Frits Kiggen

Frits Kiggen
NationalityNetherlands Netherlands
Born (1955-09-10) September 10, 1955 (age 69)
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Sidecarcross World Championship
Active years1976 - 1979 and 1986 - 1988
Championships(1) 1981
1988 championship position10th
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
108 24 58 1091

Frits Kiggen (born 10 September 1955)[1] is a retired Dutch sidecarcross passenger and the 1981 World Champion in the sport, together with his driver Ton van Heugten.

He has also won the Dutch national sidecarcross championship twice, in 1979 and 1980, and the European amateur sidecarcross championship in 1975. Additionally, he has taken part in the Dakar Rally on a number of occasions.

Biography

Kiggen took out the 1975 IMBA European sidecarcross championship, an amateur competition, on the side of Jan Nouwens.[2]

In 1982, he and Van Heugten took part in the Dakar Rally.[3] He again took part in the competition in 2004, 2005 and 2007 in the truck category, for GINAF.[4]

His racing partner of many years, Ton van Heugten, died on 27 March 2008 of a heart attack, aged 62, in his home town of Amersfoort.[3]

Sidecarcross world championship results

Frits Kiggen made his debut in the European Championship, a predecessor of the World Championship, in 1976, in 1976, on the side of Broer Dirkx.[5]

Kiggen did not return to this competition until 1979, now racing with Ton van Heugten, the two becoming a very successful combination. They won the Dutch championship twice together, in 1979 and 1980.

From 1980 onwards, the European championship was renamed the FIM World Championship and Van Heugten/Kiggen, finishing fourth in its first year, became the second World Champion in 1981,[6] despite Kiggen, breaking his collar bone during the season and having to be replaced with Sies Hurkmans for four races.

Kiggen continued to race with Van Heugten until 1986, achieving four more top-three finishes in the World Championship. Kiggen also raced with other drivers in this time and finished his World Championship career on the side of Jan Bakens in 1988.

Season by season

The competition which was to become the sidecarcross world championship in 1980 originated as the FIM Cup in 1971 and was renamed to European championship in 1975. Kiggen's results in these competitions were:

Season Driver Equipment Position Points Races Wins Second Third
1976 Broer Dirkx 29 6 2 — — —
1979 Ton van Heugten Weslake-Wasp 6 82 14 — 1 3
1980 Ton van Heugten Yamaha-EML 4 126 18 2 1 5
1981 Ton van Heugten Yamaha-Wasp 1 169 14 9 1 —
1982 Ton van Heugten Yamaha-Wasp 3 102 8 4 1 3
1983 Jan Bakens Yamaha-EML 9 46 6 2 — —
1984 Ton van Heugten Folan-Wasp 2 232 20 4 1 4
1985 Ton van Heugten Folan-Wasp 3 238 18 3 6 2
1986 Ton van Heugten Folan-EML 3 39 2 — 2 —
Benny Janssen Maico-EML 6 58 2 — 2 1
1988 Benny Janssen Jumb0-EML 10 24 2 — 1 —
Jan Bakens Folan-EML 17 10 2 — — —
Overall 1976 - 1988 1091 108 24 16 18

Source:"The John Davey Pages - Frits Kiggen". John Davey. Retrieved 2009-11-21.

Honours

World Championship

  • Champions: (1) 1981
  • Runners-up: (1) 1984

Netherlands

References

  1. ^ Autosport.com - Birthdays accessed: 21 November 2009
  2. ^ EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIOUS WINNERS accessed: 21 November 2009 [dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b Koenigsbeck, Axel (2008-03-31). "Ton van Heugten verstorben". Motor Sport Aktuell (in German). Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  4. ^ The GINAF DAKAR history accessed: 21 November 2009
  5. ^ "1976 European S/C Championship". The John Davey Pages. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  6. ^ "1981 European S/C Championship". The John Davey Pages. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Sidecarcross World Champion (passenger)
1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jaap van Vliet
 Dutch national sidecarcross champion (passenger)
1979 - 1980 		Succeeded by
Henk van Heek