Henk van Kessel

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Henk van Kessel on a 50 cm³ Kreidler at the Centennial Classic TT 2010 in Assen

Henk van Kessel (born June 25, 1946 ) is a former Dutch motorcycle racer .

In 1974 he won the world championship title on Kreidler in the 50 cm³ class of the motorcycle world championship .

Career

Henk van Kessel made his debut at the 1972 Swedish Grand Prix in the motorcycle world championship. He started on Kreidler in the 50 cm³ class and immediately came in tenth. In the following season he celebrated with second place behind compatriot Theo Timmer at the Grand Prix of West Germany on the Hockenheimring his first podium.

The 1974 season was the most successful in van Kessel's career. He won the world championship title on Kreidler in the 50s class, often referred to as the schnapps glass class . The Dutchman won six of the eight races in which he competed, also achieved two second places and thus became the superior world champion with the maximum possible number of points of 90 points.

On September 6, 1977, Henk van Kessel set the still valid speed record for 50 cc motorcycles on a Kreidler record machine Kreidler Black Arrow 50cc on the A50 near Apeldoorn with 221.586  km / h .

Van Kessel started with various makes in the small displacement classes (up to 50 or 80 cm³ and up to 125 cm³) of the motorcycle world championship until 1986 , but could not build on the success of 1974. At the Belgian Grand Prix 1979 in Spa-Francorchamps , he celebrated the last of his seven Grand Prix victories in the 50s. At the end of the 1986 season, Henk van Kessel ended his career at the age of 40, during which he also won seven Dutch championship titles.

successes

References

Web links

Commons : Henk van Kessel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ LJK Setright: The Guinness Book of Motorcycling. Facts and Feats. 1982, ISBN 0-85112-255-8 , p. 237
  2. ^ A b c Vincent Glon: Les Champions Néerlandais. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on May 11, 2015 (French).
50 or 80 cm³ world champion
50 cc

1962 :  Ernst Degner  | 1963 :  Hugh Anderson  | 1964 :  Hugh Anderson  | 1965 :  Ralph Bryans  | 1966 :  Hans Georg Anscheidt  | 1967 :  Hans Georg Anscheidt  | 1968 :  Hans Georg Anscheidt  | 1969 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1970 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1971 :  Jan de Vries  | 1972 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1973 :  Jan de Vries  | 1974 :  Henk van Kessel  | 1975 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1976 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1977 :  Ángel Nieto  | 1978 :  Ricardo Tormo  | 1979 :  Eugenio Lazzarini  | 1980 :  Eugenio Lazzarini  | 1981 :  Ricardo Tormo  | 1982 :  Stefan Dörflinger  | 1983 :  Stefan Dörflinger

80 cc

1984 :  Stefan Dörflinger  | 1985 :  Stefan Dörflinger  | 1986 :  Jorge Martínez  | 1987 :  Jorge Martínez  | 1988 :  Jorge Martínez  | 1989 :  Manuel Herreros

personal data
SURNAME Kessel, Henk van
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1946