Willi Krakau (4 December 1911, Felgeleben (now

Schönebeck Schönebeck (), officially Schönebeck (Elbe), is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. southeast of Magdeburg. For much of the twentieth century it was noted ...

) – 26 April 1995) was a racing driver from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he built a reputation as a constructor of special racing cars, sometimes based on the

BMW 328 The BMW 328 was a sports car produced by BMW from 1936 to 1940. Its body design is credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II (although technically the car was designed by Fritz Fiedler). Specifications Aw ...

, with which he enjoyed some success in various formulae including

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

. His single entry into a World Championship race was at the

1952 German Grand Prix The 1952 German Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 3 August 1952 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was race 6 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula ...

. Driving his six-cylinder AFM car, he completed the qualifying sessions but did not appear on the starting grid. Prior to his motor racing exploits, Krakau had tried his hand at several sports, and was a member of the German

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

team at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. Krakau died in

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, northeast of Hildesheim, and east of Hanover ...

in 1995.

Complete World Championship results

( key)

References

Article at 8W
1911 births 1995 deaths German racing drivers German Formula One drivers AFM Formula One drivers {{F1-bio-stub Racing drivers from Saxony-Anhalt