frigbo Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 News gathering on social media that former Birmingham, Wimbledon and Swindon rider Ari Koponen has sadly passed away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 5 hours ago, frigbo said: News gathering on social media that former Birmingham, Wimbledon and Swindon rider Ari Koponen has sadly passed away. That is sad news if confirmed. Saw Ari ride many times and, if I recall, was the brother-in-law of Kai Niemi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 Reported in the local press that Ari has died aged 58. RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YerRopes Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 Very sad news indeed, way to young an age ! RIP Ari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 I always like Ari when he was at Swindon. He was always popular with the ladies, too, possibly due to the fact that he wouldn't have looked out of place in the band A-Ha! He was a classic case of a rider who could score next to nothing one week and then hit double figures the next. Two meetings come to mind. One was at Coventry, when he broke the track record. That rather stunned everyone and led to discussions about whether or not the timekeeper got it wrong! Another is when he clattered into the safety fence on bed two at Swindon, right next to where I was standing. It was one of those crashes where you could hear metal against metal. A very nasty crash, and one that had first aid people running over to assist him, and help him gingerly make his way back to the pits. He then came out and won all his remaining rides. I was sad to hear this - particularly as he was only 58. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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