Having worked and raced
together already for 6 years, Joakim will also
fight for victory aboard a Husaberg machine in
the two years to come.
Having joined the Husaberg Factory
Team in 2005 Joakim already had some great
successes with the team making him one of the top
contenders of the EWC as well as the IEWC
nowadays.
After winning the Junior World Championship title
in 2006 and 2007 he moved up to the E2 senior
class where he managed to win the first GP in
Sweden straight away by winning day 1 and
finishing 2nd on day 2. This was also the first
outing of the revolutionary new Husaberg FE 450 in
the EWC, so premier victory for bike and rider.
Joakim then went on to finish the season in a
respectable 6th position and upped the ante in
2009 when he finished on the podium in 3rd
position. During the 2010 season Joakim struggled
a bit to keep up with the very strong adversary in
his class but still managed to conclude the season
in 5th position due to his consistency in all
conditions.
During the 6 years of racing Husaberg Joakim also
dominated the Swedish Enduro Championship by
amassing 5 strait titles from 2006 to 2010 and
winning 24 rounds in a row. Not only that, he also
managed to win the infamous Novemberkåsan race 3
times (2007, 2009 and 2010) which only 12 riders
have managed to do before in the 95-year history
of this event.
At the end of 2009 Joakim took his first
experience in the Indoor Enduro World Cup and also
managed to impress in this young category of
Enduro racing. He finished on the podium twice,
3rd in Genoa and 2nd in Vigo, and concluded the
Championship in 3rd position as fastest 4-stroke
rider aboard the Husaberg FE 390 and fastest
Rookie.
Two weeks ago at the series opener of the 2011
IEWC series in Genoa Joakim basically started
where he left off at the end of the 2010 series
and finished the event in 2nd place, scoring his
first race victory in the first final of the
night, this time aboard the new Husaberg TE 300
2-stroke machine.
Especially the addition of the new 2-stroke models
to the Husaberg line-up made the decision to stay
with the team he was so successful with for Joakim
very easy. After nine years on 4-strokes he feels
that the change to a 2-stroke, not only for the
IEWC but also the EWC, will give him the
additional motivation and speed to take the next
step in his racing career. “I am really looking
forward to racing the TE 300 2-stroke in the E3
class of the EWC. I have a very good feeling on
the bike and I did a lot of testing already and
was faster than on the 4-stroke in all
conditions.” Joakim explains.
Besides the welcome change of bike Joakim will
also change his race program for 2011 by
participating in the Italian Enduro Championship
instead of the Swedish Enduro Championship. “I
like racing back home in Sweden and I have a great
record over the past 5 years, but I feel that
it’s time for me to move on in order to progress
and get faster. The special tests in Sweden are a
lot different than in the EWC, a lot longer and on
different soil, so it’s a better training for me
to race against some of the best riders in the
world on tests that are more similar to the ones
in the EWC between the World Championship
rounds” Joakim comments on his decision.
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Joakim Ljunggren (right) and Thomas Gustavsson (Husaberg
Factory Team Manager) signing the new contract.

Joakim Ljunggren after his first IEWC race victory
in Genoa.
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