Sten Lundin

Sten Lundin (20 November 1931 – 3 June 2016) was a Swedish professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships between 1953 and 1966. A two-time World Champion (1959, 1961), Lundin was part of a contingent of Swedish motorcyclists including; Bill Nilsson, Rolf Tibblin and Torsten Hallman who dominated the sport of motocross in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During an eight-year span from 1957 to 1964, he finished third or better in the Motocross World Championships, becoming one of the most accomplished motocross racers of his era. Lundin and Nilsson were members of the Swedish team of motorcyclists who won the 1955 Motocross des Nations event held in Randers, Denmark, marking the first time Sweden had won the prestigious event.

Joining the Monark team After dropping to fourth place in the 1956 European Motocross Championship, Lundin was forced to switch motorcycle manufacturers from BSA to Monark due to geopolitical world events. In the wake of the 1956 Suez Crisis, the BSA factory withdrew from European racing due to fuel rationing in the United Kingdom. Without the support of the BSA factory, a group of Swedish motorcyclists decided to manufacture their own motorcycle using a Swedish-built Albin four-stroke engine that had been designed for military motorcycles during the Second World War. A complete motorcycle using the Albin engine was made by hand by engineers at the Monark factory in Varberg, Sweden.

The Belgian FN factory's decision to withdraw from motocross competition in 1959 forced defending champion Baeten to compete as a privateer riding a less-competitive AJS motorcycle. Lundin began the 1959 season with a victory at the Austrian Grand Prix along with a second to Nilsson (Crescent-AJS) in Switzerland, but Les Archer Jr. (Norton) then won the Danish and French Grands Prix to take the championship points lead.

Monark's victory in the 1959 500cc Motocross World Championship prompted their Swedish competitor, Husqvarna, to build their own 500cc motocross machine using the same Albin engine as used by Monark. The Motocross World Championships of the early 1960s marked the beginning of a period of Swedish domination as five of the top six competitors in the 1960 500cc World Championship were from Sweden with only fourth-placed British rider Don Rickman (Triumph) breaking up the Swedish monopoly.

Lito team When the Monark race team manager unexpectedly died during the 1960 season, Monark management made the decision to withdraw from Grand Prix racing. As compensation, Monark management allowed Lundin keep his race bike. Lundin painted the Monark motorcycle green and rebadged it as a Lito after his new sponsor's lithography business. His rival Nilsson (Husqvarna) was once again his top competitor for the title.

The Swedish domination of the Motocross World Championships continued in 1962 with the top five competitors in the 500cc class coming from Sweden. Lundin was a member of the victorious Swedish team that won the 1962 Motocross des Nations even in Wohlen, Switzerland.

Lundin started the 1963 season strongly with victories in the first two races of the season, however Tibblin (Husqvarna) successfully defended his World Championship, taking five victories out of twelve races to become the first competitor to win back-to-back 500cc World Championships. He was the top individual points scorer at the 1963 Motocross des Nations event in Knutsdorp, Sweden however, the Swedish team finished second to the British team led by Jeff Smith and Don Rickman.

A significant moment in motocross history occurred during the 1963 season when ČZ factory rider Vlastimil Válek rode a 263cc two-stroke engine powered motorcycle to win the first moto of the 500cc Czechoslovak Motocross Grand Prix ahead of a field of top-class, four stroke motorcycles. The victory marked a turning point in motocross history as, it was the first win by a two-stroke powered motorcycle in the premier division of the Motocross World Championships. Lundin then switched to riding a Matchless motorcycle in the 1965 season. He won his final world championship event with a victory at the 1965 500cc Austrian Grand Prix. ČZ factory team rider Paul Friedrichs dominated the 1966 season by winning seven out of fourteen Grand Prix events, marking the first time a motorcycle powered by a two-stroke engine had won the premier 500cc division since the inception of the Motocross World Championships in 1957.

Lundin believed that lighter motorcycles diminished the physical challenge of motocross and could ruin the sport, so he continued to advocate for the heavier four-stroke engined motorcycles. Lundin rode his Lito to win the inaugural 1967 FIM 750cc Motocross European Cup however, the race series was abandoned after the 1969 season due to the increasing popularity of the easier-to-ride lightweight two-stroke motorcycles.

Motocross career overview Lundin won 25 individual heat races and 24 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career.

