2013 Tommi Ahvala Feature Interview
My thoughts before the interview
1992 Outdoor and 1993 Indoor World Champion Tommi Ahvala was a real hero of mine when I was growing up. I bought 2 brand new bikes because of this guy :) World Champions really do sell bikes :) Tommi's beautifully coloured and Italian styled Aprilia was breathtaking. Tommi's apparel matched the bike's glamour. They were both immaculately turned out in bright coloured livery that beat everything else out there. The package was incredible. It was the look that so perfectly encapsulated the 90's of the Retro Trials World. Bright, colourful and fun. The Italian's are World renowned for design and this for me was the Italian's shining. The increase in excitement which Tommi added to the Championship was significant. In 1990 he was 4th behind Tarres, Bosis and Miglio. This was Tommi announcing his arrival in the trials big league. At the end of the next year 1991, Tommi came a tantalizingly 2nd place behind Jordi. Jordi saw Tommi coming but Tommi played a different game to that of Jordi. Tommi's tactics relied less risk taking and concentrated on consistency and more consistency winding in the win, like a fish on the hook. |
2013 Tommi Ahvala Interview WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
Despite Tommi's super fast progression, Jordi had plenty of warning. For spectators this was a good thing. It added spice to the trials scene. Jordi Tarres had already won 4 Championships. It was only natural that the public wanted a challenger to fight Jordi hard for the throne and provide a real spectacle at the trial competitions.
One year later, Tommi Ahvala's glamourous Aprilia team's efforts and determination were rewarded. They stopped the Tarre's trials machine when he won the 1992 World Championship. It all came down to the final round in the USA and a real battle of nerves and keeping your own head in check. 
2013 Tommi Ahvala Feature Interview WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
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career success list
1985 – 1987 Finnish National Champion
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1995 3rd in world trials CHAMPIONSHIP 3rd in INDOOR world TRIALs CHAMPIONSHIP Scandinavian Champion
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Tommi's trials career and success would continue with the 1993 Indoor Trials title, beating the Spanish trials wizards and the huge wealthy sponsors in their own back yard.
Perhaps if you were Spanish or Finnish back then, it could have been like watching a football match. Did you want Jordi or did you want Tommi to win ?
Well, for me it was simple. I just wanted a close competition to make it really exciting to watch.
Tommi's line, perfect, exact and precise style of riding was coupled with an upright stance on the bike, that was distinctive and clinically efficient. He would pick off the sections one by one, accompanied by his brother and minder Jommi.
I would buy the Trials and Motocross news every week and Tommi was always portrayed as the steely Finn. His immense concentration and at times stern look on his face backed this up. It was a contrast to the Spanish big friendly smiles.
The Spanish media and trials stars had plenty of reason to push this image out. It's all down to the money honey :) The Spanish trials machine was huge. The Spanish sponsors were powerful and monied and they wanted pay back from their riders. The riders had to satisfy the craving for advertising. The home market for these companies was Spain, where a lot of Indoor trials were. They promoted their trials and their riders hugely. Riders themselves had their own teams and promoted themselves hugely. They were the good guys, Tommi was the bad guy - simple.
In a sport dominated by the Spanish, if you were from Finland and riding an Italian bike in Spain, surely you had it stacked against you ?
This above were my thoughts based upon the news clippings and the videos I have seen and the interviews I've conducted.
This website has a preferential interview list and from the very start Tommi was on it :)
In about July 2013 I managed to get in contact with Tommi Ahvala over email and I spoke with him about coming over to see him. Tommi sent me his telephone numbers explaining that he was going to be in the USA near to the time I had planned but that in a few weeks time he would know better. So I waited..........
A few weeks later I telephoned Tommi Ahvala ! For me this was a big deal. I was nervous before though out the day. I hadn't had this butterfly feeling since, well quite recently actually. You see, everyone I interview is a real big deal for me. To phone Tommi though was extra big ! Anyway, I picked up the phone and dialled. The long continental ringing tone was on the line as I waited for an answer, then someone picked up. My first reaction was ......... Tommi sounds just like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. He really does. His years in America have left a real strong accent and this mixed with the Finnish Scandinavian accent sounds really cool.
I think my nervousness perhaps showed on this first call, as it was quite formal and I put the telephone down thinking, that didn't go so well. I then starting researching Finnish personalities and discovered that they rarely enter into conversations with strangers, they're opinionated, dry and sarcastic. Now these are just the text book Finnish traits, but I could sort of see an explanation as to why the first conversation went this way. A few more emails later and a date and time was fixed. As time crept on we booked the flights from London to Helsinki along with hire car and hotel. A few days before our flight I send Tommi messages but he wasn't responding. He also wasn't answering his phone. This went on for days. I was getting worried that it wasn't going to happen. We had decided that if the interview wasn't going to happen we'd go there anyway and see the country, but secretly I was worried. Then ........the day before the flight a message from Tommi stating that he had been so so busy and that he was expecting us and that we should call him when we arrive in Finland. Phew - that was a close one !! A weight lifted from my shoulders. What was I in for. I had a feeling that this could be a difficult interview.
