In one of the most interesting, and to racing, important, days in motorcycle history, Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek defects to the West, taking MZ's tuning techniques to Suzuki, and winning Suzuki's first Grand Prix championship.
Ernst Degner arranged for his family to escape on the weekend he was racing in the Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad. In a race that could have secured the 125cc World Championship for himself and for MZ his engine suddenly failed early into the race. So, right after the race, Degner slipped out and drove to Gedser, Denmark where he caught the ferry to Holstein-Grossenbrode, West Germany. From there he continued on to Dillingen on the France/German border where met up with his wife and family who had already safely defected to West Germany a few days earlier.
When the MZ team had discovered his defection, the East Germans accused him of deliberately destroying his engine in the Swedish race and lodged a complaint with the FIM. The East Germans' accusations resulted in Degner's East German racing license being revoked. Degner had however acquired a West German racing license and with the help of Dr. Joseph Ehrlich, who owned EMC motorcycles, he was entered to ride a 125cc EMC at the Argentine GP. But, determined to keep him out of the race, the East German government pricks sent cables to the carriers of the bike that resulted in the machine being delayed on its journey to Argentina. Ernst was thus prevented from racing in the final 125cc World Championship round in Argentina. Months later, a FIM court in Geneva, Switzerland, dismissed MZ's complaint against him.
In November of 1961 Degner moved to Hamamatsu, Japan to work for Suzuki racing. Using the specialist two-stroke knowledge he had gained at MZ, he designed Suzuki's new 50cc and 125cc racers.
In 1962 Ernst Degner won Suzuki's first World Championship in the 50 cc class.
Degner, Ernst Degner.
