On The Pegs February 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 2 | Page 78

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On The Pegs
WINTER ENDURO TITAN
GOOD OLD TIMES BLOG
B y K enneth O lausson
P hotos : H usqvarna
Gunnar Kalén’s career of eleven years was cut short when he met his destiny in
Germany in 1934, but the successful Swede had won great victories during his
time racing, beating many records. His reputation was elevated from the “No-
vemberkasan” enduro where Gunnar won for five consecutive years from 1926
to 1930. Later, in the snow of 1933, he topped it off with a sixth victory, riding his
factory Husqvarna.
Gunnar Kalén was a great gentleman of motorsports. His first employer Axel
Löfström had him riding Saroléa from 1927 to 1930 and said, “he was an ideal
sportsman and so, he became one of our most popular riders in his time”. People
described his behaviour as “modest, calm and safe”. Besides the TT, road racing in
our time, the Novemberkasan was a favourite with the master.