Gerhard Binder – An RC Stalwart – has passed away on 21st. November 2020.
1944 – 2020
Sadly, we have been informed that Gerhard Binder passed away on 21st. November 2020.
Gerhard was born 7th. February 1944 and his home town was Vienna, Austria. Gerhard was the distributor for Serpent RC cars in Austria for twenty five years and more recently also the distributor for Xray RC products from his shop in Vienna.
Within the various Classes of Radio Controlled Car Racing, the prime interest for Gerhard was the IC On-Road Classes.
But, before he entered the World of RC Racing, Gerhard found success in another sport using wheels. He was an avid competitor on a bicycle and rode for the Austrian National team. His highlight in this sport was to represent Austria at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
Gerhard moved on to competing in the World of Model Car racing in the early years of the sport.
In the words of a past EFRA President:-
“Gerhard was an enthusiastic member of the RC Model Car community in the earlier years and could always be relied upon to provide insightful contributions to the many EFRA AGMs he attended. Gerhard’s passing is a sad loss to EFRA and we all offer our most sincere condolences to those he leaves behind”.
In the many years that Gerhard spent in the RC sport, he was involved in many roles. He was involved with the Austrian National Federation OFMAV. He was also an Officer within EFRA in charge of body-shell homologation for seven years from 2003 to 2009.
The highlight within his RC career was undoubtedly being the organiser of the 2000 IFMAR World 
Championship for 1/10 235mm IC Track Cars at Kirchberg in Austria.
But this was not enough to satisfy Gerhard. After organising the prestigious event in 2000 at Kirchberg, Gerhard ‘had a dream’ to stage a further World Championship event in 2005 in the centre of Vienna in front of Cathedral. Although the sports regulators were very keen on this idea and sponsors were keen to support the idea, unfortunately his dream could not be realised. There were too many logistic problems to overcome, that would allow competitors to access the city centre walking area. He nearly achieved his ‘dream’, but in the end the logistical problems could not be surmounted.
As an avid enthusiast for Model Car Racing in the On-Road IC Classes, Gerhard will be greatly missed. His ‘down to earth’ approach to any issues raised at EFRA AGM meetings was always interesting to behold.
A genuine and astute person and an IC On-Road Racer from the old times.
He will be missed. Condolences to his family.
Paul Worsley.
