Wilhelm Herz Wilhelm Herz Wilhelm Herz (18 January 1912, Lampertheim, Grand Duchy of Hesse – 5 January 1998) was a motorbike racer and land speed racer. He started his career in 1932 with DKW and went over to NSU in 1939. He ran races on national and international courses like the Berlin AVUS, Grenzlandring, Helsinki, Hockenheimring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Isle of Man, Monza, Nürburgring, Schleizer Dreieck, Schottenring and Solitude. He gained his international reputation through numerous world records on two- and four-wheeled vehicles. He set a motorcycle record in 1951 on the Munich - Ingolstadt motorway and repeated it at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Land speed racing Land speed racing Land speed racing is a form of motorsport. Land speed racing is best known for the efforts to break the absolute land speed record, but it is not limited to specialist vehicles. A record is defined as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes"). Under current FIA rules, two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated. Records are set in either the flying kilometre or flying mile. The sport's