Bengt Åberg

Bengt Edvin Åberg (26 June 1944 – 6 March 2021 ) was a Swedish professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1966 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Husqvarna factory racing team where he won two FIM 500cc Motocross World Championships. Åberg was part of a contingent of Swedish motorcyclists including; Bill Nilsson, Sten Lundin, Rolf Tibblin and Torsten Hallman who dominated the sport of motocross in the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography Early racing career Åberg was born the son of a farmer in Sörbo, Hälsingland, Sweden on 26 June 1944. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 15 and became a member of the Bollnäs Motorklubb. In the second heat race, he finished in third place behind the defending 500cc World Champion, Jeff Smith (BSA) and Jan Johansson (Lindström). Kring and Åberg lived only a few kilometers apart in Hälsingland and became good friends due to their shared passion for motorcycles. Åberg became the top 500cc rider for the Husqvarna team in the 1967 season. Although he had a natural riding talent that earned him the admiration of his fellow competitors, he was still prone to crashing too often. He won his second Grand Prix in Belgium at the storied racetrack in the forests surrounding the picturesque hilltop Citadel of Namur. First held in 1947, the Namur Grand Prix was revered by motocross enthusiasts in the same manner that auto racing enthusiasts considered the Monaco Grand Prix to be the crown jewel of the Formula One season. Åberg finished the season ranked fourth as Friedrichs won his third consecutive 500cc Motocross World Championship. After the 500cc world championships, Åberg participated in the 1968 Inter-AM series in the United States. The Inter-AM was an international series established as a pilot event to help establish motocross in the United States by Edison Dye, the American importer for Husqvarna motorcycles. Åberg defeated Joël Robert (ČZ) in the 500 class at the Carlsbad Raceway round. Robert was considered to be the fastest motocross racer in the world at the time, but he was often hampered by his lackadaisical attitude towards physical fitness training as well as numerous mechanical issues he endured with his ČZ motorcycle. Åberg was the top individual points scorer at the 1969 Motocross des Nations event helping the Swedish team finish second to the Belgian team led by Joël Robert (ČZ) and Roger De Coster (ČZ).

Åberg's strongest competitor during the 1970 season was his friend and Husqvarna teammate, Arne Kring. At the sixth round in their Swedish homeland, the two competitors engaged in a fierce battle for the lead when they came off a jump and collided in mid-air forcing both riders to retire.

At the 1970 Motocross des Nations event, he finished second to teammate Åke Jonsson in the first heat race to help the Swedish team win the event for the first time since 1962. After the 500cc world championships, Åberg returned to the United States to compete in the 1970 Inter-AM Motocross Series where he was filmed while racing at Saddleback Park in Southern California as part of the 1971 Bruce Brown motorcycle documentary film, On Any Sunday. The film's success was credited with helping to spark an explosive growth in American motorcycle sales numbers as the baby boomer generation came of age.

Japanese dominance In the 1971 season, the Suzuki factory team won the premier 500cc class in their first attempt with rider Roger De Coster winning five of the 12 Grand Prix events to become the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 500cc World Championship.

By the 1972 season, Suzuki had begun to open a technological gap over the European manufacturers who lacked the financial resources to compete on an equal level. With no weight limit rules imposed by the FIM, the Suzuki factory was able to develop extremely lightweight motorcycles for De Coster who led the 500cc World Championship from start to finish, winning six of twelve Grand Prix races to clinch the title with two races remaining on the schedule.

Move to Bultaco team After finishing 12th in the 1973 500cc World Championship, Åberg rode for the Bultaco factory in the 500cc class from 1974 to 1976. 1974 would mark the last year that Sweden was the Motocross des Nations Champion. He participated in the 1974 Trans-AMA motocross series, winning a heat race in Livermore, California ahead of American riders, Jimmy Weinert (Kawasaki) and Rex Staten (Honda).

Yamaha four-stroke project In the 1977 500cc World Championship, at a time when four stroke racing machines were rare, Åberg competed on a highly modified four stroke Yamaha XT500 built in collaboration with former world champions Torsten Hallman and Sten Lundin. He rode the motorcycle to a victory in the first moto of the 1977 500cc Luxembourg Grand Prix ahead of Roger De Coster (Suzuki) and Heikki Mikkola (Yamaha). He won two 500cc motocross world titles (1969-1970} and one 500cc Swedish Motocross Championship championship (1970).