Robert Grogg

Grogg started racing motorcycles at the age of 17, racing in the solo class until 1970 when he switched to sidecarcross.[1]

Grogg was part of the inaugural season of what would eventually become the Sidecarcross World Championship but what started in 1971 as the FIM-Cup. Grogg, racing with Gerhard Martinez in the Swiss Grand Prix, finished eighth, the only race he took part of in this season.[2] He however also competed in the national Swiss championship which was in its second edition, and won this competition, beating Lorenz Haller by a point. Grogg would dominate this competition from 1971 to 1978, winning it every year, with Haller and future World Champion Emil Bollhalder as his main competitors.[4]

Grogg and Martinez, a team again in 1972, won the FIM-Cup that year, beating previous seasons champion Rikus Lubbers by a point. The year after Grogg, now riding with Andreas Grabner as his passenger, was beaten by Haller in the FIM-Cup but took the trophy back in 1974 when he and Grabner defeated Austrians Bruno Schneider and Werner Fink.[2] In 1974 he also won the US championship organised by AMA.[1]

In 1975, the FIM-Cup became the European Championship and Grogg and Grabner came very close to winning this competition, too, coming second by two points to Dutch riders Ton van Heugten and Dick Steenbergen. The next four seasons Grogg rode with Andreas Hüsser as his passenger and the new combination proved instantly successful. Grogg and Hüsser won the European Championship for the next three seasons from 1975 to 1978, with an 80 point margin in 1978 as their best result.[2]

The 1979, season saw Grogg finish without a title as he and Hüsser finished runners-up in both Europe and Switzerland. In Europe they were beaten by 29 points by Emil and Roland Bollhalder while, in Switzerland, they lost by only three points to Hansi Bächtold and Hugo Jung.[2][4] The team of Grogg and Hüsser went through an unlucky period at the time with Hüsser breaking a leg in both the 1979 and 1980 season.[1]

Grogg won his last title in 1980 when he, now riding with Alfred Schacher as his passenger, won the Swiss championship or a ninth time.[4] In the first edition of what had now become the World Championship Grogg came fifth, a result he would repeat in 1982. In between, in 1981, he came sixth, riding with Andreas Hüsser once more. Hüsser would stay as his passenger until Grogg finished his career in 1984 but the pair was unable to repeat the success they had in the 1970s, competing only in selected races in the last two seasons.[2] In Switzerland, the pair finished runners-up once more in 1982 but then did not race the national championship at all anymore.[4]

Grogg retired after the 1984 season while Hüsser, the passenger he had the most success with, would ride on and win two World Championships on the side of his twin brother Christoph.[3]

Grogg, father of two children born while he was still racing operates a motorcycle business in Deitingen, Switzerland.[1]

• The World Championship on Sidecarcross.com
• Robert Grogg official website