Åke Jonsson (born 5 October 1942) is a Swedish former professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1964 to 1978 as a member of the Husqvarna, Maico and Yamaha factory racing teams.
Jonsson was part of a contingent of Swedish motorcyclists including; Bill Nilsson, Rolf Tibblin and Torsten Hallman who dominated the sport of motocross in the 1960s and early 1970s. He nearly won the 500cc World Championship title in 1968, 1970 and in 1971. He was a member of three victorious Swedish Motocross des Nations teams (1970, 1971, 1974) and was the top individual points scorer at the 1971 Motocross des Nations. In 1972, Jonsson won nine consecutive races to claim the 1972 Trans-AMA motocross series.
Motocross racing career Early career Born in Hammerdal, Jonsson's family moved to Västerås when he was a child. He became a skilled speed skater and belonged to the Swedish top junior elite before his motorcycle racing career took precedence. His physical conditioning from ice skating helped him achieve early success when he transitioned to motorcycle racing.
At the age of 16, Jonsson acquired his first motorcycle when he purchased a DKW. He began competing in motocross races and progressed to the Swedish motocross national championship in 1963. Unable to afford a new motorcycle, Jonsson decided to build his own motorcycle from spare parts and, rode it to a ninth place in the 250cc Swedish national championship.
Husqvarna factory team Jonsson's impressive results earned him a sponsorship to ride for the Husqvarna factory and with a new motorcycle, Jonsson was able to defeat Torsten Hallman for the 1964 250cc Swedish Motocross Championship. In 1964, Jonsson began competing in the 250cc Motocross World Championships and posted impressive results with a third place at his home Swedish Grand Prix and finishing second to defending world champion Joel Robert at the Finnish Grand Prix. In 1966, Jonsson won his first Grand Prix race with a victory at the 1966 250cc Luxembourg Grand Prix at Schifflange.
Jonsson completed his engineering degree in 1967, but delayed entering the engineering profession and continued to compete in motocross. In 1967 Jonsson joined his Husqvarna teammates, Torsten Hallman and Arne Kring, along with ČZ factory teammates Joël Robert, Roger De Coster and Dave Bickers in a series of exhibition races in the United States that had been organized by Edison Dye, the American importer for Husqvarna motorcycles. The exhibition races served as a means to introduce the sport of motocross to an American audience, and eventually led to the formation of the Inter-AM and Trans-AMA motocross series that helped to popularize the sport of motocross in the United States.
Jonsson moved up to the 500cc class in 1968 and won the national championship over Christer Hammargren and Bengt Åberg. Although Jonsson was posting impressive results, Husqvarna's meager racing budget meant that world champions Bengt Åberg and Torsten Hallman received most of their support, leaving Jonsson struggling to secure spare parts for his motorcycle.
In the 1968 500cc World Championship, Jonsson put himself into contention by winning the Swedish Grand Prix then taking the championship points lead by winning the West German Grand Prix. However, his motorcycle had a mechanical failure at Round 10 in Belgium allowing BSA factory rider John Banks to claim the championship points lead. The championship was not decided until the final round in Switzerland where the defending champion Paul Friedrichs (ČZ), Banks and Jonsson each had a mathematical chance of winning the world championship. Friedrichs had a decisive victory at the Swiss Grand Prix to secure his third consecutive 500cc World Championship. Jonsson finished the season ranked third behind Friedrichs and Banks.
Maico team In 1969, Jonsson was hired to ride in the 500cc class for the Maico factory racing team alongside teammates Adolf Weil and Willy Bauer however, his motorcycle had reliability issues and he dropped to 13th in the season final points standings. In the 1970 season he began to post consistent results and won the East German Grand Prix and placed second in Belgium to take the championship points lead going into the final round in Luxembourg. Unfortunately, Jonsson failed to score any points while Bengt Åberg scored a decisive victory at the Luxembourg Grand Prix to clinch the 500cc World Championship. For the second time in three seasons, Jonsson finished the season ranked third in the World Championship. At the 1970 Motocross des Nations event, Jonsson won a race to help the Swedish team win the event for the first time since 1962. Later that year he traveled to America where he won the 1970 Inter-AM Motocross Series.
