When the director was also a motorcycle and car racer
03/02/2011
A. Rothenbach - director of the gas works in Solothurn - actively raced on Amilcar and Harley-Davidson bikes.
He always raced with a tie and overcoat, which was often part of his racing gear at the time. Helmets were still frowned upon.
The Harley was built in 1926, had a 1000 cc V2 engine and no front brake.
The Amilcar CGs were built in 1925 and had a 1074 cc engine. Rothenbach drove in the racing car category. He won the Klausen race in 1924 and 1925 in his 750cc - 1100cc class. He belonged to the ACS Solothurn club, the car had the registration number 3838. The car was quite high, the successor to the CGs was then the CGSs, the small "s" stands for Surbaissé). The rear is covered with canvas for weight reasons. System like that of an airplane. The whole thing is held together by a wooden frame. The maximum power of the machine was approx. 40 HP at 4000 revolutions per minute.
Incidentally, the gracious Mrs. Rothenbach also raced cars and was probably the first woman to start in the 700-1100 cm3 touring car category on an Amilcar at Klausen. However, she had "braking problems" in the Bergli and retired.
