Heikki Mikkola

Heikki Antero Mikkola (born 6 July 1945) is a Finnish former professional motocross racer and motocross team manager. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Husqvarna factory racing team where he became the first competitor to win both the 250cc and 500cc world championships.

During the 1970s, Mikkola challenged perennial champion Roger De Coster for supremacy of the 500cc motocross world championships.

After his racing career, he became a Yamaha race team manager. In 2006, Mikkola was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and, in 2015, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycle racing achievements.

Motocross career Early life Mikkola was born in Mikkeli, Finland. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Sajaniemi in the municipality of Loppi where his father worked as a state employed gamekeeper. In his youth, he was an active participant in sports such as track and field, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Pesäpallo, a bat-and-ball game. He held a summer job loading tree stumps onto trailers which greatly improved his physical conditioning. The motocross courses near his hometown were constructed in sandy soil which, are known to be some of the hardest courses to ride because of the strength-sapping efforts needed to ride over the soft terrain. In 1965 he finished fourth in the 250cc Finnish ice racing championship, behind Saarinen, Länsivuori and Pesonen. He entered the Finnish army in 1965 and served for ten months as a tank mechanic. His wrist injury seemed slow to heal and, Mikkola contemplated ending his motocross racing career and starting an auto repair garage with a friend however, exercises developed by a weight lifter helped his wrist heal so that he was able to race again.

In 1967, Mikkola finished second in the Finnish Senior championship and won the 1967 Finnish ice racing championship. Despite his early racing successes, Mikkola's modest income as a truck mechanic meant that he could only afford to compete in regional races.

Mikkola repeated his sixth-place result in the 1968 250cc Finnish Grand Prix and, then scored a second place in the 250cc Swedish Grand Prix, defeating the reigning world champion, Torsten Hallman in the second moto. After his impressive finish at the 1968 Swedish Grand Prix, he began to receive support from the Husqvarna factory in the form of spare parts at discounted prices. He finished the season ranked 14th in the world as a privateer rider.

That winter Mikkola showed his versatility by winning the 1970 Finnish 350cc snowmobile championship. He surged to prominence in the 1970 FIM Motocross World Championship when he won three of the last four Grand Prix races to finish fourth in the 250cc world championship behind Joël Robert, Sylvain Geboers and Roger De Coster. At the 1970 Trophée des Nations team event for 250cc motorcycles, Mikkola was the second highest individual points scorer behind Belgium's Sylvain Geboers to help the Finnish team finish third overall behind the Belgian and Czechoslovak teams. His impressive performance at the end of the 1970 seasoned earned him a contract to join the Husqvarna factory team which, enabled him to quit his job as a truck mechanic to focus entirely on his racing career. After the world championship season ended, Mikkola participated in the 1971 Trans-AMA motocross series to help establish the sport of motocross in the United States. He took two victories and finished the series in sixth place.

Mikkola moved up to the premier 500cc class in 1972 as Bengt Aberg's teammate and won the Swiss and Czechoslovak Grand Prix races. He finished the championship in third place behind Roger De Coster and Paul Friedrichs despite Aberg receiving preferential treatment from the Husqvarna team. After the world championship season ended, he placed third in the 1972 Trans-AMA motocross series.

Prior to the 1973 season, Mikkola held discussions with Yamaha's European racing manager, Rodney Gould, about developing a new Yamaha race bike but, when Yamaha hesitated, he re-signed with the Husqvarna team to compete in the 250cc motocross world championship. He returned to the United States after the world championship season and won the 1973 Inter-AMA Motocross series title.

Entering the 1974 FIM Motocross World Championship season, Aberg left the Husqvarna team to join the Bultaco team leaving Mikkola as their top rider. His main competition for the world championship came from the Suzuki factory teammates Gerrit Wolsink and defending world champion De Coster. Mikkola battled De Coster for the entire season as the two competitors won 17 out of 22 motos that season. Mikkola won the first four Grand Prix races of the season before, De Coster was able to win the Czechoslovak Grand Prix. Mikkola credited much of his success to his Husqvarna factory mechanic, Per-Olaf Persson, whose meticulous preparation and maintenance greatly improved the reliability of his motorcycle.

Mikkola missed the German Grand Prix due to injuries suffered in practice, allowing De Coster to narrow his lead in the championship to 10 points going into the final two events of the season, meaning that De Coster would have to win three of the last four motos to secure his fourth consecutive 500cc world championship.

Wolsink took the lead at the start of the first race while Mikkola and De Coster battled their way to the front of the pack. De Coster was magnanimous in defeat, waiting for Mikkola to return to the pits to celebrate his victory with a bottle of champagne. Mikkola was injured in a pre-season accident and then, his Husqvarna suffered suspension problems during the season, allowing De Coster to reclaim the world championship with 12 moto victories. Mikkola finished second in the championship with 5 moto victories.

