Jaak Van Velthoven (24 January 1951) is a Belgian former professional

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

racer. He competed in the

Motocross World Championship The FIM Motocross World Championship is the premier championship of motocross racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), divided into two distinct classes: MXGP and MX2. Race duration is 30 minutes plus two laps ...

s from

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

to 1983. Van Velthoven was born in

Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and city in the Belgian province of Limburg. Lying in the Kempen, it has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the arrondissement of Maaseik. Besides the residential town, Lommel also has a number of nature reserv ...

, Belgium. His best individual performance was a third place in the 500cc World Championship in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

with the

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

factory racing team. He helped Yamaha develop a revolutionary motorcycle rear suspension that used a single shock absorber (invented by the Belgian engineer Lucien Tilkens)Magazine Moto73 instead of the traditional dual shock absorbers. Van Velthoven also rode for the Husqvarna and KTM factory racing teams. He was a member of four winning Belgian teams at the

Motocross des Nations The Motocross of Nations (MXON), also known by its original French name (''MXDN'') is an annual team motocross race, where riders representing their country meet at what is billed as the " Olympics of Motocross". The event has been staged since ...

in 1972, 1973, 1976 and 1977. Standing well over 6 feet tall, it was not difficult to distinguish him in the pack and he was often referred to as 'Long tall Jaak'.

References

Sportspeople from Lommel Belgian motocross riders Living people 1951 births {{Belgium-sport-bio-stub