Heikki Mikkola

Heikki Antero Mikkola (born 6 July 1945) is a Finnish former professional motocross racer and motocross team manager.

In high school, he took car mechanic courses and, after graduating in 1963 he worked as a truck mechanic for a Bedford Vehicles distributor.

Mikkola first became involved in motorcycling through his childhood friend Martti Pesonen, who later competed internationally in Grand Prix road racing.

In 1963, Pesonen loaned his Greeves motorcycle to Mikkola so that he could enter his first race in which he crashed entering the first corner but, recovered to finish in sixth place.

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.

Learning to ride on sand tracks allowed Mikkola to develop impressive physical stamina.

When Pesonen bought a new motorcycle in 1963, he sold his old Greeves to Mikkola.

Mikkola began racing motocross in 1964 and won the Finnish Junior Championship in the first year riding a Husqvarna.

He also competed in motorcycle ice racing alongside Pesonen as well as Jarno Saarinen and Teuvo Länsivuori.

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.

Mikkola competed in the Senior class in 1965 but suffered a broken wrist.

In 1966 he finished third in the 250cc Finnish ice racing championship, behind Länsivuori and Pesonen.

He finished the 1966 Senior motocross championship in third place and won the Finnish junior enduro championship.

He also entered his first world championship race in the 1966 250cc Finnish Grand Prix where he finished the first moto in 13th place.

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.

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.

In 1967, Mikkola finished second in the Finnish Senior championship and won the 1967 Finnish ice racing championship.

At the 1967 250cc Finnish Grand Prix, Mikkola finished in an impressive sixth place against a field of top rated competitors.

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.

When his fellow Finnish motocross racer Kalevi Vehkonen decided to compete in the 1969 250cc Motocross World Championships, Mikkola decided to join him.

Despite the support from the Husqvarna factory, he still had to serve as his own mechanic and drive his own van to races throughout Europe along with his wife and young daughter.

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

After 12 seasons racing for Husqvarna, he joined the Yamaha factory racing team where he won two more 500cc world championships.

As with many Finns involved in racing activities, he was nicknamed the Flying Finn and, was known for his trademark goatee beard and his fierce mein.

After his racing career, he became a Yamaha race team manager.

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.

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.

In the 1971 season, he won the 250cc West German Grand Prix and was leading the championship after the first four races however, he faltered to once again place fourth in the series final points standings.

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.

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.

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 considered pursuing a competitive ski jumping career however, there were few ski jumping facilities near his home so, he focused on motorcycle racing instead.

He held a summer job loading tree stumps onto trailers which greatly improved his physical conditioning.

He finished the season ranked 14th in the world as a privateer rider.