In 1976, the Husqvarna factory asked Mikkola to return to the 250cc class to promote sales of their new 250cc motorcycle. After a season long battle with KTM rider Guennady Moisseev, Mikkola was able to prevail by a narrow one point margin to claim the world championship. In the process, he became the first competitor to win a 250 cc and a 500 cc Motocross World Championship. He claimed the 1977 500cc world championship with 12 moto victories, relegating De Coster to second place. The brash, outspoken Hannah told Mikkola that he (Hannah) was going to win the race. Mikkola replied, “Let's see if you ride as good as you talk.” Along with his four World Championships (1974, 1976-1978), he was an 8-time Finnish Motocross National Champion (250cc: 1974-1976, 500cc: 1975-1979). Throughout his entire racing career, he represented the Hyvinkää Motor Club (Hyvinkään Moottorikerho – HyMk).

Team manager and later life After his racing career, Mikkola became the Yamaha Grand Prix motocross racing team manager helping Neil Hudson and Danny LaPorte win world championships until Yamaha withdrew from international racing activities in 1982.

Motocross Grand Prix Results Points system from 1952 to 1968: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1969 to 1980:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1966 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- FRA- FRA- BEL- BEL- CH- CH- TCH- TCH- GER- GER- NED- NED- LUX- LUX- ITA- ITA- POL- POL- GDR- GDR- SWE- SWE- FIN13 FIN- USR- USR- AUT- AUT- - 0 1967 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- CH- CH- FRA- FRA- BEL- BEL- GER- GER- NED- NED- ITA- ITA- UK- UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN6 USR- USR- POL- POL- 25th 1 1968 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- BEL- BEL- TCH- TCH- FRA- FRA- NED- NED- GER- GER- LUX- LUX- POL- POL- USR- USR- YUG- YUG- FIN6 FIN- SWE6 SWE1 UK- UK- AUT9 AUT- 10th 7 1969 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- CH6 CH7 YUG7 YUG8 TCH- TCH- POL- POL- GER- GER- NED29 NED1 FRA6 FRA3 UK- UK- SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN3 USR- USR4 14th 16 1970 250cc Husqvarna ESP10 ESP12 FRA- FRA- BEL- BEL- YUG4 YUG3 ITA5 ITA6 USR2 USR9 POL- POL- UK5 UK6 FIN1 FIN2 GDR- GDR- CH2 CH1 AUT1 AUT1 4th 73 1971 250cc Husqvarna ESP- ESP- CH2 CH3 POL1 POL3 GER2 GER2 YUG- YUG- ITA2 ITA3 NED- NED- GDR- GDR- FIN- FIN- SWE2 SWE- UK- UK- AUT3 AUT1 4th 63 1972 500cc Husqvarna AUT10 AUT6 CH1 CH1 SWE- SWE- FRA6 FRA5 USR3 USR5 TCH2 TCH3 UK5 UK- GER- GER- GDR5 GDR5 BEL13 BEL5 LUX- LUX- 3rd 61 1973 250cc Husqvarna ESP3 ESP- ITA1 ITA- BEL1 BEL2 CH- CH3 POL3 POL- YUG2 YUG4 FRA3 FRA3 FIN4 FIN3 USR2 USR2 SWE- SWE3 AUT5 AUT1 3rd 143 1974 500cc Husqvarna AUT1 AUT1 FRA1 FRA1 ITA1 ITA2 DEN1 DEN2 TCH1 TCH- GER- GER- UK- UK3 USA4 USA2 NED1 NED- BEL1 BEL2 LUX1 LUX6 1st 174 1975 500cc Husqvarna CH1 CH2 ITA3 ITA1 FIN2 FIN2 USR3 USR3 FRA2 FRA2 USA8 USA4 CAN3 CAN- UK1 UK- GER- GER3 NED- NED1 BEL1 BEL7 LUX- LUX- 2nd 165 1976 250cc Husqvarna ESP1 ESP1 BEL2 BEL1 TCH- TCH3 POL- POL1 USR- USR1 YUG2 YUG1 ITA3 ITA6 FRA- FRA- UK- UK- GER- GER2 NED1 NED- SWE2 GER- 1st 163 1977 500cc Yamaha AUT3 AUT5 NED1 NED1 SWE2 SWE1 FIN1 FIN1 GER1 GER2 ITA1 ITA2 USA4 USA1 CAN1 CAN3 UK1 UK- BEL2 BEL1 LUX3 LUX1 CH- CH- 1st 272 1978 500cc Yamaha CH1 CH1 AUT3 AUT6 FRA2 FRA1 DEN1 DEN1 FIN1 FIN1 SWE- SWE1 USA3 USA1 ITA3 ITA1 UK1 UK3 BEL1 BEL1 LUX2 LUX1 NED3 NED3 1st 299 1979 500cc Yamaha AUT- AUT- FRA4 FRA3 SWE3 SWE2 ITA1 ITA1 USA- USA2 CAN- CAN- GER- GER- UK- UK5 CH1 CH1 NED3 NED3 BEL- BEL- LUX9 LUX4 5th 147Sources: