Tauno Olavi Nurmi (25 April 1922 in

Kangasala is a town in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies to the east of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Kangasala is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population of approximat ...

– 18 December 2014 in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

) was a Finnish motorcycle racing driver, an innovator and an accomplished veteran athlete.Ville Vasaramäki, "Opettaja, tekniikan uranuurtaja ja menestynyt veteraaniurheilija" (eulogy), ''Aamulehti'', 4.1.2015

Life

In 1944, during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

between Finland and the Soviet Union, Nurmi took part in the battles at the Teikar Island (currently in Russian

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

) and was injured in battle.

Technical innovator

Nurmi started his career in

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

as a planner for

Valtion lentokonetehdas ''Valtion lentokonetehdas'' (State aircraft factory) was a Finnish aircraft manufacturing company that was founded on 23 February 1928 from the IVL or I.V.L. factory (Ilmailuvoimien lentokonetehdas, Finnish Air Force Aircraft Factory), founded in ...

(Finnish State Aircraft Factory) and as a teacher of Technical Studies at Parantolaopisto and later at

Pälkäne Pälkäne () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which . The population density is . Onkkaala is the adm ...

School. Besides his occupation as a teacher, Tauno Nurmi maintained an active career as an independent innovator in the technical field, especially in engine technology, for most of his life. His work was supported financially by several international oil companies as well as the Finnish government. Nurmi's accomplishments as an innovator and a technician supersede those as a racing driver. His independently constructed V8 Premier racing motorcycle received global interest in its time. The V8 Premier was a 350cc V8-powered 4-stroke motorcycle engine with a V angle of 90°. The engine was air-cooled and each of its cylinders had its own carburetor.

Racing driver

Tauno Nurmi was one of the pioneers of

motorcycle racing The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

and construction in Finland. He started his career as a TT motorcycle racer by winning the Estonian Nationals at the Pirita track in the 500 cm3 series. In the World Cup, he achieved several finishing positions in the top 10 and these international achievements entitled him to win bronze in 1962 and 1963, and silver in 1966 in the Finnish Cup. He was awarded with the gold medal by the Finnish Motor Association in 1965.

Masters athlete

Later in life, Tauno Nurmi became an active athlete in different masters sports events, competing especially in

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...

. He won several medals in speed skating until the men's 85 series on the World, European and National level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nurmi, Tauno 1922 births 2014 deaths Finnish motorcycle racers Finnish male speed skaters Sportspeople from Kangasala 20th-century Finnish sportsmen