Kent Andersson (motorcyclist)

Kent Andersson (August 1, 1942 – August 29, 2006) was a Swedish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.[1] He was a two-time 125cc World Champion.[2] Andersson was notable for being the only Swedish rider to win an FIM road racing world championship.[3][4]

Kent Andersson
Andersson in 1973 with a 125 Yamaha
Nationality	Swedish
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1966–1975 First race 1966 250cc Finnish Grand Prix Last race 1975 125cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix First win 1969 250cc West German Grand Prix Last win 1975 125cc French Grand Prix Team(s) Yamaha Championships 125cc - 1973, 1974 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 90 18 53 4 9

Motorcycle racing career

Born in Landvetter, Sweden, Andersson rode in his first national championship races at the age of 19 in Sweden and Denmark on a Monark in the 250 cc class.[5][6] He then rode a 250 cc Bultaco for the 1962 season.[5] He proved himself to be a capable competitor.[4]

After winning the 250cc Swedish national championship in 1965, Andersson moved up to the world championships competing with Husqvarna bikes that he modified himself.[4][5] He bought a Yamaha 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.[2] These impressive results earned him a place on the Yamaha factory 250 cc racing team as Rod Gould's teammate for the 1970 season, in which he finished third.[3]

Yamaha chose Andersson to help develop their TA125 racebike for the 1971 season.[7] He went on to finish second in the 1972 on the water-cooled development model designated YZ623C, and claim the 1973 125cc World Championship.[2][7] In 1974, he successfully defended his title by winning five races along with two second-place finishes.[2]

Andersson retired after finishing 3rd in the 1975 season and took a position at Yamaha Europe's Developing and Constructing Department.[8] Among other projects, Andersson had an important role in developing the three-cylinder 350 cc bike that Takazumi Katayama rode to win the 350cc road racing world championship in 1977.[8][9] Andersson continued racing in his later years just for fun at an amateur level in Sweden, but did so well that he won the Supermono National Championship in 1995 at the age of 53.[3] He was a successful member of Ferry Brouwer's Dutch Yamaha Classic Racing Team. He often participated in classic exhibition races all over Europe.[6] Andersson sometimes served as expert Road Racing commentator for Swedish Eurosport. Andersson died in August 2006 in Landvetter at the age of 64.[6]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1950 to 1968:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1969 onwards:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Points	Rank	Wins
1966	250cc	Husqvarna	ESP 5	GER -	FRA -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	FIN 6	ULS -	IOM -	NAT -	JPN 6		4	20th	0
	350cc	Husqvarna		GER -	FRA -	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS -	IOM -	NAT -	JPN 6		1	25th	0
1968	125cc	MZ	GER 5	ESP -	IOM -	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS -	NAT -				2	17th	0
	250cc	Yamaha	GER 3	ESP -	IOM -	NED -	BEL 6	DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS 6	NAT -				6	8th	0
1969	125cc	Maico	ESP 2	GER -	FRA -	IOM -	NED 2	BEL 4	DDR 7	CZE -	FIN -		NAT -	YUG -		36	4th	0
	250cc	Yamaha	ESP 2	GER 1	FRA 3	IOM -	NED 7	BEL 4	DDR 4	CZE 7	FIN 1	ULS 2	NAT 3	YUG 3		84	2nd	2
1970	250cc	Yamaha	GER -	FRA -	YUG 2	IOM -	NED -	BEL 5	DDR 3	CZE 2	FIN 2	ULS -	NAT -	ESP 1		67	3rd	1
	350cc	Yamaha	GER -		YUG -	IOM -	NED 5		DDR 5	CZE 3	FIN 2	ULS -	NAT -	ESP 3		44	4th	0
1971	125cc	Yamaha	AUT -	GER 3	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	SWE 3	FIN -		NAT 7	ESP 5		30	9th	0
	250cc	Yamaha	AUT 4	GER 5	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ULS -	NAT -	ESP -		14	14th	0
1972	50cc	Kreidler	GER -			NAT -		YUG -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -		SWE -		ESP 3	10	12th	0
	125cc	Yamaha	GER 5	FRA -	AUT 3	NAT -	IOM -	YUG 1	NED -	BEL 3	DDR 3	CZE 3	SWE 2	FIN 1	ESP 1	87	2nd	3
	250cc	Yamaha	GER -	FRA -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM -	YUG 3	NED -	BEL 7	DDR 5	CZE 10	SWE 4	FIN 3	ESP -	39	7th	0
1973	125cc	Yamaha	FRA 1	AUT 1	GER 1	NAT 1	IOM -	YUG 1	NED -	BEL -	CZE -	SWE 2	FIN 2	ESP -		99	1st	5
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA 5	AUT 7	GER -	NAT 3	IOM -	YUG 4	NED 6		CZE -	SWE -	FIN 6	ESP -		38	6th	0
1974	125cc	Yamaha	FRA 1	GER -	AUT 1	NAT 2		NED 3	BEL 2	SWE 1		CZE 1	YUG 1	ESP 4		87	1st	5
	250cc	Yamaha		GER -		NAT 5	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN 4	CZE 6	YUG -	ESP -		34	8th	0
1975	125cc	Yamaha	FRA 1	ESP 2	AUT 4	GER 3	NAT -	NED -	BEL 3	SWE 4	CZE 2	YUG 4				67	3rd	1

References

1. "Kent Andersson profile". yamaha-motor.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
2. "Kent Andersson career statistics". motogp.com. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
3. "Kent Andersson 2". yamaha-racing.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
4. "Kent Andersson bio". classicyams.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
5. "Former rider Kent Andersson passes away". motogp.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
6. "Kent Andersson". yamaha-racing.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
7. Yamaha YZ623C 125cc Racing Motorcycle Bonhams, Retrieved 20 November 2015
8. "Lot 355: Yamaha YSK3 Sankito 350cc Racing Motorcycle". motorbase.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
9. "World Champion in its Debut Year!: Yamaha 350 Triple" (PDF). davestestsandarticles.weebly.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.