Mika Ahola (13 December 1974 – 15 January 2012) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a ...

rider and a five-time world champion. He was also a seven-time winner of the

International Six Days Enduro The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), formerly known as the International Six Days Trial (ISDT), is the oldest 'off-road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar. The ISDT was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, ap ...

(ISDE) World Trophy with Team Finland, and was the fastest overall in the competition in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Ahola debuted in the

World Enduro Championship The FIM Enduro World Championship, formerly known as the World Enduro Championship, is the world championship series for enduro, a popular form of off-road motorcycle sport. The championship currently features three classes (E1, E2 and E3), along ...

in a Husqvarna in 1993, and became a regular title contender after joining the TM factory team in 1997. In 2001, he finished runner-up for the third time, after losing the final round in Sweden and the 500 cc world title to Anders Eriksson by 0.06 seconds and a single point, respectively. Ahola took three more wins than Eriksson, but a mechanical problem in the second round in Slovakia proved costly for his title chase. After another second placing in 2002 and a third in 2003, he briefly moved to Husqvarna until signing for

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

for the 2006 season, which saw him finish second to

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

Samuli Aro Samuli Aro (born 12 April 1975 in Järvenpää) is a Finnish enduro rider. He is a five-time World Enduro Champion and has also won the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) World Trophy with Team Finland five times. Aro debuted in the World End ...

in the E2 class. In 2007, Ahola took seven wins and finished on the podium in all but one event, beating compatriot Aro and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

Johnny Aubert Johnny Aubert (born 31 May 1980) is a French enduro rider and two-time world-champion. A former motocross rider, Aubert debuted in the World Enduro Championship riding for Yamaha in 2006. He claimed the world championship in the E2 class in the ...

to finally win the world championship. For the 2008 season, he moved to the E1 class and took his second world title ahead of KTM's

Iván Cervantes Iván Cervantes Montero (born 2 May 1982) is a Spanish motorcycle enduro racer from Cambrils (Tarragona) and a four-times world enduro champion. Career Cervantes started out as a motocross rider, a discipline in which he holds five Spanish natio ...

. Ahola went on to win a fourth consecutive title in 2010. In 2011, he moved to the E3 class and became the first rider to win the world championship in all the three current categories. Ahola debuted in the Barcelona Indoor Enduro in 2003, resulting fourth. He ended fourth again in 2004 and fifth in 2006. The rider entered the

FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship is an endurocross series held primarily in Europe since 2007. It is held from October to March, during the Northern Hemisphere winter and the Enduro World Championship off-season. Circuits are built inside st ...

in 2007/08, where he took two podiums and resulted third in points. In 2008/09 he got three podiums and ended fourth in the standings. The rider resulted sixth in 2009/10 with a best result of third. The Finn won a race and collected three podiums, to end third in points. Mika Ahola announced his retirement from enduro racing on New Year's Day 2012. Ahola died of internal injuries on 15 January 2012 at a hospital in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, a few weeks after crashing while training in

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

, Spain.

Career summary

ISDE

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahola, Mika 1974 births 2012 deaths Enduro riders Finnish motorcycle racers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Spain