Gunnar Kalén

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gunnar Kalén (left) with his Husqvarna team-mate Ragnar Sunnqvist at the Berlin AVUS in 1933 .
A Husqvarna 500 like the one driven by Kalén in the Neckarsulm two-wheeled museum .

Gunnar Kalén (born September 17, 1901 in Gryt near Linköping , Östergötland ; † July 1, 1934 in or near Hohenstein-Ernstthal , Germany ) was a Swedish motorcycle racer .

In 1933 he won the European Championship in the 500 cm³ class on Husqvarna .

Career

Gunnar Kalén started in the 1920s for the Belgian manufacturer Saroléa , for which he won the Swedish TT in Onsala south of Gothenburg in 1927 . Kalén also won two editions of Novemberkåsan , 1923-1928 and 1929-1933.

From the beginning of 1930, the Swede was works driver in the domestic manufacturers Husqvarna , where he only 127 kg, of Folke Mannerstedt developed Husqvarna 500 piloted. In 1931 and 1932 he won again at the Swedish TT. Kalén also won the half liter race at the Finnish Grand Prix in Helsinki in 1932 .

In 1933 Kalén won the race in the 500 cc class at the Swedish Grand Prix in Saxtorp , which was held that year at the same time as the Xth European Grand Prix of the FICM . Since at that time the European title was awarded in only one race per year, Kalén was European champion in the half-liter class.

In 1934 Gunnar Kalén went to the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man for the only time in his career , but was eliminated.

On July 1, 1934, Gunnar Kalén had a fatal accident in the 500 cc race for the German Grand Prix , which took place on the Badberg-Viereck , today's Sachsenring in Hohenstein-Ernstthal . On that hot day, he lost control of his machine, got off the track and hit a pole. The Swede was thrown back onto the slopes and was dead on the spot.

In addition to Kalén, the two Belgian FN works drivers Pol Demeuter and Erik Haps , who started under the pseudonym “Noir” , had a fatal accident in the race. Demeuter had replaced Kalén as half-liter European champion just a week earlier with his victory in Assen .

statistics

title

Race wins

(colored background = European championship run )

year class machine run route
1927 500 cc Saroléa Swedish TT Onsala
1931 500 cc Husqvarna Swedish TT Onsala
1932 500 cc Husqvarna Grand Prix of Finland Helsinki
500 cc Husqvarna Swedish TT Onsala
1933 500 cc Husqvarna Swedish Grand Prix Saxtorp

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Vincent Glon: L'Histoire du Grand Prix de Suede. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed April 15, 2010 (French).
  2. ↑ Novemberkåsan 1915–1959. www.tibromk-enduro.nu, accessed April 15, 2010 (Swedish).
  3. ↑ Husqvarna V-Twin Racer (Sweden). (No longer available online.) Classic-mopeds.crazy-box-berlin.de, archived from the original on August 11, 2009 ; Retrieved December 14, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto - Palmarès des Championnats d'Europe (1924-1937 et 1947-1948). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed April 15, 2010 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Kalén, Gunnar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH 17th September 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Gryt near Linköping , Östergötland
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1934
Place of death Hohenstein-Ernstthal , Germany or at Hohenstein-Ernstthal , Germany