Kent Andersson (motorcyclist)
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| Motorcycle Grand Prix Career | |
| Nationality |  Swedish |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1966 - 1975 |
| Team(s) | Yamaha |
| Grands Prix | 90 |
| Championships | 125cc - 1973, 1974 |
| Wins | 18 |
| Podium finishes | 53 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| First Grand Prix | 1966 250cc Finnish Grand Prix |
| First win | 1969 250cc German Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1975 125cc French Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1975 125cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix |
Kent Andersson (born August 1, 1942 in Gothenburg, Sweden, died in Landvetter August 29, 2006) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. He still (2007) remains Sweden's only motorcycle road racing world champion.
Kent rode, 19 years old 1961, his first national races in Sweden and Denmark on a Monark in the 250 cc class. He then rode a 250 cc Bultaco for the 1962 season. He proved himself to be a very talented and fast rider as long as the bikes didn´t break down. With more reliable material the wins started to come.
After winning the 250cc Swedish national championship in 1965, he moved up to the world championships competing with Husqvarna bikes that he modified himself. He bought a Yamaha TD2 250 cc production racer and began posting solid results. In 1969 he finished second in the 250 championship after a season-long battle with Santiago Herrero and eventual champion Kel Carruthers. These impressive results earned him a place on the Yamaha factory racing team as Rod Gould's team-mate for the 1970 season, in which he finished third. Yamaha chose Andersson to help develop their TZ125 racebike for the 1971 season. On the new OW 15 factory racer which Kent helped develop he went on to claim the 1973 125cc World Championship. In 1974, he successfully defended his title.
Andersson retired, finishing 3rd, after the 1975 season and took for some years to come a position at Yamaha Europe´s Developing and Constructing Dept. Among other things, Kent took great part in developing the 3-cyl. 350 cc bike that his friend Takazumi Katayama rode to win the Grand Prix title in 1977. Kent proceeded his racing career in later years just for fun at an amateur level in Sweden, but did so well that he won the National Championships in the Super Mono class 1995! In the recent years Kent was a successful member of Ferry Brouwer´s dutch Yamaha Classic Racing Team. He often and willingly participated in classic "show" races all over Europe. Kent sometimes also served as expert Road Racing commentator for swedish Eurosport. Kent died very sudden and unexpectedly at the age of 64 in August 2006.
[edit] Motorcycle Grand Prix Results
| Year | Class | Classification | Machine | Victories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 250cc | 20th | Husqvarna | 0 |
| 1966 | 350cc | 25th | Husqvarna | 0 |
| 1968 | 125cc | 17th | MZ | 0 |
| 1968 | 250cc | 8th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1969 | 125cc | 4th | Maico | 0 |
| 1969 | 250cc | 2nd | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1970 | 250cc | 3rd | Yamaha | 1 |
| 1970 | 350cc | 4th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1971 | 125cc | 9th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1971 | 250cc | 14th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1972 | 50cc | 12th | Kreidler | 0 |
| 1972 | 125cc | 2nd | Yamaha | 3 |
| 1972 | 250cc | 7th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1973 | 125cc | 1st | Yamaha | 5 |
| 1973 | 350cc | 6th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1974 | 125cc | 1st | Yamaha | 5 |
| 1974 | 250cc | 8th | Yamaha | 1 |
| 1975 | 125cc | 3rd | Yamaha | 1 |
[edit] References
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