadel of Namur. First held in 1947, the Namur circuit was known as the Monaco of the motocross grand prix circuit in reference to the prestigious Formula One race.
Weil improved to a sixth-place ranking in the 1970 500cc Motocross World Championship, including a second-place finish behind the eventual World Champion, Bengt Åberg (Husqvarna) at the 500c West German Grand Prix, and another second-place behind his Maico teammate Åke Jonsson at the 500cc East German Grand Prix. In 1971, Weil won the 500cc West German in Bielstein and finished the season ranked third in the 500cc World Championship behind Roger De Coster (Suzuki) and Åke Jonsson (Maico). His inconsistent results in 1972 saw him drop to eighth place in the season final points standings, however he posted second-place finishes at the Swedish and French Grand Prix races.
Weil had his best season in 1973 when he switched to the 250cc class and scored three Grand Prix victories in Italy, Russia and Austria. Unfortunately for Weil, at the third round in Belgium Yamaha introduced a new and innovative rear suspension with a single shock absorber that would revolutionize the sport of motocross. Yamaha factory rider, Håkan Andersson took six Grand Prix victories to claim the 1973 250cc World Championship. After the world championship season ended, Weil participated in the 1973 Trans-AMA series in the United States. The Trans-AMA was an international series established by the American Motorcyclist Association as a pilot event to help establish motocross in the United States. Weil took five victories to claim the series championship over Gerrit Wolsink (Suzuki) and Willy Bauer (Maico).
At an age when many of his contemporaries had retired, Weil continued to race in the World Championships well into his thirties, earning himself the nickname of the “Iron Man of Motocross”. Weil became the oldest competitor in FIM history to win a 250cc Motocross Grand Prix race when, he won the 1973 250cc Austrian Grand Prix at the age of 34 years and 244 days.
Weil returned to the 500cc class in 1974 where he won the 500cc West German Grand Prix, however the season was dominated by Heikki Mikkola (Husqvarna) and Roger De Coster (Suzuki), who won 17 of the 22 races. Weil finished the season ranked third in the World Championship. Weil was the top individual points scorer at the 1974 Trophée des Nations event, winning both motos to help the German team finish second to the Belgian team.
Weil continued to race competively until 1976, when he became the oldest 500cc Grand Prix winner in the history of the Motocross World Championships with a victory at the 1976 500cc French Grand Prix at the age of 37. He finished the 1976 season ranked third behind Suzuki teammates Roger De Coster and Gerrit Wolsink.
In 1976, Weil was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf, the highest state award for athletic performance in Germany. He ended his professional motocross racing career after the 1978 season at the age of 39. Weil became so synonymous with Maico motorcycles that they named the Maico AW model in his honor. He won 21 individual races and 7 Grand Prix overall victories during his career in the Motocross World Championships. While he was never able to win a World Championship title, Weil was a 14-time German Motocross National Champion. After retiring from competition, he operated a motorcycle business with his two sons Frank and Jürgen in his hometown of Solingen, Germany.
Weil died in Solingen, Germany on 12 May 2011 at the age of 72.

## Motocross Grand Prix Results

Points system from 1952 to 1968:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1969 to 1980:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | Pos | Pts |
| Year | Class | Team | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | Pos | Pts |
| 1964 | 250cc | Maico | ESP - | ESP - | BEL 13 | BEL - | CH - | CH - | CZE - | CZE - | GER 6 | GER - | LUX 13 | LUX - | ITA - | ITA - | UK - | UK - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | USR - | USR - | POL - | POL - | GDR - | GDR - | FRA - | FRA - | | | - | 0 |
| 1966 | 250cc | Montesa | ESP - | ESP 15 | FRA - | FRA - | BEL - | BEL - | CH - | CH - | CZE - | CZE - | GER - | GER - | NED 11 | NED - | LUX - | LUX - | ITA - | ITA - | POL - | POL - | GDR - | GDR - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | USR - | USR - | AUT - | AUT - | - | 0 |
