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"I
will ride with an eye on the world championship ", is the first and
fast reply of the ruling 500cc motocross world champion Heikki Mikkola
when he’s asked the question: "How do you intend to defend your
title?" And he gives the answer with a firm voice and a sudden gleam
in his steely-grey eyes. “I will simply do my very best to maintain my
title".
His
sights have been set high, but Mikkola knows he can make it come true.
Many times he has proved to himself and to others that he’s able. In
1974, when he became 500cc world champion for
the first time; in 1976, when he took the quarter litre title for the
first time and last year when he conquered the 500cc world championship
for the time.
In the history of motocross
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he
is the only rider who’s got the world title in two different
classes". “I’ve worked out that the possibility to achieve my
target in the 500cc class in 1978 is very good.
My physical condition is excellent. Better than at the beginning of last
season. I consider fitness to be one of the most important factors in
motocross; if you’re riding motocross at world class level, you practise
one of the hardest sports which exist. This season I’ll be able to
commit myself, from the outset, a full hundred percent.
The
bike is another factor. Last year my Yamaha was already great and now
it’s even better. I have plenty of reason to believe that Yamaha still
has a technical lead on other makes and that this lead
may have become even bigger than it already was. I don’t even use the
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