Classic Dirt Bike — Autumn 2017

67

To prove apoint,Carla

boughtaproduction

Kawasaki andstarted

winningagain.

HakanCarlqvistleads

AndreMalherbeat

Namurin 1983.

Therearefewthingsmoresatisfying

forasupercompetitorlikeCarlathan

totakethechequeredflagashedid

hereatFarleighCastlein 1983.

Indoor,outdoor,made

little differenceto

Hakan, here heis at

AmsterdamStadium.

T

he world of motocrosswas

saddenedto learnofthe sudden

passingof former doubleworld

MX championHakanCarlqvistat

the beginningof July.Accordingto reports,

‘Carla’ sufferedastrokeathis homein the

Southof France and died two days later.

The termlegendreallydoesn’tgofar

enoughto describethis giantof aman, a

tenaciouscompetitorwho overcamesuch

adversity,asinjuryafter injuryplaguedhim

throughouthis motocrosscareer.Never one

to allowsuch minorthingsto deterhim from

givinghis utmost,he ignoredthe pain and

went on to beat the world’sbest to claimtwo

world championshipcrowns.

Carla hailedfrom the JärfällaMunicipality

near Stockholmand wasalwaysakeen

sportsmanwho didn’tactuallystartracing

motocrossuntil he was17. Hisfirs t

successescamein the world of footballand

ice hockey and thesecouldeasilyhave been

his careerratherthan MX.

Despitethis comparativelylate start

comparedto his contemporaries,Carlqvist’s

steelydeterminationsawhim claimvictoryin

hisfirs trace and qualifyinto the top ten in

the Swedishnationalchampionshipswithin

threeyears. Suchearly successescaught

the eyeofthe Husqvarna factoryand in

1977 aworks ride camehis way. However,

whilstcompetingat the BelgianGP in that

sameyear he sufferedaseriouskneeinjury

whichthreatenedto end his relativelyshort

career.This injurywould plaguehim for the

rest of his careerand he wastold by doctors

it wouldbe best to stop racingcompletely

or risk beingin awheelchairby the time he

was50.

That,however,was never an optionfor

Hakanand he madeplansfor his comeback

duringhis six months’recoveryperiod.

With such alengthylay off, Husqvarna

withdrewtheir factorysupport, so once back

racingCarla’sonly optionwastoacquire

productionHusqvarnas and sparesto make

his comeback.

Thosewho knewhim weren’tsurprised

that his comebackwassuccessfuland

followingan impressive 1978 season

Carla wasagain recruitedinto the factory

Husqvarna ranksfor 1979.He repaidthe

renewedsupportingreat style in the 250cc

classwherehe dominatedthefield to clinch

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