Jonsson's best year would be in 1971 where his main rivals for the 500cc World Championship would be his Maico teammate Adolph Weil and Suzuki factory team rider, Roger De Coster. After a slow start, Jonsson placed first or second in six consecutive Grand Prix events to take a slim championship points lead over De Coster going into the final round at the Dutch Grand Prix. Jonsson had taken the lead at the beginning of the final round when his motorcycle's spark plug came loose, allowing DeCoster to pass him for the victory and claim the World Championship by a four point margin. For the second consecutive year, Jonsson had the World Championship slip from his grasp in the final round of the championship. A few weeks later he took a slight revenge by winning both motos to lead the Swedish team to their second consecutive victory at the 1971 Motocross des Nations held in Vannes, France.
Jonsson was injured in the middle of the 1972 Grand Prix season but, almost finished the season as the series runner up. At the last race for the season in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg, Jonsson won the first moto and, was leading the second moto on the last lap when his motorcycle ran out of fuel, causing a DNF. Instead of being the runner up, he now took a fourth place in the 1972 world championship. Jonsson then dominated the season ending 1972 Trans-AMA motocross series held in America, winning nine consecutive races at one point.
Yamaha team For the 1973 season, Jonsson was hired for three years, by the Yamaha factory racing team to ride their new motorcycle with its innovative rear suspension using a single shock absorber called a monoshock. When he first joined the Yamaha team, it was rumored that he installed Maico front suspension to his bike but, Jonsson stated in a later interview that the forks were manufactured in Japan. He had a series of mechanical difficulties and a lot of development in the motorcycle and failed to repeat his performance of the previous years. Jonsson was a member of another victorious Swedish team at the 1974 Motocross des Nations event. 1974 would mark the last year that Sweden was the Motocross des Nations Champion.
In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, sales of recreational vehicles decreased significantly, and Yamaha was forced to reduce their competition budget by withdrawing their motocross and road racing teams after the 1975 season. Jonsson returned to ride for the Maico team 1976 but, he broke his collarbone and ended the season ranked eighth in the 500cc World Championship. Jonsson retired from competition at the age of 36 after the 1978 Swedish national championship season.
Career overview Jonsson won 22 individual heat races and nine Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career. He was a 500cc Vice Champion (1971), a 250cc Swedish motocross national champion (1964) and a six-time 500cc Swedish motocross national champion (1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976). He was a member of three victorious Swedish Trophée des Nations teams (1964, 1966, 1967), and three victorious Swedish Motocross des Nations teams (1970, 1971, 1974). Jonsson was the top individual points scorer at the 1971 Motocross des Nations event.
Later life After his racing career Jonsson operated a Yamaha dealership in Sweden. Today he lives a retired life in Sweden. He was also a co-author of "The Technique of Moto-Cross," with Vin Gilligan, a book on advanced riding techniques for racers. Former Dutch world championship motocross competitor, Gerrit Wolsink, in an interview with "Motocross Action" magazine, praised the book strongly, saying that even at his level, he learned helpful information about techniques to use in various situations.