Rally car racing career In 1963, Lundin made his debut in automobile rallying driving a Volkswagen 1500 to finish second in the Finnish championship at Riihimäki. During his rally racing career he participated in several international rallies, including the 1965 RAC Rally, where he drove a Volkswagen 1600TL along with Co-driver Lindberg Hans to finish eighth overall along with a stage victory. In 1966, his last year as a racing driver, he took part in the Rallye dei Fiori in the Italian Alps driving a Renault 8. In 1977 when four-stroke racing machines were rare, Lundin collaborated with Hallman and former 500cc World Champion Bengt Åberg in developing a highly modified four-stroke Yamaha XT500. Åberg rode the bike to a victory in the first moto of the 1977 500cc Luxembourg Grand Prix and ended the season ranked 9th in the final world championship standings.

In retirement, Lundin attended historic motorsport events with his Lito motorcycle. He died on 3 June 2016 at the age of 84 after a short illness.

In honor of Lundin's contributions to Swedish motorcycling, in 2002 the Swedish postal service issued a stamp within the Sverige Motocross series that depicted Lundin riding his Monark motorcycle.

Motocross Grand Prix Results Points system from 1952 to 1968: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

Denotes European motocross championship only.

Year Class Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 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 1953 500cc BSA CH- CH- NED- NED- FRA- FRA- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- SWE10 SWE10 - 0 1955 500cc BSA CH- CH- FRA1 FRA6 ITA4 ITA1 UK14 UK12 BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX3 SWE- SWE- NED9 NED1 3rd 21 1956 500cc BSA CH7 CH4 NED- NED4 ITA5 ITA3 FRA- FRA6 UK4 UK- BEL2 BEL2 LUX4 LUX- SWE6 SWE8 DEN3 DEN3 4th 17 1957 500cc Monark CH5 CH4 FRA- FRA- SWE3 SWE- ITA- ITA- UK7 UK3 NED4 NED6 BEL- BEL1 LUX- LUX1 DEN1 DEN2 3rd 28 1958 500cc Monark AUT- AUT- DEN3 DEN3 CH- CH- FRA5 FRA- ITA1 ITA1 UK- UK- NED4 NED5 BEL- BEL2 LUX- LUX3 SWE7 SWE1 3rd 33 1959 500cc Monark AUT1 AUT2 CH4 CH2 DEN- DEN- FRA1 FRA9 ITA1 ITA1 GER1 GER6 UK- UK- NED- NED4 BEL- BEL2 LUX- LUX1 SWE- SWE4 1st 44 1960 500cc Monark AUT2 AUT- FRA3 FRA1 SWE1 SWE3 ITA1 ITA2 GER2 GER1 UK5 UK- NED- NED- BEL- BEL2 LUX- LUX1 2nd 36 1961 500cc Lito CH1 CH2 AUT1 AUT1 FRA1 FRA1 TCH4 TCH3 ITA2 ITA2 UK- UK- NED2 NED3 BEL- BEL1 LUX1 LUX1 SWE3 SWE2 GER2 GER1 1st 48 1962 500cc Lito AUT3 AUT4 FRA2 FRA2 CH2 CH3 ITA4 ITA7 TCH2 TCH4 UK12 UK14 NED7 NED6 BEL6 BEL4 LUX2 LUX3 SWE6 SWE1 3rd 27 1963 500cc Lito AUT3 AUT1 CH3 CH1 DEN3 DEN4 NED4 NED3 FRA5 FRA6 ITA2 ITA2 TCH3 TCH3 USR- USR- UK- UK- BEL2 BEL2 LUX3 LUX2 GDR2 GDR3 2nd 46 1964 500cc Lito CH3 CH3 AUT3 AUT3 DEN3 DEN3 SWE2 SWE3 NED4 NED5 FRA2 FRA3 ITA7 ITA3 URS4 URS- TCH- TCH- BEL5 BEL1 LUX- LUX- GER1 GER1 GDR- GDR- ESP2 ESP6 3rd 34 1965 500cc Matchless AUT2 AUT3 CH2 CH1 FRA- FRA- FIN- FIN- SWE6 SWE2 GDR5 GDR3 TCH- TCH- URS- URS- UK- UK- ITA1 ITA3 GER- GER- NED- NED- LUX2 LUX- 5th 27 1966 500cc Lito CH16 CH12 AUT9 AUT- ITA- ITA- DEN- DEN- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN- GDR- GDR- TCH- TCH- URS- URS- UK- UK- NED- NED- BEL- BEL- LUX3 LUX6 GER- GER- 17th 4Sources: