By Both previously featured on Road Racing News in connection with their upcoming Manx Grand Prix debuts, well-known Scandinavian riders (customary plate number for both – 36) August Kroon (Kroon Racing), Markus Karlsson (Karlsson Motorsport) both experienced last-month, the opening Manx GP Newcomers weekend.
Hailing from Aarhus in Denmark, aircraft technician by profession August Kroon, has five Danish titles in his career so far (2023, 2025 Superbike, 2021 & 2022 Classic Superbike, 2019 500cc Classic plus 2024 SBK runner-up).
His grandfather Alex Franz Kroon was also a multiple Danish Champion, 1964 Lightweight 250 TT participant (non-finisher) and top ten 350cc World Championship points finisher at old street-circuit German Grand Prix layout at the Sachsenring in 1970 and 1971.
Czech road races highlights included at Jicin, 350cc class success (from 1970), P2 250cc result (from 1970), 350cc category second place finish (from 1969), top six placing within 250cc encounter (from 1969).
350cc race podium finish at Terlicko (from 1971), fourth place finish – 350cc race at 300 Curves of Gustav Havel, Horice (from 1970).
On the flipside, he was unluckily involved in a mass crash of four riders, on the final corner, of the last lap of 300 Curves of Gustav Havel, 250cc race proceedings in 1970 (other involved racers within the incident – Miroslav Spak, TT experienced Frantisek Stastny and Heinz W.Schmid).
Onto Stallarholmen citizen, IRRC rising star in recent times, Markus Karlsson.
Ultra enthused about powering down this August, Bray Hill, he started his roads scene career still in his teenage years at Imatranajo in 2018.
Year by year, getting quicker across IRRC affiliated meetings, learning huge amounts as part of Laurent Hoffmann’s Hoffmann by MRP squad, last August saw him become the first Swedish IRRC winner, taking Superbike Race Two spoils at the Horice, ‘Czech TT’.
This marked the first time in fifty years, that the Swedish national anthem, had-been-played in Horice since Roland Nilsson’s triumphs from 1975.
Karlsson first debuted at Horice in 2021 and is now currently one of just eight racers sub 2 minutes 20 seconds astride both SBK, Supersport metal, the fifth fastest racer of all time, via a personal best lap time of 2 minutes 13.961 seconds, only behind circuit masters Erno Kostamo, Lukas Maurer, David Datzer and Didier Grams.
For this year’s MGP (103rd Anniversary), Karlsson plans to be aboard Ninja ZX-6R Kawasaki equipment.
Photo credit: Jan Vavra
Words by Jan Vavra
