Hi to all. It has passed more than one year from that 02.06.1939 evening in which the official BMW rider Karl Gall had his accident at Ballaugh Bridge during his first lap in Senior TT practice. 13.06 will be 70 years from his death happened in the Ramsey hospital eleven days after the accident.
As many of you certainly know Gall practiced also for the 1938 TT races as official BMW rider but he had a bad accident at Gooseneck on open roads that put him out of the game for that year. Well, question for the TT experts: was he riding that day the official BMW Kompressor racing machine?
Thanks in advance!

Marco Wrote:Hi to all. It has passed more than one year from that 02.06.1939 evening in which the official BMW rider Karl Gall had his accident at Ballaugh Bridge during his first lap in Senior TT practice. 13.06 will be 70 years from his death happened in the Ramsey hospital eleven days after the accident.
As many of you certainly know Gall practiced also for the 1938 TT races as official BMW rider but he had a bad accident at Gooseneck on open roads that put him out of the game for that year. Well, question for the TT experts: was he riding that day the official BMW Kompressor racing machine?
Thanks in advance!

Hi Marco, wouldn't call myself a "TT expert",but I'm quite sure that the crash in 38 happened when he was testing his supercharged race bike, the purpose was to sort it out rather than learning the circuit. I think Schorsch Meier once said that the accident happend when Gall actually rode against the race direction, i.e., downhill towards gooseneck. Have this story in one of my mags but no idea how to find it with a reasonable effort....

Rennmax Wrote:Hi Marco, wouldn't call myself a "TT expert",but I'm quite sure that the crash in 38 happened when he was testing his supercharged race bike, the purpose was to sort it out rather than learning the circuit. I think Schorsch Meier once said that the accident happend when Gall actually rode against the race direction, i.e., downhill towards gooseneck. Have this story in one of my mags but no idea how to find it with a reasonable effort....

Thanks Rennmax. It's what I had thought: on the BMW racing machine. There is also a bit of mistery about Gall's fatal accident at Ballaugh Bridge the year after. Freddie Frith had overtaken Gall and his BMW team mate Jock West and Gall, practically a TT newcomer, wanted absolutely to follow the brithish rider, one of the greatest TT specialist of those days. The history also tells about a racing machine that Gall tried and overtake just before Ballaugh Bridge. Who was the rider of that machine? Can we exclude that it was Frith himself?

Well, eye witnesses are few and far between I suppose... I have no idea about the circumstances of the fatal crash at Ballaugh in '39, but anyway he was on the island in '38 and probably did some laps before his accident then, so he was'nt a complete newcomer to the circuit. I think he experienced some pressure from the up-and coming Meier, but it's hard to understand that he tried so hard in his first practice lap...well, it's easy to judge when you are sitting in the armchair

Rennmax Wrote:Well, eye witnesses are few and far between I suppose... I have no idea about the circumstances of the fatal crash at Ballaugh in '39, but anyway he was on the island in '38 and probably did some laps before his accident then, so he was'nt a complete newcomer to the circuit. I think he experienced some pressure from the up-and coming Meier, but it's hard to understand that he tried so hard in his first practice lap...well, it's easy to judge when you are sitting in the armchair

Yes, he did some practice laps in 1938 before to crash heavely on open roads. But we know interesting details about his fatal accident at Ballaugh Bridge....In any case this is how Meier was racing that year on the isle of Man TT course:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speed.../epoca.jpg
It's a famous shot published on "The Motor Cycle" of those days, and it impressioned John Surtees when he was child. Surtees is actually an owner of a BMW Kompressor racing machine.

In the TT report from 1939, I do not recall any mention of Freddie Frith being involved in Karl Gall's accident. I will read it again to be sure.

NickJ Wrote:In the TT report from 1939, I do not recall any mention of Freddie Frith being involved in Karl Gall's accident. I will read it again to be sure.

Hi Nick. According to Bradford's "Isle of Man TT & MGP Memorial 1907-2007" Gall was following Frith. Then he tried and overtake a machine just on the approach to Ballagh Bridge where due to this attempt of overtaking he failed in putting himself on the right racing line. Thanks in advance if you will able to find other infos!

We will never know but one report said that he died as a result of his injuries and Pneumonia so it is possible that he may have not been 100% fit at the time. Another thing to consider is (as mentioned previously) if he may have been trying too hard to keep pace with the Wunderkind of the time, Schorsch Meier. Meier was greatly affected by the incident and said privately on his return to Munich the he did not want to race at the TT again. However many years later he did return for a parade lap it must have been a poignant moment seeing that plaque passing through Ballough.

Schorsch Meier in '89, 50 years after his victory...probably with the Velo "roarer" in the background


Slightly out of topic, but how was Jock West's ride on a BMW accepted by the British public ? I presume polictics played a role in these days, didn't they? Thanks for any info.