Hallman, Torsten
Name/Title
Hallman, TorstenTags
Motocross & SupercrossDescription
- Four-Time 250cc Motocross World Champion, with 37 Individual Grand Prix Victories - Motocross Messiah who Introduced Countless American Riders to the Sport - Founder of Thor Motocross Apparel Torsten Hallman was one of the main men responsible for introducing motocross to the United States in the late 1960s. Hallman was already a four-time World Motocross Champion when he first came to the United States in the late 1960s as part of promotor Edison Dye’s efforts to popularize both the Husqvarna motorcycle brand and the sport of motocross in America. Hallman’s incredible skill on a motocross bike was such a revelation to American fans and racers that within just a few years after Hallman’s first visit, motocross became the most popular form of motorcycle racing in the United States. Hallman was also a savvy businessman who founded a riding apparel company — Thor — that continues to influence the look and function of motocross riding gear to this day. Hallman was born in 1939 in Uppsala, Sweden, a scenic university town about 50 miles north of Stockholm. Hallman’s father and older brother were both motorcycle racers, and the Hallmans built a small practice track on the farm where they lived. They often hosted many of the top Swedish racers, who would come to the farm when they were in the area to train on the practice track. From a young age, Hallman would sneak his older brother’s bike out for a stealthy ride. Hallman’s first bike was a 100cc DKW, which he quickly wore out from riding so much. His father then moved young Hallman up to a Royal Enfield 125. By the time Hallman entered his first formal competition, he was already a skilled rider. He won that first race and knew from that moment on that he wanted to pursue a racing career. “The results really lit a fire for motorcycle racing, and it became the one thing on earth to live for,” Hallman said in his book, Mr. Moto-cross, written in 1970. Hallman’s big break came in 1957, when he won a major junior team race riding a Husqvarna. It was then that Bror Jauren, manager of Husqvarna’s racing team, gave Hallman the chance to become a factory-supported rider. By the 1960s, Hallman was competing in the world championships. He would go on to win the 250cc motocross world title four times, and his battles with Belgium’s Joël Robert are still considered some of the best in the history of the championships. Hallman might have won even more titles, but he was carrying more than a full plate. During the early 1960s, Hallman was a full-time university student as well as a full-time racer. In 1965, his senior year in college, the workload became so heavy that Hallman had to back off on his racing and training schedule, yet he still managed to finish fourth in the world championships that year. Hallman made his first trip to America in 1966 at the behest of Edison Dye, to help introduce the sport of motocross to America and to help promote Husqvarna motorcycles. Hallman’s method of introduction was to enter scrambles and other similar off-road events and dominate like no other rider had done before. One race in particular gave Hallman a great deal of notoriety — the Hopetown GP held in near Simi Valley, Calif. — which was then the foremost motocross-style scrambles race in America. “The Hopetown race was where I sort of became famous in America,” Hallman recalled. “The newspapers wrote quite a lot about me and my Husky after my success. No one had ever dreamed that it was possible to ride so fast on a motorcycle in motocross.” With his reputation firmly established in America, he and Malcolm Smith briefly opened a motocross school in Riverside, Calif. Hallman’s visit also helped to spur Husqvarna sales in the United States, and so he was invited back the following season with other world championship and Swedish Husqvarna riders. “That was basically the birth of the Inter-Am Series,” recalled Hallman, referring to America’s first major motocross series. “It was the series that made motocross so popular in America.” A back injury slowed Hallman by the end of the 1960s. His results inevitably suffered and Husqvarna eventually dropped him from the factory squad. The fledgling Yamaha motocross effort quickly picked up Hallman, and the factory made the most of the world champion’s knowledge. With Hallman’s input, Yamaha developed its championship-winning YZ series of motocross bikes — the first production motocross machines to utilize mono-shock rear suspension. Besides being a world champion racer, Hallman also proved to be a world-class businessman as well. He became a Husqvarna dealer in Sweden and then began to sell motocross pants and gloves at the races to help supplement his income, an effort that eventually led to the formation of Thor: Torsten Hallman Original Racewear. From the company’s beginnings out of the trunk of Hallman’s car, Thor soon grew to become one of the leading off-road racing apparel companies in the world. Hallman later sold his interest in the company but remained Sweden’s Thor importer. By the year 2000, Hallman had settled into a new role as an honored elder in the motocross industry. Shortly after his induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000, Hallman was also recognized with the Edison Dye Lifetime Achievement Award — named in honor of the man who first brought him to America in the late 1960s. In 2012, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) named him an FIM Legend — a title reserved only for riders who have had the most profound impact on global motorcycle sport — and shortly after, in 2013, the AMA further elevated his status by naming him an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend, a recognition that distinguishes members who continue to inspire the industry even long after their “official retirements.” Hallman to this day remains a fixture at major European MXGP events, and frequently participates in vintage racing events, often in the company of former rivals like Roger De Coster and past teammates like Bill Nilsson and Rolf Tibblin. Now in his late 80s, Hallman lives in his homeland of Sweden near his birthplace in Uppsala.Category
Class of 2000