Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128196
250cc World Enduro Champion Samu'i Aro Known to most only as the rider who won the '02 2S0cc WEC series, ttiis CH Racing Husqvarna pilot is the latest in a long line of Finnash MX converts to stamp his marl( on the World Enduro scene STORY AND PHOTOS BY JONTY EDMUNDS F lashback to 5:30 p.m. on the eve of the second day of the opening round of the '02 World Enduro Championships and it's pouring rain: While his 3-year-old son Empo happily pedals his Husqvarna-decaled bicycle through the many puddles outside the entrance of the CH Racing team's service area, Samuli Aro sits in his wet riding gear, deep in thought about the race just passed. Standing slowly as he starts to unbuckle his boots, he turns to his longtime girlfriend, pausing only to remove the chewing tobacco from his mouth. "I'm going to win the 250cc title this year," he tells her. "This year is going to be my year." Three months and five races later, Aro was crowned the 2002 World 250cc Enduro Champion. Aro is your typical Finn. Light-haired, polite and not overly muscular, his firm grasp of the English language enables him to communicate with all within the WEC paddock. Laid-back to the point of being horizontal, his ability to show no external emotion - even during the most pressurized of situations - helps him fit the "ice- Finland's Samuli Aro hit the road to follow the motocross GP circuit but found a home in the worid of on-road racing. Like many of the top riders on the Worid Enduro circuit, Aro Is down-to-earth, approachable and as friendly as they get. 32 .JANUARY 15, 2003' cue • e n • _ s cool" image that's grown up around so many of Finland's sporting greats. Passionate about his profession, yet never shy when it comes to enjoying a few cold beers after his working day is done, his transformation from hard-charging motocross rider to enduro elite has seen him become both a key rider within the CH Racing Husqvarna team and one of the most approachable and well-liked riders on the world enduro circuit today. Like so many of the world's best enduro riders, Aro started his motorcycle-riding career early. Following in his father's capable footsteps, a brief spell of "hobby riding" as a youngster in the late '70s was followed by a four-year biking drought. "When I was about 10, my schoolwork wasn't going so well, so my father decided to take my bike away until it improved," he recalls. "I got it back when I was 14, in the summer of '88." With his father happy that his schoolwork was back on track, Aro rose quickly through the Finnish motocross ranks, finishing fourth in the 125cc Junior Championship in '91 before going on to compete in selected rounds of the 125cc European ChampiOnship in '94. "I was racing against slow riders like Sebastien To rtell i and Brian Jorgansson," he jokes. What followed during Aro's bid to become a MX GP regular is typical of what happens to so many promising youngsters - he struggled against injury and a lack of sponsorship. "In '95 I was going to make six 250cc GPs," he recalls. "I rode the second race of the series, returned to Finland and broke my leg, so that was my season. In '96 and '97. I raced the 250cc World