- Kent Andersson (motorcyclist)
Infobox Former Grand Prix motorcycle rider
Caption =
Name = Kent Andersson
Nationality = flagicon|Sweden Swedish
Years = 1966 - 1975
Teams = Yamaha
Races = 90
Championships = 125cc - 1973, 1974
Wins = 18
Podiums = 53
Points =
Poles = 4
Fastest laps = 2
First race = 1966 250cc Finnish Grand Prix
First win = 1969 250cc West German Grand Prix
Last win = 1975 125cc French Grand Prix
Last race = 1975 125cc Yugoslavian Grand PrixKent Andersson (born
August 1 ,1942 inGothenburg ,Sweden , died in LandvetterAugust 29 2006 ) was a Grand Prixmotorcycle road racing World Champion. He remains Sweden's only motorcycle road racing world champion.Kent rode in his first national championship races at the age of 19 in Sweden and Denmark on a
Monark in the 250 cc class. He then rode a 250 ccBultaco for the 1962 season. He proved himself to be a very talented and fast rider as long as his bikes didn't break down. With more reliable equipment, he began to win more often.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 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 championKel Carruthers . These impressive results earned him a place on the Yamaha factory 250 cc 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. He went on to claim the 1973 125cc World Championship. In 1974, he successfully defended his title by winning 5 out of 6 races, finishing 2nd in another.Andersson retired after finishing 3rd in the 1975 season and took a position at
Yamaha Europe's Developing and Constructing Dept. Among other projects, Andersson had an important role in developing the three-cylinder 350 cc bike that his friendTakazumi Katayama rode to win the Grand Prix title in 1977.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! In the recent years, he 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. Andersson sometimes also served as expert Road Racing commentator for Swedish Eurosport. Andersson died at the age of 64 in August 2006.
Motorcycle Grand Prix Results
References
* [http://www.motogp.com/en/riders/profiles/Kent+Andersson Kent Andersson career statistics at MotoGP.com]
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