Victor Arbekov

Victor Mikhailovich Arbekov was a Russian Grand Prix motocross racer, born on 8 March 1943 in Podolsk, Moscow Oblast, who died on 18 February 2017. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1963 to 1968 and is notable for being the first Russian competitor to win a Motocross World Championship. He began racing in 1956 on a homemade 125cc motorcycle, won the Soviet 125 class championship at 17 and defended it the next year, and in 1962 was drafted into the Russian Army and placed on its motocross team. He scored his first world championship points at the 1963 250cc Russian Grand Prix on a CZ, won his first overall victory at the 1964 250cc East German Grand Prix and finished that season third behind Joel Robert and two-time World Champion Torsten Hallman.