02 Dec RIP ROLAND WINGEIER
If you raced a motorcycle at Killarney in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the standard for meticulous preparation and attention to detail was set by Roland Wingeier. Whatever he rode during a long and successful racing career, it was always the cleanest, neatest and sweetest-running machine on the grid.
Never an aggressive rider, he was fast and smooth, his lap times uncannily consistent; he did well in the annual two-hour endurance races that were a feature at the time.
He passed away unexpectedly on Thursday 20 November at the age of 73 after a heart attack, leaving a huge gap in his closely-knit circle of fellow riders.
Roland was born in Zurich, Switzerland on 19 June 1952, the second of five siblings. Blessed with the priceless combination of an enquiring, analytical mind and the hands of a true craftsman, he knew even as a child that his future lay in engineering.
Restless as a young man, he came to South Africa in October 1975 in search of adventure – and found it, first as a scaffolder during the construction of the Good Hope Centre, later maintaining big diesel trucks in a dusty country town, sleeping in a disused container and living on one meal a day, cooked by a sympathetic co-worker’s wife.
But there was overtime to be had, and Roland worked incredibly long hours, pushing himself to create a financial foundation in his adopted country.
When he returned to Cape Town he joined Hoechst (later Hosaf Fibre), originally also as a mechanic. He eventually became a senior member of the engineering staff at Hosaf – so much so that he was chosen to travel to Germany to evaluate new machinery under consideration for the company’s local plants.
But he also found time to live out his passion for motorcycles, both in racing and riding on the road, maintaining, tuning and repairing his machines to his own high standards.
He also volunteered for a number of years as an instructor at Killarney’s Motorcycle Track Schools, passing on skills learned over decades of fast riding to a new generation of riders.
After his retirement from the plastics industry he transitioned into what became almost a second career, restoring motorcycles to better than new and helping his riding friends by repairing, restoring and sometimes recreating unobtainable parts for their older models.
A gifted welder in metal, he also taught himself plastic welding, not only to repair cracked and broken components but also to fabricate new parts from bits of scrap plastic. It was said that if nobody else could fix it, Roland would find a way.
Now the ‘go-to guy’ who loved to sing in the evenings is gone, and the world is poorer for his passing. We extend our sincere condolences to his lady Nannette and his family in Switzerland in this sad time.
