Copyright Jan Burgers printed on 250gsm Kodak paper:
 
After debuting in the 1970 German 250cc GP, Jarno Saarinen won the 1972 world 250cc championship with some factory support from Yamaha. He was soon signed by the Yamaha factory to spearhead its ground-breaking water-cooled, two-stroke four-cylinder YZR500 that would eventually break the stranglehold of the all dominate MV four-strokes, ironically in the hands of Giacomo Agostini, not Jarno.
 
To say Saarinen was dominant in 1973 is an understatement. He made the invincible Agostini and the venerable Phil Read look  ̶  how does one say this  ̶  slow. At the ’73 Daytona 200 in March, Saarinen won by 38 seconds from Yamaha TZ530 teammate and crew chief for the week, Kel Carruthers, having slowed from a 50-second lead late in the race. At the Imola 200 a month later, he won the first 100-mile (160.544km) leg from Bruno Spaggiari (Ducati) by over 40 seconds and the second leg from Walter Villa (Kawasaki) by 34 seconds.
 
At the opening 500cc grand prix of the year at Paul Ricard, Saarinen, in his premier class debut, defeated the MV Agusta of Read by 16 seconds after MV team-mate Ago had fallen trying to catch the lightning fast Finn.
 
Jarno increased the gap at a wet and cold Salzburgring, finishing 25 seconds ahead of Yamaha teammate Hideo Kanaya. Big wins weren’t uncommon in the era, but there was something quite different about this hard-riding 500 debutante.
 
His winning margins in the first three 250cc grands prix of 1973 were 28, 13 and 22 seconds. Despite his dominance, Saarinen didn’t intend to race for much longer.
 
In a revealing interview conducted by respected English journalist John Brown in early 1973, Jarno said: "Racing is risky and when you have to race all the time like I have to, this risk grows. For two, three years, even four, it is possible to keep racing without getting badly hurt or even killed. After that, the odds start to shorten. I have no intention of racing many more years. Another two or three at the most."