IN FOR THE KILL
Yrjo Vesterinen: “I knew that I had the upper hand on Martin from this point on as we were now going to Sweden and Finland, my natural hunting ground. I came home second in Sweden as ‘Uffe’ Karlson’s Montesa broke Bultaco’s straight run of victories. Martin had another bad day and finished seventh, with Bernie third. I did exactly what I needed to do by winning at home in Finland. Martin was fourth, and his chances of taking the title had taken another massive blow.
“I had decided to use standard Betor rear shocks again, which worked a treat. The air shocks from that day on were reserved for muddy events.
“The season’s finale was, as in many previous years, at Ricany near Prague in Czechoslovakia. I had won there the year before and felt quietly confident. Even a fourth-place finish would be good enough for me to take the title. What I had not bargained for was that fate would step in the game! On Sunday morning, when the ballot for the start numbers took place, I drew number one out of an entry of about 100 riders. It was looking like a nightmare as most of the early sections were slippery virgin streams.
“Martin had a comfortable mid-entry start time. There was one thing I knew that would be on my side and possibly get me out of trouble. I was very fit, and I knew that I was not going to be the first one to get tired in a trial that would be long and demanding.
“At the first hazard, I waited, sat on a tree stump in the woods with a view over the first section. At first, no one wanted to ride and make it easier for the rest. After about 20 minutes, the first rider cracked and after half-an-hour about 20 to 30 riders had gone through. Martin had just turned up when I surfaced. He looked at me and realised what I had done. I had just taken an important step towards saving my Championship. Time was not on my side, but my fitness was. I rode pretty much flat out all through the trial to catch up, watching my trusted Omega slowly ticking away. Martin did what he needed to do by winning. It was not going to be quite enough for him to take the title though as I came home in third just behind Bernie. It was a brilliant day for the entire team. After a fiercely fought season, the third title was now mine; it was time to celebrate.
“In the evening I could see that Oriol Bulto, our ever patient and wise team manager, was clearly very satisfied with the season’s results as he was smiling broadly. In hindsight, it may have been practically impossible to win on any machine other than a Bultaco.”