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18 - A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen |
Did you learn things from Charles?
Absolutely. Charles should have been a multi World Champion. He had the ability and technically he had everything you have to have to be World Champion but quite often Charles struggled with his nerves, that's pretty much the only reason why Charles didn't become World Champion. I would like to ask Charles exactly his take on this but he did very well, he won several World rounds and he won so so many French championships. He was lucky being French in that the market was big and was not divided as it was in the UK. In the UK, we had the Lampkin Brothers, Rathmall, Andrews, Dave Thorpe, Rob Shepherd, Rob Edwards just to name a few so the trials market was divided in this way.
Absolutely. Charles should have been a multi World Champion. He had the ability and technically he had everything you have to have to be World Champion but quite often Charles struggled with his nerves, that's pretty much the only reason why Charles didn't become World Champion. I would like to ask Charles exactly his take on this but he did very well, he won several World rounds and he won so so many French championships. He was lucky being French in that the market was big and was not divided as it was in the UK. In the UK, we had the Lampkin Brothers, Rathmall, Andrews, Dave Thorpe, Rob Shepherd, Rob Edwards just to name a few so the trials market was divided in this way.
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen. photo Colin Boniface
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A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen.
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All of these guys were eating into the same cake. In France, it was King Charles alone, he was clearly in a class of his own and he didn't have to share his earnings with anybody and me unfortunately for me the market in Finland was that small nobody could make a living out of the proceeds of the sale of bikes. In Finland, my only way to be successful was to win on a world level.
How did your parents feel about you going to foreign lands and disappearing for months and months on end?
I have the freedom to do what I wanted to do so there weren’t too many questions that were asked.
What is your favourite memory of the Bulto family?
How did your parents feel about you going to foreign lands and disappearing for months and months on end?
I have the freedom to do what I wanted to do so there weren’t too many questions that were asked.
What is your favourite memory of the Bulto family?
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen
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A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen
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Retrotrials was given a unique tour of the Bulto family home San Antonio. The first Bultaco's were designed here. The first Sherpa was made here. Francisco Xavier Bulto , the founder of Bultaco lived here. Its an incredible and historic place, far far more significant and important than any other motorcycle place I can think of. The report and tour is elsewhere on this web , but i'll tell you now , some secrecy surrounds this place and the family want it kept this way , so i oblige.
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen
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I'll tell you about the time I met snr Bulto. In hindsight, now looking back, he was probably the first aristocrat that I'd ever met. I didn't really know what an aristocrat meant at that time, I've never really thought about it. I realise there was something special about him and that he wasn't just a normal man of moto. He was special. Wherever he went people would show a huge amount of respect, his presence commanded a lot of respect, wherever he went. Ignacio Bulto Sagnier, but I think in hindsight and I do think that Ignacio would admit this if you ask him the question, what let you down is the answer to this question, is that you tried to do a bit of everything instead of concentrating on trials, only on motocross only on whatever he did. He did a bit of everything and as a consequence he probably compromised his career. Oriel Bulto was snr Bultos nephew. Oriel is a highly educated proper Spanish gentleman and also a very wise man. He had the right approach, he would never ever ever slap you in the face, slap you on the wrist or something. He was a very supportive man who looked after his riders on a very equal basis. He was very fair.
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What's your recollection of the Bultaco factory?
Well, my first recollection was that I couldn't believe the location, where it was. It looks like a fairly derelict sort of thing. I didn't really know what to expect and it came to me as a bit of a shock. It wasn't quite what I expected. I expected more of a square building and something that looked like a factory, but it wasn't like that at all. It was like a crumbling set of buildings with some narrow alleyways and little departments here there and everywhere.
Well, my first recollection was that I couldn't believe the location, where it was. It looks like a fairly derelict sort of thing. I didn't really know what to expect and it came to me as a bit of a shock. It wasn't quite what I expected. I expected more of a square building and something that looked like a factory, but it wasn't like that at all. It was like a crumbling set of buildings with some narrow alleyways and little departments here there and everywhere.
A detailed career interview with 3 x World motorcycle Trials Champion Yrjö Vesterinen