Ernst Degner documentary on Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a documentary about German racer Ernst Degner who defected from communist Germany and took top-secret two-stroke technology from MZ with him to the west and gave it to Suzuki.

The documentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11am on Monday, February 13.

The BBC description of the programme states: “Fifty years ago a dashing, ultra-talented motorbike racer planned to escape from Communist East Germany at the height of the Cold War.

“Award winning presenter Stephen Evans tells how Degner, a hero in his homeland, risked everything including the life of his young family to flee to the west, taking with him ground breaking technology developed deep behind the Iron Curtain.

“All that stood in his way was an increasingly repressive regime, the notorious Stasi and the building of a certain wall that changed the course of European history.”