Notes:
Finnish motorcycling legend and reigning Enduro World Champion Mika Ahola, aged 37, died of internal injuries at 19h28 on Sunday, 15 January 2012 night at the Clínica Teknon in Barcelona, a few weeks after a training crash at Girona, Spain.

Date of accident is still uncertain, it happened in late December of 2011 at the "Rutas de Enduro" track, created in Girona by Xevi and Marc Puigdemont. The crash left Mika Ahola with severe internal injuries. According to eyewitnesses reports, after crashing Mika Ahola had left the track on his feet. However, his conditions worsened and he spent several weeks in the hospital. He was on life support and the doctors removed a kidney but he later succumbed to his injuries.

The Finnish rider had his debut at the age of 17 and started his professional career in 1993, competing in the World Enduro Championship with team Husqvarna. Then he moved to Italy, living longtime at Pesaro and then at Varese and Piacenza, earning the nickname of "Lupo" (as in "Wolf"). From 1996 to 2001 Ahola raced for team TM Moto, the company created in Pesaro, Italy, by Claudio Flenghi and Francesco Battistelli. In 2002 he joined VOR Motorcycles (Vertemati Offroad Racing Motorcycles) located in Triuggio, province of Milan, Italy, before returning to team Husqvarna Enduro managed by Fabrizio Azzalin in 2004. Finally, by the end of 2005 Mika Ahola was signed up by HM-Honda-Zanardo backed Jolly Racing team.

Despite many top-three championship results in previous years, it wasn’t until his 14th season in the World Enduro Championship that Mika Ahola won his first title, by then age 33. He won five consecutive Enduro World Championships all with the HM-Honda-Zanardo team, from 2007 to 2011. He won two titles in both E1 and E2 and finally in the E3 class in 2011, becoming the oldest-ever Enduro World Champion, and also the first rider to win across three different classes.

Mika Ahola also won the FIM-ISDE Enduro title three times outright and seven times as part of the Finnish national team between 1994 and 2009. He scored six wins in the classic Finnish enduro competition, the Tour de Lake Päijänne.

Despite he had signed a new contract with JTG-Jotagas team of Jordi Tarrés and Miki Arpa Bultó - nephew of Francisco Bultó, founder of Bultaco Motorcycles -, leaving team Honda-Zanardo for the 2012 season, Mika Ahola suddenly wrapped up his illustrious career in the sport on New Year's Day. Announcing his retirement from racing, he said: "I have fulfilled my ambitions and I feel that it is time to move on and see what else the world has to offer". It is not clear whether his state of health played a role in his decision.

Mika Ahola was survived by his wife Marika, who during his whole career acted as his team manager, mechanic and timekeeper. His first of 71 World Enduro Championship wins occurred in 1997.


Mika Ahola’s racing palmarès (incomplete):

• Magazine Motosprint, issue of 14 January 2012, pages 32/35.
• Magazine Motosprint, issue of 31 January 2012, page 12.
• Website FIM - Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, page http://www.fim-live.com/fr/medias/actualites/detail-actualite/article/1326726824-mort-de-mika-ahola/ .
• Website Eurosport-Yahoo Sport, article "Enduro champion Ahola dies in crash", page http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16012012/58/enduro-champion-ahola-dies-crash.html .
• Website Helsingin Sanomat, page http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Mika+Ahola+ends+his+career+in+enduro+biking/1135270121566 .
• Website Moto-1, article "Mika Ahola ha fallecido esta noche", page http://www.clubmoto1.com/actualidad/noticias/mika-ahola-ha-fallecido-esta-noche citing Agencia EFE.
• Website Motorcycle USA, article "Reigning WEC Champion Mika Ahola Dies", page http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/670/12007/Motorcycle-Article/Reigning-WEC-Champion-Mika-Ahola-Dies.aspx .
• Website Honda Proracing, page http://www.hondaproracing.com/world_enduro/riders/?rider=mika_ahola .
• E-mail by Ed Lankhaar, dated 17 January 2012.