Career
After having ridden a few years in Team Arai/Global Racing, he joined Team Honda G Cross in 2005. His team mates included South Africa"s Greg Minnaar who had been Lehikoinen"s team mate since 2001. The event took place in Balneario Cambrio in Brazil.
Lehikoinen placed 6th in the overall rankings of the 2006 Downhill World Cup.
After the season Matti signed a deal with Mississippi-Intense Racing, to become the leading rider of the team replacing Chris Kovarik. Soon after that he suffered a serious crash while training and fractured several vertebrae.
By season 2008 he is fully recovered and placed 9th in the World Cup race in Vallnord, Andorra. He recently crashed at the sixth World Cup race in Canberra, Australia.
In this terrible crash, he broke both of his wrists and resulted in some very complicated fractures.
A 6 hours operation was followed and a total of 12 screws, 3 metal plates, 3 pins were placed. Matti rehabilitated at the Red Bulletin training center in Austria and said to have 50% of his wrists movement back. Matti has now fully recovered and was offered a deal from Evil Bikes for the 2009 WC downhill season.
During a World Cup Finals in Bromont, the 7th race of the season, Lehikoinen crashed on the sequence of drops resulting in a fractured collarbone and pelvis.
He aims to be back for the final World Cup event of 2009, Schladming, but will more than likely have to pull out of the World Championships in Canberra. Following a full recovery from his injuries, for the 2010 season Matti has signed a deal with ex-team mate current team Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense Cycles Chris Kovarik.
He was placed in 5th position in a Mega Avalanche downhill event. In this new test of his riding skills he was awarded a funded place in the next event of this kind.