Grand opening at Finnish museum
As might be expected, the road riding season in Finland is quite short and bracketed either end by the beginning and end of winter. When the weather starts to improve there is a big celebration from all riders and nowhere more so than the Riku Motor Museum in Lahti...
This fabulous place, which opened in May 2011, in an old wood mill in a stunning setting on a lakeside, hosted an event with Finnish motorcycle stars and a special theme. For 2012 the theme was the 40th anniversary of Jarno Saarinen’s world championship. Destined for much more, the talented rider was involved in a crash at Monza the following year and lost his life.
Pictured, from left to right, are: Pertti Karha, multiple Finnish enduro champion; Martti Pesonen, International road racer. Behind Martti is Jari Saarinen, Jarno’s brother, next is Heikki Mikkola, Tepi Lansivuori, Soili Karme (Jarno’s widow), Riku Routo, owner of the museum; Pentti Korhonen, Yrjo Vesterinen; Kenneth Calenius, multiple Finnish sidecar champion; Jussi Vesterinen, multiple Finnish champion with Kenneth as the passenger.
