Jarno Saarinen

Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen (11 December 1945 – 20 May 1973) was a Finnish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Saarinen made his racing debut in an ice race at Ylone in 1961, finishing in second place.

He and his close friend Teuvo Länsivuori participated in ice racing and grasstrack racing as well as road racing.

In 1965 Saarinen won the 250cc Finnish ice racing national championship.

Saarinen was also an accomplished motorcycle speedway racer.

On 4 August 1968 he made his Grand Prix debut at Imatra, riding a 125cc Puch to an 11th place in the Finnish Grand Prix, in which he was lapped three times by world champions Phil Read and Bill Ivy.

In 1969 he won the 125cc and 250cc Finnish motorcycle national championships while acting as his own mechanic.

Saarinen was noted for his riding style in which he kept his chest just above the motorcycle's fuel tank, and for the way he negotiated curves by shifting his body towards the inside of a turn while extending his knee out.

In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle racers of his era until he was killed during the 1973 Nations Grand Prix in Italy.

Saarinen's death led to increased demands for better safety conditions for motorcycle racers competing in the world championships.

He remains the only Finn to have won a solo motorcycle road racing world championship.

Saarinen competed in his first full year in the 1970 250cc championship while continuing to act as his own mechanic.

He convinced three bank managers to fund his racing career under the mistaken belief that they were financing his education.

He finished the season in fourth place despite missing the final three rounds of the championship to complete his education by graduating as an engineer from the Turku Technical Institute.

In 1971, Giacomo Agostini was the reigning three-time 350cc world champion riding for MV Agusta however, Saarinen served notice by winning his first 350cc Grand Prix race in Czechoslovakia after Agostini's motorcycle had a mechanical failure.

He then finished second to Agostini in the Finnish Grand Prix before winning the Nations Grand Prix in Italy.

Saarinen competed in both 250cc and 350cc classes in 1971, finishing third in 250cc World Championship and second to Agostini in the 350cc class.

The title fight in the 1971 50cc World Championship between the Derbi and Kreidler factories was so heated, that the Kreidler team hired Saarinen and Barry Sheene in support of their rider, Jan de Vries, while the Derbi team hired Gilberto Parlotti to support Ángel Nieto.

At the season-ending Spanish Grand Prix, Saarinen placed second behind de Vries, helping the Kreidler team secure the 50cc World Championship for de Vries.

His riding style, and the way he made his rear tyre slide in the turns influenced future world champion, Kenny Roberts, when he witnessed Saarinen during a race at the Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972.

Saarinen rode at the Ontario Champion Sparkplugs Classic in 1972, aboard a privately entered ex-works Al Godin Yamaha 350cc.

Saarinen was also noted for the peculiar way in which he angled his handlebars in an almost vertical position.

Saarinen's success didn't go unnoticed as Yamaha contracted him to ride their 350cc factory YZ634 motorcycles for the 1972 season.

Saarinen was also riding a 250cc TD3 production racer supplied by Arwidson Oy, and after the first four GPs, he was in the lead in the 250cc category.

The Yamaha factory gave him a factory 250cc Yamaha YZ635 as from the Jugoslavian GP, after its contracted rider, Barry Sheene, who was very unhappy with its performance since the beginning of the season, especially at the third round in Austria, badly broke his collarbone ahead of the GP of Nations, and aggravated his injuries while trying to take part in the Post TT Races at Mallory Park.

Saarinen rewarded Yamaha's faith in him by winning four of the last six GPs and the 250cc World Championship in a season-long battle with Renzo Pasolini and Rod Gould.

He finished second in the 1972 350cc World Championship, giving defending champion Giacomo Agostini a strong challenge by winning three races, including a victory at the German Grand Prix held at the daunting Nürburgring race track, where Saarinen inflicted Agostini his first defeat in a head-to-head GP race since the 1967 Canadian GP.

He also scored a double victory at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix with victories in both the 250cc and 350cc classes.

The threat from Saarinen's performance was so strong that the previously dominant MV Agusta factory was forced to produce a new 350cc motorcycle for Agostini and to hire Phil Read as his team mate for the remainder of the season.

After the world championship season ended, Saarinen traveled to Great Britain where he won an astonishing nine wins in as many races, including the Race of the Year invitational held at Mallory Park.

At the end of the season, Saarinen was contacted by the Benelli factory about the possibility of riding 350cc and 500cc Benellis in the 1973 world championships.

After a secret test ride at Modena, he rode Benellis to victories over Agostini in the 350cc and 500cc races at the Pesaro street circuit.

But in the same time the Yamaha factory announced they would enter a factory team in the 250cc and 500cc classes in 1973, and Jarno Saarinen would be their first rider, alongside Hideo Kanaya to compete on the newly developed YZR250 and YZR500.

The factory team also meant that he was provided with mechanics for his motorcycles, freeing him to concentrate on racing.

With Saarinen signed to a contract, and a new 4-cylinder 2-stroke YZR500 0W20, Yamaha was finally ready to challenge MV Agusta's sixteen-year reign in the 500cc class with a competitive package.

Saarinen's 1973 season started well, as he became the first European rider to win the prestigious Daytona 200 race in the United States on a Yamaha TZ 350 production racer, against much larger 750cc capacity opposition.

At the time, the Daytona 200 was considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world.

Saarinen was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jarno Saarinen was born and raised in Turku, South-West Finland.

At the age of 15 he worked as apprentice and test-rider for Tunturi-Puch, motorcycle factory in Turku where mopeds and motorcycles were assembled under licence from the Austrian Puch manufacturer.