1971
1973
1974
1977
1978
1979
1993
1998
2000
2002
2007
Cultivating vegetables
"We were expecting you yesterday. I will go and call my dad."
A few moments later we hear the thudding sound of a tractor in the distance which is coming towards the farm.
"Hé, manneke, hoe is't in België?" he utters in broken Flemish, but that greeting is all the bearded Finn knows. Fortunately his English is much better.
“I’m just about to take a load of potatoes into town but in the meantime if you like, go and take a swim in the lake behind the house. Or if you are hungry go and pick a punnet of strawberries with the children.
In spite of the tropical temperatures which dominated Europe this summer, the water was ice cold, but a refreshing dive after the long drive was a lovely way to cool down. After a while our host comes to get us and takes us to his small shop where he sells all kinds of fruit, vegetables and produce. It strikes us immediately that Heikki Mikkola is still the same person as in the seventies, when he went through life as the best Finnish motocross rider of all time when almost, by chance, he became ill in the spring of 1970 in the area of Paal Belgium and made lots of friends while he was there. Afterwards Mikkola would become known as "The Flying Finn". He built a special bond with our small country where he sometimes felt more Belgian than Finnish. The fine fringe of beard still decorates his face while his body is also still in good shape.
Mikkola: "This is now my life," he says, pointing to the beans, potatoes and strawberries, which are displayed on the stall before him. Our shop is on the main road from Helsinki to the lake area in the district Hämeenlinna, in the triangle of Forssa - Karkkila - Hämeenlinna. Everyone who goes to their cottage for the weekend stops here for fresh fruit and vegetables. When they return to the capital on Sunday evening they pull up again because here everything is fresh from the land whereas in Helsinki it’s sometimes days old and much more expensive. That means Sundays we stay open till the early evening. Officially that’s 8pm but often it’s later. People often chat, but I don’t mind. To grow all this produce with my own bare hands has simply become my life."
MR: Was it easy to retire from motocross?
Mikkola: "At first it was hard to change my life style. Just to start living differently. After all, I had ridden motocross for 17 years and you can’t get that out of your system so quickly. I was lucky when Yamaha came to me with a proposal to become team manager. This way I could adapt gradually. When one of my racing drivers won a race, it just felt like I’d partly won that race myself. This way I still empathised with motocross.
When Yamaha stopped business with the factory teams I had to give up this successful team. This was an enormous disappointment for me. I had two splendid years with Neil Hudson and Danny Laporte,
A few moments later we hear the thudding sound of a tractor in the distance which is coming towards the farm.
"Hé, manneke, hoe is't in België?" he utters in broken Flemish, but that greeting is all the bearded Finn knows. Fortunately his English is much better.
“I’m just about to take a load of potatoes into town but in the meantime if you like, go and take a swim in the lake behind the house. Or if you are hungry go and pick a punnet of strawberries with the children.
In spite of the tropical temperatures which dominated Europe this summer, the water was ice cold, but a refreshing dive after the long drive was a lovely way to cool down. After a while our host comes to get us and takes us to his small shop where he sells all kinds of fruit, vegetables and produce. It strikes us immediately that Heikki Mikkola is still the same person as in the seventies, when he went through life as the best Finnish motocross rider of all time when almost, by chance, he became ill in the spring of 1970 in the area of Paal Belgium and made lots of friends while he was there. Afterwards Mikkola would become known as "The Flying Finn". He built a special bond with our small country where he sometimes felt more Belgian than Finnish. The fine fringe of beard still decorates his face while his body is also still in good shape.
Mikkola: "This is now my life," he says, pointing to the beans, potatoes and strawberries, which are displayed on the stall before him. Our shop is on the main road from Helsinki to the lake area in the district Hämeenlinna, in the triangle of Forssa - Karkkila - Hämeenlinna. Everyone who goes to their cottage for the weekend stops here for fresh fruit and vegetables. When they return to the capital on Sunday evening they pull up again because here everything is fresh from the land whereas in Helsinki it’s sometimes days old and much more expensive. That means Sundays we stay open till the early evening. Officially that’s 8pm but often it’s later. People often chat, but I don’t mind. To grow all this produce with my own bare hands has simply become my life."
MR: Was it easy to retire from motocross?
