Kent Andersson (born August 1, 1942 in Gothenburg, Sweden, died in Landvetter August 29, 2006) was a Grand Prix motorcycle 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 cc Bultaco 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.

Kent Andersson

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 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. These impressive results earned him a place on the Yamaha factory 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.

Kent Andersson

Here is Kent Andersson testing the very first Yamaha YZ623 in Japan in the Winter of 1969. This machine was not used in 1970, a much lower (-40 mm) machine replaced this one 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.

Kent Andersson

The above picture is 1971 in Assen, the Netherlands. The bike is the YZ623, air-cooled.

Kent Andersson's machine

Here is Kent Andersson's OW15 1974 machine, also in Assen, the Netherlands. On the bike is Lillemor, Kent's wife and behind the bike Ferry Brouwer, talking with Takazumi Katayama.

Kent Andersson at the Tubbergen (NL) track in 1968 with his Yamaha TD1C

A young Kent Andersson with his immaculate Yamaha TD1C in Tubbergen (NL) 1968

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 friend Takazumi 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 Supermoto 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. Kent died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 64 in August 2006.

- Source: Wikipedia -