| 1966 | 500cc | Maico | CH - | CH - | AUT - | AUT - | ITA - | ITA - | DEN - | DEN - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | GDR - | GDR - | CZE - | CZE - | USR - | USR - | UK - | UK - | NED - | NED - | BEL - | BEL - | LUX - | LUX - | GER 5 | GER 4 | | | 19th | 3 |
| 1967 | 250cc | Maico | ESP 5 | ESP 19 | CH - | CH 5 | FRA 11 | FRA 29 | BEL 10 | BEL 14 | GER 3 | GER - | NED - | NED - | ITA - | ITA - | UK - | UK - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | USR - | USR - | POL - | POL - | | | | | | | - | 0 |
| 1967 | 500cc | Maico | AUT - | AUT - | ITA - | ITA - | SWE - | SWE - | CZE - | CZE - | USR - | USR - | FRA - | FRA - | GER - | GER 3 | UK - | UK - | BEL - | BEL - | LUX - | LUX - | CH - | CH - | | | | | | | | | - | 0 |
| 1968 | 250cc | Maico | ESP 7 | ESP 8 | BEL - | BEL - | CZE - | CZE - | FRA - | FRA - | NED 15 | NED 18 | GER 2 | GER 3 | LUX 9 | LUX 5 | POL - | POL - | USR - | USR - | YUG - | YUG - | FIN - | FIN - | SWE - | SWE - | UK - | UK - | AUT - | AUT - | | | 13th | 6 |
| 1968 | 500cc | Maico | AUT 12 | AUT 5 | ITA - | ITA - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | GDR - | GDR - | CZE - | CZE - | UK - | UK - | GER - | GER 1 | FRA - | FRA - | NED - | NED - | BEL - | BEL - | LUX - | LUX - | CH - | CH - | | | | | 20th | 2 |
| 1969 | 250cc | Maico | ESP - | ESP - | CH - | CH - | YUG - | YUG - | CZE - | CZE - | POL - | POL - | GER 1 | GER 1 | NED - | NED - | FRA - | FRA - | UK - | UK - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN - | FIN - | USR - | USR - | | | | | | | 14th | 16 |
| 1969 | 500cc | Maico | AUT 36 | AUT 3 | SWE 4 | SWE 7 | NED - | NED - | ITA 17 | ITA 12 | CZE 11 | CZE 2 | USR - | USR - | GER 4 | GER - | BEL 3 | BEL 3 | LUX 10 | LUX - | FRA - | FRA 3 | CH 2 | CH - | GDR - | GDR - | | | | | | | 14th | 4 |
| 1970 | 250cc | Maico | ESP - | ESP - | FRA - | FRA - | BEL 7 | BEL 7 | YUG - | YUG - | ITA - | ITA - | USR - | USR - | POL - | POL - | UK - | UK - | FIN - | FIN - | GDR - | GDR - | CH - | CH - | AUT - | AUT - | | | | | | | 22nd | 4 |
| 1970 | 500cc | Maico | CH - | CH - | AUT 8 | AUT 10 | NED 5 | NED 30 | FRA 2 | FRA 3 | FIN - | FIN - | SWE - | SWE - | CZE 6 | CZE 4 | USR - | USR - | GER 3 | GER 1 | GDR 3 | GDR 3 | BEL 2 | BEL 3 | LUX 1 | LUX - | | | | | | | 6th | 55 |
| 1971 | 500cc | Maico | ITA 2 | ITA 2 | AUT 3 | AUT 2 | SWE 3 | SWE 5 | FIN 2 | FIN 3 | CZE 3 | CZE 1 | USR 3 | USR 4 | GDR 5 | GDR - | UK - | UK - | GER 1 | GER 2 | BEL 4 | BEL - | LUX 3 | LUX 18 | NED 2 | NED 6 | | | | | | | 3rd | 90 |
| 1972 | 500cc | Maico | AUT - | AUT - | CH 4 | CH - | SWE 3 | SWE 1 | FRA 2 | FRA 2 | USR - | USR - | CZE 4 | CZE - | UK 2 | UK 4 | GER - | GER - | GDR - | GDR - | BEL 3 | BEL 4 | LUX - | LUX 1 | | | | | | | | | 8th | 42 |
| 1973 | 250cc | Maico | ESP 3 | ESP 1 | ITA 4 | ITA 2 | BEL 5 | BEL 3 | CH 2 | CH 2 | POL 4 | POL - | YUG - | YUG - | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | FIN 2 | FIN - | USR 1 | USR 1 | SWE 5 | SWE 4 | AUT 1 | AUT 2 | | | | | | | | | 2nd | 157 |
| 1974 | 500cc | Maico | AUT 2 | AUT 2 | FRA - | FRA 7 | ITA 3 | ITA - | DEN 2 | DEN 6 | CZE 3 | CZE 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | UK 3 | UK - | USA 7 | USA 6 | NED 5 | NED - | BEL - | BEL 3 | LUX 3 | LUX 4 | | | | | | | | | 3rd | 133 |
| 1975 | 250cc | Maico | ESP - | ESP 1 | AUT 10 | AUT 8 | BEL 2 | BEL 5 | CZE 5 | CZE - | POL 3 | POL - | YUG 2 | YUG - | GER 6 | GER - | UK 7 | UK - | FRA 1 | FRA 3 | SWE 4 | SWE 2 | FIN 5 | FIN 6 | CH 2 | CH 6 | | | | | | | 4th | 129 |
| 1976 | 500cc | Maico | CH 6 | CH 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | ITA 7 | ITA 3 | AUT 1 | AUT 7 | SWE 3 | SWE 2 | FIN - | FIN 7 | GER - | GER 2 | USA - | USA 6 | CAN 8 | CAN - | UK - | UK 1 | BEL 2 | BEL 10 | LUX 2 | LUX - | | | | | | | 3rd | 141 |
| 1977 | 500cc | Maico | AUT - | AUT - | NED - | NED - | SWE - | SWE - | FIN 9 | FIN 7 | GER - | GER - | ITA 9 | ITA 6 | USA - | USA - | CAN - | CAN - | UK 10 | UK 5 | BEL 6 | BEL 4 | LUX 7 | LUX 8 | CH - | CH 6 | | | | | | | 10th | 45 |
| 1978 | 500cc | Maico | CH - | CH - | AUT - | AUT - | FRA - | FRA - | DEN - | DEN - | FIN - | FIN - | SWE 7 | SWE 8 | USA - | USA - | ITA 5 | ITA 10 | UK - | UK - | BEL - | BEL - | LUX - | LUX - | NED - | NED - | | | | | | | 15th | 14 |
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