Tanel Leok


Tanel Leok is an Estonian professional motocross racer. He has competed in the Motocross World Championships since 2001.

Early life

Tanel was born in Võru, Estonia and currently resides in Balen, Belgium. His father, Arvo Leok, was a motocross rider and introduced his son to the sport at a young age. He lived in Estonia and attended Sõmerpalu Primary school until he was 16 years old when he decided to pursue his racing career full-time.

Career

Early career

He became the first rider with two junior world titles to his credit, winning the 85 cc FIM world cup in 2000 and the 125cc FIM Junior World Cup in 2001. He turned semi-professional midway through the 2001 season, and qualified for a number of GP races at 15 years of age. He claimed his first senior title in 2001 as well, being crowned German 125cc champion. His hard-charging and unmistakable racing style earned him the moniker "The Estonian Express."

2002–2003: KTM

In 2002 his first professional team was Vangani Racing KTM His teammates were Tyla Rattray and Ben Townley. In 2003, the Vangani Racing team metamorphosed into Bruforce Racing, still on KTM motorcycles. Tanel had by now definitely broken through in the top level of motocross world.

2004: Suzuki

After a few successful races in the 125cc class in 2003, he successfully shifted to 250 cc class for the Motovision Racing Suzuki team in 2004. He made a huge impact during this season, being the only remaining top level rider on a two-stroke machine in the class. His reputation was solidified with a number of furious on-track battles with the hotshots of the class, such as multiple world champion Stefan Everts.

2005–2008: Kawasaki

At the end of the 2004 season he signed a two-year contract with the Kawasaki factory team of legendary champion maker Jan De Groot. Leok claimed his first podium in FIM Motocross World Championships MX1 class on 2 April 2006 at Zolder, Belgium. This contract was renewed for another two-year term at the end of the 2006 racing season. After having claimed numerous GP podiums in the preceding year, Tanel Leok won his first MX1 Grand Prix in Ireland in 31, August 2008. He claimed 9 podiums and 1449 points with kawasaki team.

2009: Yamaha

At the end of the 2008 Season, Red Bull Yamaha De Carli announced that they will move on to MX1-GP in the 2009 season and the riders will be Antonio Cairoli and Tanel Leok. The 2009 season started off well for the Estonian, winning the Italian MX1 motocross championships by a margin of 5 points over Cairoli. He won the first GP of the season in Faenza, Italy, and was the first holder of the red plate marking him as world championship leader. 2009 year was steady season for Leok, only 2 retirements: 1st race in Latvia and 2nd race in Brazil.

2010: Honda

Tanel signed with Honda on September 27, 2009 and in 2010 season he is in LS Motors Honda team, his teammate is Davide Guarneri.
In his first season with LS Motors Honda team Tanel chose his "legendary" riding number 40, he started riding in MX1 class with this number in 2004. In addition he got his first personal driving trainer – Marnicq Bervoets, this is very important renewal for Leok. His first competition with Honda was on February 7, 2010 in the Mantua Starcross. He had good starts, placed 3rd in second race and 1st in third race, overall place was 6th, because he retired first race. Tanel Leok finished 2nd to Guarneri in Italian MX1 motocross championships. Leok lost the championship by 17 points. On May 16, 2010 Leok won the second race and was the overall winner in the Grand Prix of Catalunya.

2011: TM

In September 2010 Tanel signed with TM Racing Factory Team. His first competition with TM was on February 19–20, 2011 in Mantova Starcross. Leok finished second in all three races and were also second overall behind David Philippaerts. The 2011 season was poor season for Tanel, he had several crashes and technical problems with bike. The best moment of this season was holeshot win in the Grand Prix of Czech Republic and the worst moment was the crash in the Grand Prix of Great Britain.

2012: Suzuki

In October 2011 Tanel signed with Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 team, this is Suzuki factory team. His teammate in 2012 season was Clement Desalle. On February 5, 2012 Tanel Leok battled snow and icy conditions to race to second place overall against 1080 riders at Enduropale Du Touquet Beach Race in northern France, less than two minutes behind overall winner Jean-Claude Mousse. Leok best race in 2012 season was in Benelux GP where he got his only podium in this season.

2013: Honda and TM

In September 2012 Tanel signed for British motocross team Route77energy MVR-D Honda. His teammate in 2013 season was Jason Dougan. On 2 June, Tanel crashed heavily and broke his collarbone, causing him two miss two races. At the end of the month, Route77 Honda withdrew from the World Motocross Championship due to financial problems. Prior to the Swedish Grand Prix, Leok rejoined the TM Racing Factory Team.

2014: TM

In November 2013 Tanel re-signed for Italian motocross team TM Ricci Racing. His teammate in 2014 season was Davide Guarneri. TM Ricci Racing rider Tanel Leok hasn’t had the best of starts to the season. With a knee injury he picked up in the off-season.

2015: Kawasaki

The Estonian Express, Tanel Leok, has signed an agreement with the British-based LPE Kawasaki Team for next year. After a long time in the Grand Prix's, Leok will focus himself on the British MX1 Championship and the MX Nationals in Great Britain. Tanel had a good season racing the British Championship and finished second in the championship under the LPE Kawasaki.

