Torleif Hansen

Torleif Hansen
Torleif Hansen at the 1978 Spanish Grand Prix
NationalitySwedish
Born5 October 1948 (1948-10-05) (age 77)
Upplands Väsby, Sweden
Motocross career
Years active1968 - 1983
TeamsHusqvarna, Kawasaki, Yamaha
Wins12

Torleif Hansen (born 5 October 1948) is a Swedish former professional motocross racer.[1] He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1968 to 1983, most prominently as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team.[2]

Biography

Hansen was born on 5 October 1948 in Upplands Väsby, Sweden.[1] He idolized World Champion Torsten Hallman and began racing motorcycles at the age of 16.[1] At the age of 20, Hansen scored in his first Motocross World Championship points with a fifth-place finish at the 1968 250cc Austrian Grand Prix riding a Husqvarna motorcycle. He suffered a broken leg while racing which forced him to miss the entire 1969 season.[1] In just the third Grand Prix race of his career, the 21-year-old Hansen scored a surprising victory at the 1970 250cc French Grand Prix.

After the 1971 World Championships, Hansen traveled to the United States to compete in the 1971 Trans-AMA motocross series. The Trans-AMA series was an international series established by the American Motorcyclist Association as a pilot event to help establish motocross in the United States.[3] He finished the series ranked third overall behind the overall winner Sylvain Geboers (Suzuki) and Adolf Weil (Maico).[4]

In 1974, Hansen won three 250cc Grand Prix races, but failed to score points in over half of the races and finished the season ranked fourth in the World Championship. He won two Grand Prix races during the 1976 250cc Motocross World Championship, putting himself in second place behind the points leader Heikki Mikkola (Husqvarna) when he suffered an injury that forced out of contention. He would finish fifth in the final points standings.

Hansen had his best season in 1978 as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team when he won five Grand Prix races and finished second to Gennady Moiseyev in the 250cc Motocross World Championships.[5][6] He won the final two races of the season allowing him to leap from fourth to second place in the championship final points standings. Hansen, Hans Maisch (Maico) and Vladimir Kavinov (KTM) finished the season separated by just three points in the final standings. Hansen competed in his final World Championship race at the 1983 250cc Finnish Grand Prix at the age of 34.[2]

Hansen won 12 individual heat races and 12 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career.[2] He was a 250cc Motocross Vice Champion (1978) and won six Swedish Motocross Championships (1973, 1975-1978, 1982).[2] Hansen was a member of six Swedish Motocross des Nations teams (1976-1979, 1981-1982) and ten Trophée des Nations teams (1970, 1973-1979, 1982-1983).[2]

