TheHantsGrand
Nationalwasnotagood
racemeetfortheSwede.Grabbing the
hole-shotat
Luxembourg in
1981...aclear
fieldinfront.Happyman,looks
likeawinthen.the quarter-litretitle veryconvincingly.
This victorycaughtthe eyeofthe Japanese
Yamahafactory, lookingto replacetheir
FinnishchampionHeikkiMikkola who was
intendingto retire.Carlqvistwasapproached,
adeal agreed,whichenabledCarla to fulfil
along held ambitionto switchto the more
prestigious500ccchampionship.With
talentsuch as EnglishmanGrahamNoyce
and BelgianAndreMalherbeon factory
Hondas,plus AmericanBrad Lackey on works
Kawasakis,Carlqvistwouldnot have an easy
time in the Blue Ribbandclass.But typically
and despitehaving to acclimatiseto his new
mount,plus acoupleof DNFs,Carla proved
up to the task andfinishedthe seasoninthird spot behindthe epic and oftenbad
temperedMalherbe/Lackey battle.
Carla repeatedthis feat the following
season,claiminganotherthird spot with
four GP victories.But the 1982season
wasmarred by injury, althoughhe bounced
back with adoublevictoryatthefinal round
at Ettlebruck in Luxembourg.What would
turnout to be his championshipyear didn’t
exactlystartwell as in the openingrace of
the 1983seasonat Payerne in Switzerland,
Carlqvistmanagedafourth and aDNF.
The world took its eyes off the Swede and
concentratedon others, however,hebounced
back with victoryonthe steephillsidecircuit
at the followingroundat Sittendorfin Austria.Againstthe mightof aformidableHonda
factoryteam and on vastlyinferiormachinery,
Carla dug deepto claimfurther GP victories
at his homeroundin Swedenas well as Italy,
UK, Belgiumand San Marino.
Goinginto thefinal roundat St Anthonis
in Holland,Carla held ahealthy17-point
advantageover Malherbe.Watchedby
thousandsof his homefans,Carla trailed
homein sixth spot in the openingleg,two
placesbehindhis rival, as Britain’sGraham
Noyce took the openingrace win.
With a14-pointcushiongoing intothe
final race of the year,Carla only had to keep
his headto takehisfirs tpremiership crown.
Malherbeproducedwhat wasnecessary
by takingthe win butKing Carla nursed his
ailingYamahahometofourthspottosecure
the crown. Mobbedbythousands of Swedish
fans as he crossedthefini shline,the big
Swede washoistedaloft.
All looked well for the defenceof his
title in 1984,unfortunatelyabadly broken
wrist incurred at the infamousHantsGrand
Internationalat HamerWarren at the
beginningof the seasondeniedCarla the
chanceof defendinghis crown.
Arun of injuriesover the next coupleof
seasonsmeantworks supportwas withdrawn
by Yamahaat the end of the 1986season.
Carla felt he wasnotfinishedwith racingyet
and had muchmoreto give, so, at the age
of 32 he switchedto aproductionKawasaki,
amachinehe foundmuchmoreforgiving
than his Yamaha.If confirmationof this was
neededit camein the formoftwo race wins
in the 1987seasonon aproductionmachine.
However,most MX fans will agreeit is his
1988 seasonexploitswhichconfirmhim as
alegendaryMXer.Picturethe scene,Namur’s
CitadelMX track–one of the greatGP69
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