2016–2018: Husqvarna

Tanel Leok has once again inked a deal to join up with the MVR-D team for the third time in his career. His team clearly kept in good terms and Tanel will now be racing the British championship for them in 2016 – the team have decided to run Husqvarna’s in 2016 switching from the Honda machine.
In September 2016 Tanel signed with 8Biano Husqvarna racing team. His teammate in 2017 season was Rui Goncalves.
Leok will be contesting the 2018 season as a privateer on a Husqvarna. Leok will definitely contest all the European rounds of the series but hopes to be contest all twenty rounds. Leok had a few other options for next season, but decided to go privateer, so he can spend more time with his family in Estonia.

Career summary

Complete World Championship Results

YearTeamClass12345678910111213141516171819Pos.Points
2001KTM125ccESP
NED
21
AUS
BEL
29
GER
21
BEL
SWE
FRA
BEL
SUI
GER
17
NED
26
ITA
AUT
17
0
2002KTM125ccNED
ESP
15
GER
6
FRA
28
ITA
28
AUT
BUL
SWE
BEL
GER
12
CZE
15
RUS
6
20th51
2003KTMMX2ESP
14
NED
14
EUR
22
ITA
26
BUL
14
AUT
17
SWE
12
BEL
13
NED
6
GER
15
CZE
11
FRA
21
15th73
2004SuzukiMX1FLA
8
ESP
9
POR
16
NED
11
GER
9
BEN
7
GBR
4
FRA
5
ITA
10
BEL
8
SWE
12
CZE
6
WAL
5
EUR
9
IRL
11
RSA
12
6th356
2005KawasakiMX1FLA
11
ESP
25
POR
BEL
9
EUR
5
JAP
6
GBR
13
ITA
12
FRA
18
SWE
10
RSA
11
WAL
12
CZE
7
GER
5
ENG
16
NED
29
IRL
5
11th299
2006KawasakiMX1FLA
3
ESP
2
POR
5
GER
3
JAP
5
BUL
5
ITA
4
GBR
5
SWE
12
RSA
4
CZE
7
BEL
14
IRL
9
NED
12
FRA
2
5th443
2007KawasakiMX1BEN
11
ESP
7
POR
12
ITA
2
GER
12
JAP
14
FRA
5
BUL
11
SWE
3
ITA
9
CZE
4
BEL
3
IRL
29
GBR
6
NED
12
8th355
2008KawasakiMX1NED
16
ESP
5
POR
9
BUL
11
ITA
8
GBR
5
FRA
9
GER
3
SWE
11
RSA
9
BEL
15
CZE
7
IRL
1
BEN
14
ITA
13
8th352
2009YamahaMX1ITA
1
BUL
7
TUR
10
BEN
3
POR
6
CAT
10
GBR
5
FRA
4
GER
7
LAT
11
SWE
6
BEL
7
CZE
9
NED
4
BRA
14
7th395
2010HondaMX1BUL
14
LOM
12
NED
4
POR
6
CAT
1
USA
31
FRA
8
GER
10
LAT
8
SWE
12
LIM
5
CZE
3
BRA
8
BEN
6
ITA
15
6th356
2011TMMX1BUL
15
NED
9
USA
16
BRA
14
FRA
10
POR
9
ESP
6
SWE
18
GER
19
LAT
10
LIM
6
CZE
4
GBR
13
EUR
16
ITA
17
12th267
2012SuzukiMX1NED
9
BUL
11
ITA
10
MEX
5
BRA
14
FRA
15
POR
9
BEL
7
SWE
6
LAT
7
RUS
10
CZE
9
GBR
7
BEN
3
EUR
8
GER
13
8th381
2013HondaMX1QAT
14
THA
12
NED
8
ITA
16
BUL
15
POR
12
BRA
16
FRA
ITA
14th232
2013TMMX1SWE
13
LAT
18
FIN
19
GER
15
CZE
10
BEL
11
GBR
9
EUR
14
14th232
2014TMMXGPQAT
13
THA
14
BRA
18
ITA
19
BUL
15
NED
9
ESP
18
GBR
16
FRA
15
ITA
13
GER
SWE
22
FIN
16
CZE
9
BEL
22
BRA
MEX
18th146
2015KawasakiMXGPQAT
THA
ARG
ITA
23
EUR
19
ESP
GBR
FRA
ITA
GER
SWE
LAT
19
CZE
BEL
24
ITA
NED
MEX
USA
41st15
2016HusqvarnaMXGPQAT
14
GBR
19
17th193
2016KTMMXGPTHA
17
EUR
10
ARG
MEX
LAT
12
GER
15
ITA
9
ESP
16
FRA
ITA
14
CZE
16
BEL
10
SUI
13
NED
7
USA
USA
17th193
2017HusqvarnaMXGPQAT
18
INA
8
ARG
21
MEX
19
ITA
17
EUR
12
LAT
11
GER
12
FRA
15
RUS
13
ITA
14
POR
12
CZE
14
BEL
15
SUI
23
SWE
12
USA
NED
8
FRA
13
15th223

Personal life

Leok married Karoliina Karu on 11 October 2008. They have three sons, Sebastian, Travis Leok and Leon Leok. His cousin Aigar Leok is also a motocross racer.