Jarno Saarinen

Jarno Saarinen
Nationality	Finnish
Born	(1945-12-11)11 December 1945 Turku, Finland
Died	20 May 1973(1973-05-20) (aged 27) Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1970 – 1973 First race 1970 250cc West German Grand Prix Last race 1973 250cc Nations Grand Prix First win 1971 350cc Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Last win 1973 250cc West German Grand Prix Team(s) Yamaha Championships 250cc – 1972 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 46 15 32 N/A 15

Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen (11 December 1945 – 20 May 1973) was a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is the only Finn to win a motorcycle road racing world championship. Saarinen died as a consequence of a crash involving another rider when racing in Italy.

Career

Saarinen on ice in 1963

Early in his career Saarinen won the Finnish ice track racing championship. Saarinen was also an accomplished motorcycle speedway racer. He had studied mechanical engineering and thus could modify his bike in addition to riding it. For example, in order for him to ride using his "hang-off" style, he lowered the handle bars and angled them downwards at an extreme angle.

Saarinen began his Grand Prix career during the 1970 season, at the age of 25. He finished fourth in the 250cc class, despite missing the last three races to return to his engineering degree studies - before a DNF at the Finnish TT he was tied for second. In 1971 Saarinen competed in both 250cc and 350cc classes. He won his first Grand Prix that year, claiming the 350cc class in Czechoslovakia. He finished third in 250cc World Championship and second in 350cc.

His success didn't go unnoticed as Yamaha signed him to ride its TD3 and TR3 bikes, For the 1972 season, Saarinen was given the second YZ635 works 250 after Barry Sheene complained about its performance at the third round in Austria and delivered as expected, winning the 250cc World Championship. He finished second in 350cc World Championship, giving defending champion Giacomo Agostini a strong challenge.

Yamaha developed a new, four cylinder, two-stroke 500cc bike for the 1973 season and chose Saarinen to ride it. Finally, Saarinen was ready to challenge Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read in the 500cc class with competitive equipment. 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 TZ350 against much larger-capacity opposition. Returning to Europe, he jumped to an early lead in the Grand Prix championships by winning his first 500cc race, then the premier racing class. His win was also the first win for the new, four cylinder Yamaha. Saarinen went on to win the first three 250cc rounds and the first two of three 500cc rounds, before suffering a broken chain in the third. It seemed he was on the brink of consolidating these titles, with the opportunity to compete in the 350cc class if or when the 250cc title was certain.

However, his 1973 season ended in tragedy on 20 May 1973, the fourth Grand Prix of the season held at Monza near Milan, Italy. Despite the installation of two new chicanes for cars during the previous year's Formula One season (placed before the Curva Grande and at Vialone) they were not used for motorcycle racing at Monza. The second-placed Renzo Pasolini fell in front of Saarinen. He couldn't avoid the fallen rider and the resulting crash caused a multiple rider pile up. In all, 14 riders were embroiled in the mayhem that resulted with Saarinen and Pasolini dead and many other riders seriously injured.^[1][2]

Over the years, the crash was subjected to significant controversy. The original cause of the crash was attributed to a spill left on the track during the 350cc race when Walter Villa's Benelli began leaking on the penultimate lap. Race officials failed to remove the spillage prior to the 250cc race, and one rider, John Dodds, made his concerns known to authorities, only to meet with threats of ejection from the circuit by police. However, some articles have appeared showing photos of Pasolini's bike consistent with engine seizure, locking the rear wheel and causing the crash.^[3]

Further the official inquiry into the accident, issued in September 1973 found that the cause of the accident was the seizure of the engine in the motorcycle of Renzo Pasolini.

Jarno Saarinen's grave in Turku, Finland.

After this incident took the lives of the two top competitors, the factory-teams of Suzuki, MV Agusta, Harley Davidson, and Yamaha joined together to fight for better race conditions. Yamaha went further by withdrawing from racing for the rest of the year to honour Saarinen's memory. However, only forty days later, three riders in a Juniors race were killed in the same turn. From that day until 1981, all motorcycle racing at Monza was banned. The tragedy saw the end of a racing regime which had not adjusted to changing times.

Jarno Saarinen's legacy continues to live on. There still is an active Saarinen fan club in Italy, and the name Jarno became very popular in Italy in the '70s, one well-known bearer being former Formula-1 driver Jarno Trulli. Saarinen remains the only Finn to have won a motorcycle road racing world championship, winning 15 Grand Prix during his career. In 2009, the F.I.M. inducted Saarinen into the MotoGP Hall of Fame.^[4]

Motorcycle Grand Prix results ^[5]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• Saarinen fan site
• Helsingin Sanomat featured an article on Saarinen on 20.11.1999
• A gallery of pictures from the road racing event held at Imatra, Finland in 1972. Includes a picture of the infamous Saarinen postage stamp printed in Equatorial Guinea.