Håkan Carlqvist (15 January 1954 – 6 July 2017) was a Swedish professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1974 to 1988. Carlqvist was a two-time Motocross World Champion known for his fierce competitiveness and fiery temperament. He was one of the last in a long line of Swedish World Champions such as Bill Nilsson, Sten Lundin, Rolf Tibblin and Torsten Hallman who dominated international motocross racing during the early formative years of the sport.
Biography Early racing career Carlqvist was born on 15 January 1954 in the Järfälla Municipality just outside of Stockholm, Sweden,"Håkan Carlqvist 50 år". HD.se, 13 January 2004. Retrieved 2012-03-06. As a youth, he excelled in multiple sports such as ice hockey, football, and downhill skiing. He began riding a 125cc street motorcycle at the age of 16 and within a year, he had progressed to riding a KTM enduro motorcycle. In 1972, he moved up to the Senior Division of Swedish national motocross competitions riding a Maico motorcycle.
Grand Prix racing At the age of 20, Carlqvist scored his first Motocross World Championship points at the 1974 250cc West German Grand Prix competing as a privateer aboard a Husqvarna motorcycle. His good results earned him sponsorship from the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Ossa for the 1975 FIM Motocross World Championship however, he broke his wrist in February and was forced to miss the first half of the season. In the middle of the 1976 season, the Ossa withdrew their team from competition due to financial constraints leaving Carlqvist without a motorcycle. He finished the 1976 250cc championship riding a Kawasaki motorcycle given to him by Kawasaki factory team rider Torleif Hansen. Carlqvist rode the Kawasaki to score the first podium finish of his career with a third place at the 1976 250cc Swedish Grand Prix.
Carlqvist's performance at the Swedish Grand Prix caught the attention of the Husqvarna factory racing team who offered to support him for the 1977 season. Carlqvist chose to abandon his promising professional ice hockey career and commit himself to a professional motocross racing career. He began the 1977 250cc World Championship with top five results in the first two rounds but he then broke his leg at the 250cc Belgium Grand Prix once again forcing him to miss most of the season. Husqvarna did not renew his contract for the 1978 season but offered him a production machine and some spare parts. Carlqvist won the first heat race of his Grand Prix career with a victory in the second heat race at the season-opening 250cc Spanish Grand Prix however, he failed to score consistently and ended the season ranked seventh in the championship points standings. Carlqvist was the top individual points scorer at the season-ending 1978 Trophée des Nations event held in Kester, Belgium.
Despite his lackluster season, the Husqvarna factory offered Carlqvist a factory prepared motorcycle along with mechanic Tommy Jansson for the 1979 season. Jansson was a former motocross racer whose experience allowed him to properly prepare Carlqvist's motorcycle as well as offer moral and psychological support. Jansson's assistance allowed Carlqvist to focus his attention on racing and he went on to dominate the 1979 season. He won six of the twelve Grand Prix events, finishing comfortably ahead of second-placed Neil Hudson to be crowned the 250cc World Champion. He also won the 1979 Le Touquet beach race. At the 1979 Trophée des Nations event held in Barkarby, Sweden, Carlqvist was once again the top individual points scorer.
Yamaha factory team Carlqvist joined the Yamaha factory racing team for the 1980 season, replacing Heikki Mikkola who had made the decision to retire from competition. He faced a strong field of competitors in 1980 that included the Honda HRC factory team that featured the defending champion Graham Noyce, five-time World Champion Roger De Coster, and André Malherbe who would go on to become a three-time World Champion. He was also challenged by Kawasaki's Brad Lackey and his own Yamaha teammate, the talented newcomer André Vromans. Although Carlqvist won the 500cc Swedish Grand Prix, the season was dominated by Malherbe and Lackey as he struggled to adapt to his new Yamaha motorcycle. He ended the season ranked third in the world behind Malherbe and Lackey. After a slow start to the 1981 500cc World Championship, Carlqvist finished the season strongly with seven consecutive podium positions to end the season in third place just six points behind Noyce as Malherbe won his second consecutive 500cc title. He was also the top individual points scorer at the 1981 Motocross des Nations event held in Bielstein, West Germany.
