not allow him to regularly race abroad. Thanks to his 1970 Husqvarna  contract, Mikkola was able to turn full-time professional. This meant that from then on at the start of the season he loaded his truck to take his wife Kaija and daughter Hanna to the first GP. A way of life that soon turned into a habit. It suited well because in that same successful 1970 season Mikkola came fourth in the final of the GP 500 cc race and better still, he won the US summer motocross series. Strangely enough, Heikki Mikkola and Jarno Saarinen competed against each other. This happened in ice speedway were both riders participated before they became internationally known. They went their separate ways when Saarinen eventually took to road racing. Asked if he ever did any road racing he replied: “Not one metre, but I once did take part in the Päjänne rally and was quite successful.” This rally, which is a kind of reliability trial, is known as extremely difficult. So no road racing career for Mikkola; motocross continued to dominate his life and his results steadily improved. In 1972 he once more finished in fourth place with two GP victories but after a tremendous battle with Adolf Weil he ended the season in third place. And once again he won the American motocross series.

Mikkola owes a good deal of his successes to his extraordinary physical condition which he achieved through dedicated and solid training. His lung capacity is enormous and according to his medical history equals that of Olympic skiers. The Finn was a genuine fighter who won because of his physical ability rather than his racing skills. It is just because the correct style can be decisive on muddy or sandy circuits, initially Mikkola found it difficult to cope. Moreover, he was an extremely bad starter who had to give his all to still get the same good results despite a bad start. Over time his racing style has been fine tuned and polished 

In the history of racing several Finns started out with the nickname “The Flying Finn”. In this regard we only have to remember Jarno Saarinen’s tragic accident. The new bearer of this “honorary” nickname is the 500 cc motocross rider Heikki Mikkola. Another nickname for Mikkola is “The Lone Wolf”, which means as much as “lonely warrior”.

An appropriately given nickname because his climb to the top was difficult as well as long. And Mikkola made the journey mainly by himself. Mikkola was born in 1945 at Mikkeli in the South of Finland. To take part in his first junior class race, at the age of 19 he started on a 250 cc motocross bike. His success was such that the following year he reached senior rank. This enabled him to make his GP debut at the race held at his Hyvinkää home circuit. His first international appearance was not very successful. Due to a recent arm injury he only played a minor part. He fits into that category of motocross riders not lacking quality but short on achieving big results. For about five years and with varying degrees of success he kept racing but his big break was slow in coming. That happened in 1969 when Mikkola achieved his first GP win.

The only support that Mikkola received was the undertaking by the Husqvarna works to supply new spare parts. But he was his own mechanic, helper and sponsor. His job as a truck mechanic did

allowing him to become a true all round rider.
Heikki Mikkola has always remained loyal to the Husqvarna brand. Conversely, they always had the fullest confidence in him. Even to the point where, already in 1970, Husqvarna manager Jauren Bror said: “If Mikkola does not become world champion in 1971, I will know that our product does not perform.” In that year Mikkola did not become world champion! Just at that time the Japanese brands started to predominate. The Japanese onslaught was unstoppable, year after year the world champion raced Japanese machines.

Once more this season there was a good chance that a Suzuki would win Roger DeCoster the world championship. If the Belgian could be victorious at the Luxembourg GP, it would win him the world championship. The battle between Mikkola and DeCoster, which was expected to be the highlight of the season turned out to be a disappointment. DeCoster dropped out due to engine failure. Disappointing as this may have been for the crowd, for Mikkola it was the moment for which he had been struggling for ten years: he could regard himself as the 1974 world champion in the 500 cc class. It is his reward for the long hard road he had to travel from being a mediocre motocrosser to reaching the ultimate top. As a powerful weapon in this struggle he had lots of help, both from his mechanic Pelle Mas and Husqvarna, but above all he owes his success to his trust in his own ability, his will to win and the rigours of hard training.

DERK J. EVERS