Died of a brain tumour, following a long fight against cancer. Eight times German motorcycle champion, with most of his titles coming in the 1930's, Ernst worked as an engineer for BMW and then became a car builder. His most notable achievement was being responsible for the BMW 328 which won the 1940 Mille Miglia with von Hanstein and Baumer. After WW2 he set up Veritas with Lorenz Dietrich and began building sports and single-seater cars with reasonable success in a number of different disciplines. Loof had already shut the team down before his cancer fight, but he kept on racing, appearing in rallies in 1954, until he got too weak to continue.

Biography last updated 10 Jul 2018