Mika Ahola

Mika Ahola (13 December 1974 – 15 January 2012) was a Finnish enduro rider and a five-time world champion. He was also a seven-time winner of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) World Trophy with Team Finland, and was the fastest overall in the competition in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

Ahola debuted in the World Enduro Championship in a Husqvarna in 1993, and became a regular title contender after joining the TM factory team in 1997. In 2001, he finished runner-up for the third time, after losing the final round in Sweden and the 500 cc world title to Anders Eriksson by 0.06 seconds and a single point, respectively. Ahola took three more wins than Eriksson, but a mechanical problem in the second round in Slovakia proved costly for his title chase. After another second placing in 2002 and a third in 2003, he briefly moved to Husqvarna until signing for Honda for the 2006 season, which saw him finish second to KTM's Samuli Aro in the E2 class.

In 2007, Ahola took seven wins and finished on the podium in all but one event, beating compatriot Aro and Yamaha's Johnny Aubert to finally win the world championship. For the 2008 season, he moved to the E1 class and took his second world title ahead of KTM's Iván Cervantes. Ahola went on to win a fourth consecutive title in 2010. In 2011, he moved to the E3 class and became the first rider to win the world championship in all the three current categories.

Ahola debuted in the Barcelona Indoor Enduro in 2003, resulting fourth. He ended fourth again in 2004 and fifth in 2006. The rider entered the FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup in 2007/08, where he took two podiums and resulted third in points. In 2008/09 he got three podiums and ended fourth in the standings. The rider resulted sixth in 2009/10 with a best result of third. The Finn won a race and collected three podiums, to end third in points.

Ahola announced his retirement from enduro racing on New Year's Day 2012. Ahola died of internal injuries on 15 January 2012 at a hospital in Barcelona, a few weeks after crashing while training in Girona, Spain.

Career summary Season Series Class Team Wins Final placing 1993 World Enduro Championship 125 cc Husqvarna 0 10th 1994 World Enduro Championship 125 cc Husqvarna 0 13th 1995 World Enduro Championship 125 cc Husqvarna 0 15th 1996 World Enduro Championship 125 cc Husqvarna 0 9th 1997 World Enduro Championship 125 cc TM 5 2nd 1998 World Enduro Championship 250 cc TM 3 9th 1999 World Enduro Championship 250 cc TM 1 3rd 2000 World Enduro Championship 250 cc TM 3 2nd 2001 World Enduro Championship 500 cc VOR 5 2nd 2002 World Enduro Championship 500 cc VOR 6 2nd 2003 World Enduro Championship 500 cc VOR 2 3rd 2004 World Enduro Championship E3 Husqvarna 0 4th 2005 World Enduro Championship E3 Husqvarna 0 4th 2006 World Enduro Championship E2 Honda 2 2nd 2007 World Enduro Championship E2 Honda 7 1st 2008 World Enduro Championship E1 Honda 9 1st 2009 World Enduro Championship E1 Honda 9 1st 2010 World Enduro Championship E2 Honda 10 1st 2011 World Enduro Championship E3 Honda 9 1st

ISDE Season Location Class Team Final placing 1993 Assen, Netherlands World Trophy Finland 10th 1994 Tulsa, United States World Trophy Finland 5th 1995 Jelenia Góra, Poland World Trophy Finland 3rd 1996 Hämeenlinna, Finland World Trophy Finland 1st 1997 Brescia, Italy World Trophy Finland 2nd 1998 Traralgon, Australia World Trophy Finland 1st 1999 Coimbra, Portugal World Trophy Finland 1st 2000 Granada, Spain World Trophy Finland 18th 2001 Brive-la-Gaillarde, France World Trophy Finland 16th 2002 Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic World Trophy Finland 1st 2003 Fortaleza, Brazil World Trophy Finland 1st 2004 Kielce, Poland World Trophy Finland 1st 2005 Považská Bystrica, Slovakia World Trophy Finland 2nd 2006 Taupō, New Zealand World Trophy Finland 1st