In 1982, Carlqvist suffered a broken arm in a pre-season accident forcing him to miss the opening rounds and he ended the season in seventh place. In the 1983 500cc World Championship, Carlqvist's main competitors were the Honda teammates Graham Noyce and the defending champion André Malherbe. Noyce faded in the second half of the season as Carlqvist and Malherbe continued to battle back and forth in one of the hardest fought championships in several years. The championship wasn't decided until the final race of the year in Holland where Carlqvist prevailed to win the 500cc World Championship by seven points over Malherbe. He was the first Swedish competitor to win the premier motocross class since Bengt Åberg in 1970.
The 1984 500cc Motocross World Championship featured one of the most talented field of competitors of the 1980s. The 1984 season is prominent for featuring all three of the previous year's world champions – Carlqvist (500cc), Georges Jobé (250cc) and Eric Geboers (125cc). Besides Jobé (Kawasaki) and Geboers (Honda), Carlqvist also had to contend with Honda teammates two-time World Champion André Malherbe, 1979 World Champion Graham Noyce and future three-time World Champion David Thorpe. Unfortunately, another injury during the 1984 World Championship stopped Carlqvist from defending his title.
Later career and death Carlqvist continued to race for Yamaha until end of 1986 when he began to compete as a privateer riding a Kawasaki KX500. One of the most memorable moments in his motocross racing career occurred at the 1988 500cc Belgian Grand Prix held at Namur. The setting of the Belgian Grand Prix was a rugged, narrow track in the forests surrounding the picturesque hilltop Citadel of Namur. First held in 1947, the Namur Grand Prix was revered by motocross enthusiasts in the same manner that auto racing enthusiasts considered the Monaco Grand Prix to be the crown jewel of the Formula One season. Carlqvist had won the first heat race and was leading the second heat race by over thirty seconds when, he stopped trackside where his brother was holding out a can of beer. Carlqvist proceeded to drink the beer as the spectators cheered his display of bravado. He then proceeded to win the race to claim the 21st and final Grand Prix of his career. He retired from competition at the age of 34 at the conclusion of the 1988 season.
In 1983, alongside his motocross racing, Carlqvist began competing in three-wheeled ATV racing. He was first with Yamaha but in 1986 he rode for Honda and he won the Swedish three wheeled national championship. He had plans to come to the United States in 1987 to race for Honda and several Honda ATCs were built specially for him. However, under political pressures ATCs and three wheelers were banned in the United States following many reported injuries and pressure from consumer groups. He never made it to America to race for Honda.
Carlqvist died on 6 July 2017 at the age of 63 from the effects of a brain hemorrhage he suffered the previous day.
Career overview Carlqvist won 37 individual heat races and 21 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career. He won two Motocross World Championships (250cc-1979, 500cc-1983) and five 500cc Swedish Motocross Championships (250cc-1979, 500cc-1980-1983). He was a member of eight Swedish Motocross des Nations teams (1977–1981, 1984, 1985, 1988) and six Trophée des Nations teams (1977–1981, 1984). Carlqvist was the top individual points scorer at the 1978 and 1979 Trophée des Nations events and the 1981 Motocross des Nations event. Carlqvist was the second competitor to win both the 500cc and 250cc Motocross World Championships after Heikki Mikkola (500cc-1974, 250cc-1976).
Kenth Öhlin, the founder of Öhlins, a leading manufacturer of performance suspension systems for the automotive, motorcycle and mountain bike industries, credits Carlqvist's contributions in helping his young company succeed in its formative years. They first collaborated while Carlqvist was riding for the Husqvarna factory racing team. Carlqvist's valuable feedback from test riding motorcycles equipped with Öhlins suspension systems, helped to further the development of their products. Their collaboration continued when Carlqvist moved to the Yamaha team.
Awards and honors After winning the 500cc Motocross World Championship in 1983, Carlqvist was awarded the prestigious Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal for accomplishing the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year.
In honor of Carlqvist's contributions to Swedish motorcycling, in 2002 the Swedish postal service issued a stamp within the Sverige Motocross series that depicted Carlqvist riding his Yamaha motorcycle.
