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Simo Kirssi has earned the title honours in this year’s German Cross Country Championship with one round still to go. The 30-year-old Team BMW Husqvarna Motorsport rider sealed yet another series victory with a third place finish at Mühlhausen, but it didn’t come without drama for the ‘flying Finn’.

A severe thunderstorm crossed the ‘Airtime Area’ one third into main event – the Sunday afternoon pro race – turning the perfectly prepared track into a mud pool within minutes. Kirssi had ruled the proceedings before the rain came, as he dominated the early stages on his BMW factory enduro machine. The downpour didn’t make a difference in the race order at first, but then Simo took a bad line and crashed, leaving fellow countryman Samuli Aro with the opportunity to take the lead.

Kirssi battled back and looked set to re-capture the lead but then his engine died while riding through a deep waterhole, which was just 50 metres from the finish line. At the very same moment the officials decided to red-flag the race due to safety concerns, so Kirssi summoned up the strength to push his bike past the chequered flag, although German rider Chris Gundermann was able to get past and therefore demoted him to third place.

The new champion was satisfied with the outcome, though. He had shown once again that with four victories to his name he was the man to beat in this year’s series, and he enjoyed a dominant run all year, which was only really affected when something unusual happened – like this freak storm at Mühlhausen. Regardless, his team all had reason to celebrate what is Kirssi’s third German title and his second aboard the powerful BMW G 450 X.

“That was pure drama – it almost felt like the end of the world out there,” joked Kirssi after the race was over. “This is an outdoor sport, so you have to accept the forces of nature I guess! I was able to reel in Samuli after my crash, but had no idea that the race was about to be red-flagged anyway; that’s why I attempted a pass about 50 metres from the finish line.

This of course turned out to be a bad move, as the bike fatally stopped, but at least I was able to push it over the finish line.”

German Cross Country Championship, Round 6, Mühlhausen results

1. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 12 laps

2. Chris Gundermann (GER), Yamaha, 12

3. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 12

4. Chris Weiß (GER), TM, 12

5. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 12

6. Stefan Svitko (SVK), KTM, 12

7. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 12

8. Mickael Musquin (FRA), BMW, 12

9. Martin Schneider (GER), Yamaha, 10

10. Andreas Schulz (GER), KTM, 10

German Cross Country Championship, Points standings after round six (of seven)

1. Simo Kirssi, 162

2. Samuli Aro, 137

3. Stefan Svitko, 126

4. Steffen Albrecht, 112

5. Chris Weiß, 111

6. Marco Straubel, 111

7. Hans Vogels, 99

8. Andreas Schulz, 70

9. Mickael Musquin, 67

10. Martin Schneider, 65

Simo Kirssi showed once again that he’s the man to beat in the German Cross Country Championship. The BMW factory rider completely dominated round five of the series, held at the beautiful Goldbach circuit. In front of 5,000 spectators Kirssi posted yet another impressive start-finish victory aboard his BMW 450 X, as his fiercest competition came from fellow countryman Samuli Aro during the early stages of the two-hour moto.

Conditions couldn’t have been better on race day. Temperatures were around 26° Celsius and some recently added technical sections to the course guaranteed a fabulous race.

With his latest victory, the Finn now leads the championship by 32 points over his closest rival Stefan Svitko, meaning that the penultimate round at Mühlhausen could see Kirssi claim the 2010 title with one round still left to run. All he and his Team BMW Husqvarna Motorsport need is a top five finish to make it happen.

Simo Kirssi: “Goldbach proved to be a superbly organised event once again. I like the atmosphere and the enthusiastic fans – it’s pure fun to come here racing. My day was just perfect, so was the bike. The team had everything well prepared and I managed to control the field. What else can you wish for?”

German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 5, Goldbach results

1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 24 laps
2. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 24
3. Hans Vogels (NED), Husaberg, 24
4. Mickael Musquin (FRA), BMW, 24
5. