Rolf Steinhausen is a German former motorcycle racer, winner of two SidecarWorld Championships. Steinhausen made his debut in motorcycle racing in 1961. After a few incidents, in 1964 moved on to the sidecar class, driven also by his friendship with the four-time World Sidecar Champion Max Deubel. Deubel recognized Steinhausen's talent and gave him one of his sidecars. Having started with the sidecar powered by BMW in 1972 Steinhausen decided to use the engines of König, four-cylinder two-stroke of powerboat origin. The new engines allowed the German to build a sidecar lower and with better aerodynamics. In that year the German also made his debut in the Grand Prix motorcycle racingWorld Championship, where he came tenth in partnership with Werner Kapp, achieving a best result of fourth place at the Austrian GP. The following season Steinhausen was 6th in the World, getting his first podium finish. For the '74 season, the German made a new chassis with the specialist Dieter Busch. With the new sidecar Steinhausen won his first GP and was fourth in the World. The 1975 saw Steinhausen graduate to Champion of the World, thanks to three wins. That '75 was also the first title for a two-stroke sidecar. In 1976 Steinhausen is reconfirmed champion and the 500cc Sidecar TT. The '77 season saw Steinhausen favorite for the title, but he did not do it, for various engine problems. From the French GP Steinhausen changed to a new engine from Yamaha and a new passenger, which ended the season in 4th place with a win in Czechoslovakia. Remembered for the Belgian Grand Prix, where the German marked the lap record at 200.520 km/h. Despite winning his third Sidecar TT, he had an anonymous 1978, finishing in 14th place in the world championship, the 1979 season saw Steinhausen fighting for the title of the category B2A, finishing in 2nd place behind the Swiss Rolf Biland. That '79 title was one of the last competitive seasons for Steinhausen, whose career ended in late 1989, having won two German sidecar titles. After retiring Steinhausen has become an entrepreneur, running a trucking firm. He is father of current sidecar racer Jörg Steinhausen.