So we flew with the impressively efficient, clean and organised Norwegian airline and we arrived in Helsinki in the afternoon. The airport was immaculate. It was the best, the most prominent place there was a regular small supermarket (strange). The departures and arrivals were in the centre and around this were kilometer long concrete walled corridors decorated with aircraft engines and historic posters, huge statues, good interesting things. Everyone was blonde, polite and everyone spoke English. I could get used to this place. We got the car and we were away in a Skoda Citigo. Much better than the Chevy Spark we had a few weeks earlier.
Perhaps if you were Spanish or Finnish back then, it could have been like watching a football match. Did you want Jordi or did you want Tommi to win ?
Well, for me it was simple. I just wanted a close competition to make it really exciting to watch.
Tommi's line, perfect, exact and precise style of riding was coupled with an upright stance on the bike, that was distinctive and clinically efficient. He would pick off the sections one by one, accompanied by his brother and minder Jommi.
I would buy the Trials and Motocross news every week and Tommi was always portrayed as the steely Finn. His immense concentration and at times stern look on his face backed this up. It was a contrast to the Spanish big friendly smiles.
The Spanish media and trials stars had plenty of reason to push this image out. It's all down to the money honey :) The Spanish trials machine was huge. The Spanish sponsors were powerful and monied and they wanted pay back from their riders. The riders had to satisfy the craving for advertising. The home market for these companies was Spain, where a lot of Indoor trials were. They promoted their trials and their riders hugely. Riders themselves had their own teams and promoted themselves hugely. They were the good guys, Tommi was the bad guy - simple.
In a sport dominated by the Spanish, if you were from Finland and riding an Italian bike in Spain, surely you had it stacked against you ?
This above were my thoughts based upon the news clippings and the videos I have seen and the interviews I've conducted.
This website has a preferential interview list and from the very start Tommi was on it :)
In about July 2013 I managed to get in contact with Tommi Ahvala over email and I spoke with him about coming over to see him. Tommi sent me his telephone numbers explaining that he was going to be in the USA near to the time I had planned but that in a few weeks time he would know better. So I waited..........
A few weeks later I telephoned Tommi Ahvala ! For me this was a big deal. I was nervous before though out the day. I hadn't had this butterfly feeling since, well quite recently actually. You see, everyone I interview is a real big deal for me. To phone Tommi though was extra big ! Anyway, I picked up the phone and dialled. The long continental ringing tone was on the line as I waited for an answer, then someone picked up. My first reaction was ......... Tommi sounds just like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. He really does. His years in America have left a real strong accent and this mixed with the Finnish Scandinavian accent sounds really cool.
I think my nervousness perhaps showed on this first call, as it was quite formal and I put the telephone down thinking, that didn't go so well. I then starting researching Finnish personalities and discovered that they rarely enter into conversations with strangers, they're opinionated, dry and sarcastic. Now these are just the text book Finnish traits, but I could sort of see an explanation as to why the first conversation went this way. A few more emails later and a date and time was fixed. As time crept on we booked the flights from London to Helsinki along with hire car and hotel. A few days before our flight I send Tommi messages but he wasn't responding. He also wasn't answering his phone. This went on for days. I was getting worried that it wasn't going to happen. We had decided that if the interview wasn't going to happen we'd go there anyway and see the country, but secretly I was worried. Then ........the day before the flight a message from Tommi stating that he had been so so busy and that he was expecting us and that we should call him when we arrive in Finland. Phew - that was a close one !! A weight lifted from my shoulders. What was I in for. I had a feeling that this could be a difficult interview.
So we flew with the impressively efficient, clean and organised Norwegian airline and we arrived in Helsinki in the afternoon. The airport was immaculate. It was the best, the most prominent place there was a regular small supermarket (strange). The departures and arrivals were in the centre and around this were kilometer long concrete walled corridors decorated with aircraft engines and historic posters, huge statues, good interesting things. Everyone was blonde, polite and everyone spoke English. I could get used to this place. We got the car and we were away in a Skoda Citigo. Much better than the Chevy Spark we had a few weeks earlier.
2013 Tommi Ahvala Interview WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
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We got lost of course ! We ended up in down town Helsinki even with a sat nav. It wasn't my fault. It's never my wife's fault even though she was navigating :) We arrived at our beautiful island hotel. It was bright and sunny and boats were all around us. The hotel was amazingly clean, everything worked and I couldn't find a single thing wrong and I did try. The hotel doubled up as an Art museum and had a waterfall in the centre overlooked by a horse riding a horse - true :)
As requested, I picked up the phone and called Tommi. He answered Immediately. The time was 7pm and Tommi said that he was still at work. We explained that we'd meet the next day as planned and he said that was good but why don't you come over here now and take a look around. So a short while later we were in the car and there at Tommi's industrial unit on the edge of Helsinki. |