to regain second place afterwards. The contract for 1980 was ready, but it no longer appealed to me». As a young man, Mikkola was more of an all-round sportsman than a pure cross-specialist. He played baseball, skiing, track and field and various motor sports. In 1966 he was Finnish enduro champion, in 1967 he became national ice racing champion and in 1970 he was champion in snow-mobile. That same year, he finished fourth in the World Cup. 250 cc. He was still a private driver at the time. He will not easily forget the day of the Grand Prix of Belgium, which was then held in Paal. He was ill and had to give up after one round, with a fever of 39 degrees. Looking for a hotel was beyond his means. He spent the night in his camionet and the next day he was noticed by Georges Meekers, at whose house the then completely unknown Mikkola with his wife and brother-in-law was parked. Mr. Meekers provided the three with shelter for five days until «the quiet, good little fellow» had recovered sufficiently to start the return journey. For a while Georges Meekers did not hear from Mikkola anymore. At the end of the season, he was suddenly at the door again. Before returning to Finland to spend the winter, he had taken a detour to thank the «Good Samaritan». Since then, Georges became Mikkola's most ardent supporter. Behind his new building in Beringen, he built a sauna for the Finnish host family (daughter Hanna and son Antti are now 10 and 5 years old), who during the first summers still «camped» in a caravan

and later rented an apartment in the same street. Especially since his transfer to Yamaha in 1977, Mikkola has become a wealthy citizen. The world champion 1974, 1976 (250 cc), 1977 and 1978 may call himself the owner of a house, a hunting lodge and a few extensive pieces of land of together 110 hectares, where he is now busy chopping wood every day. Hunting and skiing (cross country) are his favorite sports. He finds that he no longer has to participate in the competition as a relief. «I couldn't miss motorsport, though,» he says. «I owe everything to it and the friends and the atmosphere are dear to me. Next season I will go to nine of the twelve Grand Prix as a team advisor for Yamaha. The intention is that I take care of the public relations, the contacts with the press, etc.The factory has also asked me to be a test pilot for normal production machines. For the Finnish federation, I will be coming to Belgium in the spring to lead a practice camp where the ten best Finnish riders will participate. There are also plans for Yamaha motocross schools in Belgium, France, England, Sweden and Germany». It looks like Heikki has no intention of retreating to his farm in the woods. He looks forward to the work that awaits him on the line. Apparently he has already empathized with his role as a p.r. man. «The 1980 world champion will be Hakan Carlqvist. That is 90 percent certain for me,» he says. A bold prediction that he never dared to give to himself «in his time» regarding his own chances.