At just 19 years of age, Julius Mikula is putting the Czech Republic back on the world motocross map. Riding the 250 SX-F for the Osicka KTM team, the young Czech has been consistently battling for top positions against factory riders and sits just five points outside the top ten in the MX2 World Championship at the halfway stage of the season. While riders such as Jakub Terešák, Petr Polák, and Vítězslav Marek have represented the Czech Republic on the international stage in recent years, none have shown this level of competitiveness.
Julius Mikula’s performances also give us the opportunity to look back 50 years to the story of Jaroslav Falta, arguably the greatest rider Czechoslovakia has ever produced—and certainly one of the most unjustly denied World Champions in motocross history.
Why was Jaroslav Falta never World Champion?
The situation heading into the final round of the 1974 250cc World Championship at Wohlen, Switzerland, was relatively straightforward. The championship was led by Soviet rider Guennady Moiseev, with Czechoslovakia’s Jaroslav Falta in second place. Moiseev held a 16-point advantage, meaning he only needed to finish second in both motos—even if Falta won both—to secure the world title.
However, attention was drawn to the last-minute entry of fellow Soviet rider Victor Popenko, who normally competed in the 500cc class and had even raced in that category on the morning of the final round. He had not taken part in 250cc practice, yet the Soviet team insisted on entering him into the 250cc class. The FIM jury overseeing the event ultimately saw no reason to object.
The opening moto started perfectly for Falta as he grabbed the holeshot and quickly pulled away at the front. Championship leader Moiseev, meanwhile, found himself dead last after suffering mechanical problems. Then the inevitable happened. As Falta caught him to put him a lap down, Moiseev deliberately blocked the Czech rider before colliding with him and knocking him to the ground.
Falta managed to remount in third place before passing the Russian once again and setting off after Harry Everts and Miroslav Halm. As the race progressed, the leading trio reached the backmarkers, including Soviet riders Evgenij Rybaltchenko and Pavel Rulev. While the two riders ahead of Falta were allowed through without issue, Falta was deliberately held up. The objective was clear: prevent the Czechoslovakian from finishing ahead and push him as far down the order as possible.
Despite constantly battling the two Soviet riders, Falta still finished the first moto in third place, well ahead of Moiseev, who failed to score after retiring due to suspension problems. Going into the second moto, just six points separated Moiseev and Falta in the championship.
During the break, the Czech team manager attempted to speak with the Soviet team manager, who refused to meet him. The Soviet riders dismissed everything as simple racing incidents. Everyone remained silent except one man—Pavel Rulev. He approached the Czechoslovakian team manager to apologise, admitting that the Soviet delegation had instructed their riders to “do everything” necessary to ensure Moiseev won the championship.
The Czechoslovakian team informed the FIM, but no action was taken. The governing body did not even wish to meet with the Soviet team manager. The race officials’ reports made no mention of any incidents between Falta and Moiseev, and tensions between the Soviet and Czechoslovakian camps continued to rise.
At the start of the second moto, Falta once again grabbed the holeshot. Moiseev was running fifth but was forced to retire once more, seemingly watching the world title slip away. By lap eight, as Falta worked his way through the lapped riders, he once again found himself caught in the Soviet trap—this time even more aggressively.
Rybaltchenko and Popenko even gestured to show Falta which side to pass them on, only to deliberately block him as soon as he committed. The crowd responded by loudly booing the Soviet riders before the infamous “Russian T-bone” occurred—a deliberate act of aggression. Popenko violently struck Falta on the exit of a corner, sending him off the circuit and crashing to the ground.
The spectators reacted instantly, throwing stones and relentlessly booing the Soviet riders, with some even attempting to physically stop them. Mechanics and team managers also became involved in an effort to unsettle Falta, who eventually rejoined the race after receiving assistance from the crowd. In the end, the Soviet riders were shown the black flag.
Falta charged back through the field. Kenneth Andersson, Joël Robert, Gaston Rahier, and Harry Everts all moved aside or offered little resistance as the crowd roared him on. After 40 minutes plus two laps, Falta crossed the finish line as the race winner.
At that moment, he was the 1974 250cc World Champion… but not for long.
Immediately after the second moto, the Soviet team manager lodged a protest against Falta, claiming he had jumped the starting gate. The FIM jury accepted the protest, reasoning that although every rider had done the same, Falta would receive a one-minute penalty—a sanction that did not even exist within the FIM Sporting Code at the time. The penalty dropped him back to eighth place in the moto.
Guennady Moiseev was therefore declared World Champion, but the matter was not yet settled because the Czech team manager immediately filed a counter-protest.
The problem was that the FIM jury declared itself unable to rule on the matter and postponed the case until the autumn congress. Under political pressure between Moscow and Prague, the Soviet Union demanded that the counter-protest be withdrawn, effectively forcing the Czechoslovak federation to choose between complying or risking its future within the federation.
In the end, Czechoslovakia backed down and withdrew the protest. The FIM therefore upheld the penalty given to Jaroslav Falta, meaning he would never officially become World Champion.
Jaroslav Falta continued racing until the early 1980s, winning a total of 16 motos and four 250cc Grands Prix. He also won the Los Angeles Supercross in 1974. Falta passed away on 27 March 2022 at the age of 71.
To this day, he remains the last Czech rider to stand on a podium in the 250cc Motocross World Championship.