Mikkola: "At first it was hard to change my life style. Just to start living differently. After all, I had ridden motocross for 17 years and you can’t get that out of your system so quickly. I was lucky when Yamaha came to me with a proposal to become team manager. This way I could adapt gradually. When one of my racing drivers won a race, it just felt like I’d partly won that race myself. This way I still empathised with motocross.
When Yamaha stopped business with the factory teams I had to give up this successful team. This was an enormous disappointment for me. I had two splendid years with Neil Hudson and Danny Laporte,
whereby both became world champions. Yamaha wanted to keep me, but I would have had to go to Japan and that was out of the question for me. This was the end of motocross once and for all."
At the end of 1970 Mikkola had surprisingly won three GPs which got him promptly a factory contract with Husqvarna. Till the end of ‘76 he would stay with the Swedish name. In 1974 and ’76 it got him a world crown, first in the half litre class and then in the quarter litre. Then this last title provided him with a contract with the make of the crossed tuning forks and while with them managed to rope in another two 500cc titles. We’re talking about 1977 and ‘78. From 1971 up to 1979 he finished every year within the top five of the world championships, which made him straightaway one of the greatest motocross riders of all time. With his unbridled dedication the Flying Finn became popular with the spectators. This made him the public’s favourite when he appeared in national motocross events such as the “Witte Mannekens” in Lummen, the Easter trophy or other preseason classics.
MR: In comparison with the motocross the farm is nevertheless an enormous switch?
Mikkola: "For me work has become a hobby. When I wake up in the morning and I can go to the fields with my family and am well satisfied."
At the end of 1970 Mikkola had surprisingly won three GPs which got him promptly a factory contract with Husqvarna. Till the end of ‘76 he would stay with the Swedish name. In 1974 and ’76 it got him a world crown, first in the half litre class and then in the quarter litre. Then this last title provided him with a contract with the make of the crossed tuning forks and while with them managed to rope in another two 500cc titles. We’re talking about 1977 and ‘78. From 1971 up to 1979 he finished every year within the top five of the world championships, which made him straightaway one of the greatest motocross riders of all time. With his unbridled dedication the Flying Finn became popular with the spectators. This made him the public’s favourite when he appeared in national motocross events such as the “Witte Mannekens” in Lummen, the Easter trophy or other preseason classics.
MR: In comparison with the motocross the farm is nevertheless an enormous switch?
Mikkola: "For me work has become a hobby. When I wake up in the morning and I can go to the fields with my family and am well satisfied."
Life without motocross
MR: Do you still follow motocross?
Mikkola: "Not really. After a long career I’m full to bursting of motocross, as it were. It’s not that I no longer enjoy watching motocross, but my business is in full flow at harvest time and this coincides with the summer motocross season. I even rarely visit the Finnish GP. As entertainment I have other hobbies such as fishing, hunting or simply relaxing in the bungalow at one of the large lakes here or thereabouts. For ten years I lived as a professional motocross rider, but now that can no longer be. Sometimes I don’t understand how some of my colleagues can remain so obsessed by motocross after all these years and how the sport still stays part of them."
MR: If they were to offer you a job as a team manager again, would you accept it?
Mikkola: "I don’t think so. All that travelling. I have travelled more than enough."
MR: It must have been adventurous at that time?
Mikkola: "You bet! At that time motorways did not exist as yet, so it took you days from Finland to Belgium”. Mikkola also doesn’t really get enthusiastic about participating in a veteran show. When he was announced in Roggenburg at the MDN, Mikkola
Mikkola: "Not really. After a long career I’m full to bursting of motocross, as it were. It’s not that I no longer enjoy watching motocross, but my business is in full flow at harvest time and this coincides with the summer motocross season. I even rarely visit the Finnish GP. As entertainment I have other hobbies such as fishing, hunting or simply relaxing in the bungalow at one of the large lakes here or thereabouts. For ten years I lived as a professional motocross rider, but now that can no longer be. Sometimes I don’t understand how some of my colleagues can remain so obsessed by motocross after all these years and how the sport still stays part of them."
MR: If they were to offer you a job as a team manager again, would you accept it?
Mikkola: "I don’t think so. All that travelling. I have travelled more than enough."
MR: It must have been adventurous at that time?
Mikkola: "You bet! At that time motorways did not exist as yet, so it took you days from Finland to Belgium”. Mikkola also doesn’t really get enthusiastic about participating in a veteran show. When he was announced in Roggenburg at the MDN, Mikkola
The strong Finn was one of the figureheads which made Husqvarna world famous.