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 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
1968 250cc Husqvarna ESP
- 		ESP
- 		BEL
- 		BEL
- 		CZE
- 		CZE
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		NED
- 		NED
- 		GER
- 		GER
- 		LUX
- 		LUX
- 		POL
6 		POL
- 		USR
- 		USR
- 		YUG
- 		YUG
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
- 		UK
12 		UK
- 		AUT
4 		AUT
6 		22nd 2
1970 250cc Husqvarna ESP
16 		ESP
- 		FRA
3 		FRA
1 		BEL
4 		BEL
14 		YUG
11 		YUG
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
3 		USR
5 		USR
- 		POL
5 		POL
- 		UK
7 		UK
3 		FIN
3 		FIN
3 		GDR
9 		GDR
- 		CH
4 		CH
- 		AUT
- 		AUT
- 		8th 35
1971 250cc Husqvarna ESP
7 		ESP
- 		CH
- 		CH
- 		POL
- 		POL
- 		GER
4 		GER
1 		YUG
8 		YUG
6 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		NED
- 		NED
- 		GDR
- 		GDR
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
- 		UK
- 		UK
- 		AUT
- 		AUT
- 		12th 17
1972 250cc Husqvarna ESP
- 		ESP
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		NED
- 		NED
- 		CZE
- 		CZE
10 		YUG
- 		YUG
- 		GER
- 		GER
- 		POL
- 		POL
- 		USR
- 		USR
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		SWE
7 		SWE
4 		UK
8 		UK
13 		CH
- 		CH
- 		18th 9
1973 250cc Kawasaki ESP
4 		ESP
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
4 		BEL
6 		BEL
- 		CH
5 		CH
- 		POL
6 		POL
3 		YUG
4 		YUG
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		USR
3 		USR
3 		SWE
2 		SWE
2 		AUT
2 		AUT
3 		4th 111
1974 250cc Kawasaki ESP
- 		ESP
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		CZE
4 		CZE
- 		POL
- 		POL
- 		YUG
1 		YUG
3 		UK
2 		UK
1 		GER
- 		GER
- 		NED
5 		NED
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		SWE
1 		SWE
3 		CH
- 		CH
3 		4th 101
1975 250cc Kawasaki ESP
- 		ESP
4 		AUT
7 		AUT
- 		BEL
7 		BEL
- 		CZE
- 		CZE
- 		POL
- 		POL
- 		YUG
- 		YUG
- 		GER
1 		GER
- 		UK
- 		UK
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
3 		FIN
3 		FIN
- 		CH
1 		CH
- 		10th 66
1976 250cc Kawasaki ESP
2 		ESP
2 		BEL
- 		BEL
- 		CZE
3 		CZE
2 		POL
3 		POL
2 		USR
- 		USR
- 		YUG
- 		YUG
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		UK
- 		UK
8 		GER
- 		GER
- 		NED
2 		NED
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
2 		6th 95
1977 250cc Kawasaki ESP
- 		ESP
- 		CH
- 		CH
3 		BEL
- 		BEL
4 		CZE
- 		CZE
- 		ITA
5 		ITA
3 		AUT
- 		AUT
- 		USR
- 		USR
- 		YUG
- 		YUG
4 		GER
5 		GER
3 		UK
- 		UK
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
- 		FIN
- 		FIN
- 		11th 58
1978 250cc Kawasaki ESP
3 		ESP
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		CZE
1 		CZE
3 		YUG
1 		YUG
2 		AUT
- 		AUT
- 		GER
2 		GER
2 		UK
- 		UK
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		USA
- 		USA
4 		SWE
- 		SWE
6 		FIN
1 		FIN
2 		USR
2 		USR
1 		2nd 153
1982 250cc Yamaha CH
- 		CH
- 		ESP
- 		ESP
- 		BEL
- 		BEL
- 		CZE
- 		CZE
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		UK
- 		UK
- 		NED
- 		NED
- 		USR
- 		USR
- 		USA
- 		USA
- 		FIN
5 		FIN
- 		SWE
- 		SWE
5 		22nd 12
1983 250cc Yamaha ESP
- 		ESP
- 		FRA
- 		FRA
- 		ITA
- 		ITA
- 		NED
- 		NED
- 		BUL
- 		BUL
- 		GER
- 		GER
- 		UK
- 		UK
- 		CAN
- 		CAN
- 		USA
- 		USA
- 		CH
- 		CH
- 		SWE
1 		SWE
2 		FIN
- 		FIN
2 		10th 39
Sources:[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Heavenly High". husqvarna-motorcycles.com. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Torleif Hansen career statistics" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  3. ^ American Motorcyclist Assoc (December 1970). "Trans-AMA: A Pilot Program for International Activity".
  4. ^ Trans-AMA Motocross Records, American Motorcyclist, January 1975, Vol. 29, No. 1, ISSN 0277-9358
  5. ^ "1978 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Torleif Hansen profile". bestsports.com.br. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  7. ^ "1968 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  8. ^ "1970 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  9. ^ "1971 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  10. ^ "1972 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  11. ^ "1973 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  12. ^ "1974 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  13. ^ "1975 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  14. ^ "1976 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  15. ^ "1977 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  16. ^ "1978 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  17. ^ "1982 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  18. ^ "1983 250cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
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