Finland was famous for World Championship events in the 125cc (Kuopio), 250cc (Hyvinkää, Heinola) and 500cc (Ruskeasanta) classes. All have vanished and only staying alive is the Finnish MX3 round. Mikkola is still a hero (not only in Finland) and the best Grand Prix events were his fights with De Coster, Wolsink, Malherbe, Lackey and co.

A new kid on the block is Harri Kullas (19), fans and insiders hope he could be on his way to become the next Finnish motocross World Champion. Kullas is member of the strong Team Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy that brings the equipment and environment for Kullas to grow and improve.

Kullas sure is no newcomer to the sport, he has been racing motocross since he was 7 years old. If you check his website you’ll notice that Kullas has a double nationality: Finnish and Estonian. Finland and Estonia have a similar history when people from the Hungary area fled to the north, some formed Estonia and others traveled a bit further and formed Finland. The two languages are similar and people can easily communicate with each other.

Dutchman Harry van Hemmen -the senior mx journalist- considers Finland his second home country since he traveled there (by car) to his first Ruskeasanta 500cc GP in 1976. And he worked for a Finnish company during 18 years.

To get to know him better Harry met Harri and the result you can read on these pages.

For insiders it is no news that Kullas is both Finnish and Estonian. Harri Kullas sr and wife are born Estonians but when the domination by the Russians heated up they moved to Finland where senior was already earning his living. Harri Kullas sr was a motocross rider himself on East block bikes like CZ, meaning the love for motocross was transferred to his son. Although junior tried many sports at a young age to find out which one he loved best, he followed his father’s footsteps.

“I am born and raised in Helsinki where I visited High school. At the age of seven I could not race in Finland as the age limit there is twelve. That is why I raced at the other side of the Gulf of Finland, in Estonia and Latvia, in my younger years. My first ride was on my friends Honda and then on my own KTM from 50 to 65 to 85 all the way up through the mini ranks to 125cc.”

“At a young age I already raced in Germany against Ken Roczen. My father had a car but needed to borrow a caravan to be able to travel through the Baltic States and Poland to Germany. That was quite a trip in those days. I remember we had a muddy race in Germany and I won but when I got to the podium they said I was fifth. We guys from the north managed to do all the laps in these muddy conditions while most of the locals were struggling to get round. I think Roczen was one of them as he was so small from what I remember.”

At the age of twelve Harri’s racing career got into higher gear and he concentrated on Finland. As soon as he reached the age of fifteen he moved on to the European youth championships. He could not do all races but with age came success; in 2009 he won the EMX2 in Schwedt, Germany and finished second behind Herlings at Vantaa just outside Helsinki.

I remember seeing Kullas for the first time at the Finnish EMX2 in 2009 and what caught my eye was his smooth style. What also impressed was the way he easily made contact with the public and talking with the media went natural. He spoke with an open mind in good English and he laughed a lot. This is quite unusual for a Fin so it must be Harri’s Estonian genes making the difference. We, regular Finland visitors, have this expression for the usually reserved Fins: “In Finland people don’t laugh because the police will give you a ticket when you do.”

Harri Kullas progressed through the European Championships, started to win Finnish races and also in Europe he was seen on the podium. Sixth place in the EMX2 of 2009, the year where he was struggling with injury, was his reward.

“In 2009 I had good fights with Antti Pyrhönen in the Finnish SX races, he won 2 and I won 1 race so I finished second. Last year I hardly had any competition as Antti was out with injuries during the whole year and I became Finnish champion. This year Antti is back and we had one race so far at his home track in Hyvinkää where I beat him.”

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