Motocross Grand Prix Results Points system from 1952 to 1968: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1
Points system from 1969 to 1980:
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1964 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- BEL- BEL- CH- CH- CZE- CZE- GER- GER- LUX- LUX- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- SWE3 SWE4 FIN2 FIN3 USR2 USR- POL- POL- GDR3 GDR5 FRA1 FRA2 6th 19 1965 250cc Husqvarna ESP7 ESP1 ITA- ITA- FRA6 FRA11 BEL6 BEL3 CZE4 CZE6 GER4 GER3 NED- NED- LUX10 LUX4 POL4 POL6 USR6 USR2 GDR4 GDR2 UK4 UK4 SWE5 SWE4 FIN14 FIN7 AUT- AUT- 5th 30 1966 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- FRA- FRA- BEL- BEL- CH4 CH5 CZE- CZE- GER4 GER4 NED- NED- LUX3 LUX1 ITA- ITA- POL3 POL3 GDR- GDR- SWE4 SWE1 FIN6 FIN2 USR- USR- AUT- AUT- 6th 28 1967 500cc Husqvarna AUT- AUT- ITA- ITA- SWE7 SWE9 CZE- CZE- USR8 USR- FRA- FRA- GER- GER- UK- UK- BEL8 BEL7 LUX- LUX- CH- CH- 18th 2 1968 500cc Husqvarna AUT- AUT6 ITA- ITA- SWE1 SWE6 FIN2 FIN4 GDR6 GDR3 CZE4 CZE3 UK- UK1 GER3 GER2 FRA5 FRA6 NED- NED7 BEL- BEL- LUX7 LUX4 CH4 CH4 3rd 34 1969 500cc Maico AUT- AUT- SWE8 SWE11 NED- NED- ITA5 ITA- CZE10 CZE11 USR5 USR5 GER10 GER4 BEL- BEL- LUX8 LUX- FRA- FRA- CH8 CH1 GDR- GDR- 13th 25 1970 500cc Maico CH8 CH5 AUT2 AUT6 NED6 NED3 FRA- FRA- FIN2 FIN3 SWE- SWE- CZE5 CZE3 USR- USR- GER2 GER4 GDR2 GDR2 BEL3 BEL1 LUX- LUX- 3rd 77 1971 500cc Maico ITA- ITA3 AUT5 AUT28 SWE5 SWE4 FIN3 FIN1 CZE4 CZE4 USR2 USR1 GDR2 GDR1 UK1 UK2 GER3 GER1 BEL2 BEL2 LUX2 LUX1 NED10 NED1 2nd 93 1972 500cc Maico AUT6 AUT2 CH6 CH5 SWE- SWE- FRA- FRA- USR9 USR3 CZE13 CZE2 UK3 UK1 GER4 GER3 GDR- GDR2 BEL2 BEL2 LUX1 LUX- 4th 66 1973 500cc Yamaha FRA- FRA3 AUT- AUT- FIN7 FIN8 ITA- ITA- CZE7 CZE- USA- USA7 GER3 GER2 BEL- BEL4 LUX1 LUX1 NED1 NED2 4th 109 1974 500cc Yamaha AUT5 AUT6 FRA7 FRA- ITA2 ITA7 DEN6 DEN- CZE5 CZE4 GER6 GER4 UK5 UK8 USA9 USA- NED6 NED4 BEL3 BEL6 LUX6 LUX5 7th 85 1975 500cc Yamaha CH6 CH6 ITA5 ITA2 FIN3 FIN3 USR1 USR2 FRA- FRA- USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK6 UK3 GER4 GER5 NED7 NED4 BEL- BEL1 LUX3 LUX3 4th 132 1976 500cc Maico CH9 CH4 FRA- FRA3 ITA6 ITA7 AUT- AUT6 SWE4 SWE5 FIN6 FIN5 GER- GER6 USA10 USA4 CAN4 CAN6 UK9 UK4 BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- 8th 87 1977 500cc Maico AUT- AUT- NED- NED- SWE- SWE6 FIN- FIN- GER- GER- ITA- ITA- USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK- UK- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- CH10 CH8 22nd 9 1978 500cc Kramer-Rotax CH- CH- AUT- AUT- FRA- FRA- DEN- DEN- FIN- FIN10 SWE10 SWE9 USA- USA- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- NED- NED- 28th 4Sources:
Other results 1963 8th in the Swedish National Championship (250cc) 1964 Swedish National Champion (250cc) - Trophees des Nations Champion 1965 4th in the Swedish National Championship (250cc) 1966 4th in the Swedish National Championship (250cc) - Trophees des Nations Champion - 3rd Motocross des Nations 1967 Swedish National Champion (500cc) - Trophees des Nations Champion - 2nd Motocross des Nations 1968 Swedish National Champion (500cc) 1969 4th in the Swedish National Championship (500cc) - 2nd Motocross des Nations - 3rd in the Inter-AM series 1970 3rd in the Swedish National Championship (500cc) - Motocross des Nations Champion - Inter-AM Champion 1971 2nd in the Swedish National Championship (500cc) - Motocross des Nations Champion 1972 Swedish National Champion (500cc) - 2nd Motocross des Nations - Trans-AMA Champion