Motocross Grand Prix Results
Points system from 1969 to 1983:
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1974 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- ITA- ITA- CZE- CZE- POL- POL- YUG- YUG- UK- UK- GER8 GER- NED- NED- FIN- FIN8 SWE- SWE10 CH- CH- 25th 7 1975 250cc Ossa ESP- ESP- AUT- AUT- BEL- BEL- CZE- CZE- POL- POL- YUG- YUG- GER8 GER5 UK8 UK- FRA- FRA- SWE- SWE- FIN10 FIN- CH9 CH9 23rd 111976250cc Ossa ESP8 ESP- BEL- BEL- CZE- CZE- POL6 POL9 USR- USR9 YUG- YUG8 ITA- ITA- FRA- FRA- UK- UK- GER- GER- 15th 32 Kawasaki NED6 NED- SWE5 SWE5 1977 250cc Husqvarna ESP4 ESP6 CH- CH5 BEL- BEL- CZE- CZE- ITA- ITA- AUT- AUT- USR- USR- YUG- YUG- GER- GER- UK7 UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- 17th 23 1978 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP1 ITA- ITA10 CZE8 CZE- YUG- YUG8 AUT- AUT9 GER5 GER8 UK5 UK- FRA3 FRA6 USA- USA8 SWE2 SWE5 FIN2 FIN4 USR8 USR- 7th 88 1979 250cc Husqvarna ESP2 ESP1 NED1 NED1 ITA- ITA1 BEL3 BEL1 YUG1 YUG5 CZE1 CZE1 POL1 POL1 FRA1 FRA1 FIN- FIN- USA- USA3 GER1 GER1 BUL- BUL- 1st 248 1980 500cc Yamaha CH3 CH3 AUT2 AUT2 FRA4 FRA- SWE2 SWE1 FIN- FIN- ITA10 ITA8 NED4 NED- USA2 USA- CAN2 CAN2 GER4 GER1 BEL4 BEL3 LUX4 LUX2 3rd 188 1981 500cc Yamaha AUT- AUT- CH1 CH4 FIN- FIN8 SWE3 SWE2 ITA5 ITA- FRA- FRA1 USA2 USA8 UK1 UK1 NED5 NED3 CZE3 CZE2 BEL3 BEL2 LUX1 LUX2 3rd 201 1982 500cc Yamaha FRA- FRA- NED- NED- SWE- SWE- FIN2 FIN8 AUT4 AUT- ITA3 ITA- GER1 GER- USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK- UK- BEL8 BEL- LUX1 LUX1 8th 81 1983 500cc Yamaha CH4 CH- AUT1 AUT2 GER2 GER6 SWE1 SWE2 FIN4 FIN2 ITA1 ITA2 USA1 USA2 FRA- FRA2 UK1 UK1 BEL1 BEL2 SM3 SM1 NED6 NED4 1st 260 1984 500cc Yamaha AUT4 AUT2 CH4 CH- ESP3 ESP5 FRA- FRA- SWE- SWE- GER- GER- NED- NED- USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK4 UK- BEL- BEL- ITA3 ITA5 10th 97 1985 500cc Yamaha AUT- AUT- FRA- FRA6 SWE- SWE- FIN8 FIN- ITA- ITA- ESP5 ESP6 NED- NED- USA- USA- UK- UK- BEL8 BEL3 LUX- LUX- CH- CH- 16th 62 1986 500cc Yamaha CH- CH- AUT2 AUT- NED6 NED- SWE4 SWE4 FIN3 FIN8 GER- GER7 CAN8 CAN- USA9 USA8 FRA11 FRA6 UK6 UK6 BEL- BEL- LUX4 LUX- 8th 156 1987 500cc Kawasaki ESP8 ESP2 FRA1 FRA6 AUT1 AUT- FIN- FIN6 SWE- SWE- GER- GER- ITA7 ITA- UK8 UK- NED- NED- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- CH- CH- 12th 102 1988 500cc Kawasaki AUT- AUT2 CH8 CH10 SWE2 SWE- FIN- FIN- GER- GER- ITA9 ITA3 USA12 USA15 UK- UK- NED- NED- SM- SM- BEL1 BEL1 LUX10 LUX2 10th 138Sources:
References
External links Swedish web page profiling Håkan Carlqvist's motocross racing career