Ove Lundell

Who was Ove Lundell?

Ove Vilmer Lundell was a former 500cc World Champion motocross racer. He was born in Möklinta outside Sala in the county of Västmanland, Sweden. He died of cancer in Varberg in the county of Halland, Sweden.

He was one of the finest off-road motorcyclists from Sweden, a nation that produced many of the sport's first world champions. His career began at the age of fifteen, when he performed at Swedish circuses where he rode the Walls of Death, on an old Indian motorcycle. He worked during the 1950s and 1960s as a rider for the Monark factory racing team. Monark was a large Swedish bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer that was also involved in construction and development.

Lundell won the Swedish National Motocross Champion in 1955, 1958 and 1960, and was a member of victorious Swedish Motocross des Nations teams in 1958, 1961 and 1962. He was also successful in a variety other events, such as observed trials, enduro, TT and Snow Scooter races.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lundell was a highly regarded coach for young Swedish motorcycle riders, based at Anneberg Motocross Track outside Varberg on the Swedish west coast. From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s he worked in Manaus, Brazil helping develop a Monark moped for that country. He returned to Sweden and in 1984, he started racing again, taking part in many National and International vintage racing events with great success.