Jaroslav Falta

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Jaroslav Falta

Nationality	Czech

Motocross career
Active years	1970s
Teams	CZ
Wins	4

Jaroslav Falta (born 22 March 1951) is a former motocross racer from the former Czechoslovakia. As a member of the CZ factory racing team, Falta was one of the top motocross racers of the early 1970s in the F.I.M. 250cc motocross World Championships.^[1] He almost won the 1974 250cc world championship, however Russian riders used questionable tactics during the final race of the season to secure the title for Guennady Moisseev. Spectators moved the fences in to tighten the circuit as to restrict Falta.^[2] Falta is remembered for winning the 1974 Super Bowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum, against some of the best riders in the world.

When Jaroslav Falta was racing, the situation in his country was not really favourable, but his talent, commitment and his desire to win made him race among the best motocross riders from that time and he conquered some important victories. In 1974, he was the runner up of the FIM Motocross World Championship in the 250cc class, behind Russian Guennady Moiseev.

Jaroslav Falta was loyal to the Czech bikes and he showed the world that they were winning machines after achieving four Grand Prix victories against the likes of factory riders such as Harry Everts, Joel Robert, Guennady Moiseev, Hakan Andersson and Gaston Rahier. In 1974, Falta also went to the USA to race some events of the Inter-AMA series together with his teammate Zdenek Velky and their trainer Hrebecek. Surprisingly, Falta clinched an astonishing victory in Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 65.000 motocross fans. In fact, Falta’s performance in the USA is still remembered today by some Americans.

Jaroslav Falta has been a referent for many riders and a model to follow for loads of fans. Michel Turk, President of Motor-Union Luxembourg, admitted: “With his win in LA, Jaroslav Falta gave me the "last kick" to decide that I wanted to be an MX racer in 1975. I want to thank Jaroslav for the wonderful time he has given me. I admire him very much and I want to thank Jaroslav for being my hero for many years as a young boy, and I hope to meet him somewhere in a near future.”

Jaroslav Falta is from a tiny village in the Czech Republic, but he represents a big name for its country due to his accomplishments on his Czech machine. In some occasions, Falta has admitted that his worldwide tour was also seen as a great advertisement campaign for the CZ brand and his country itself. In fact, he has even mentioned that sometimes he feels that foreign fans know him better than the Czech’s.

However, in the Czech Republic there are several publications narrating Falta’s career, such as the book “Ukradený titul” written by Ivo Helikar, sport editor of CMN and the son of one of Falta’s trainers, Frantisek Helikar. Moreover, there are also some English versions thanks to the translation of Martina Faltova, Jaroslav’s daughter. At the moment, Jaroslav Falta lives in a quite village outside Prague and he is still in touch with motocross, restoring old bikes and visiting some motocross races, as he showed last year attending the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic in Loket.

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External links

Authority control	VIAF: 169560255

Persondata
Name	Falta, Jaroslav
Alternative names
Short description	Czechoslovak motocross racer
Date of birth	22 March 1951
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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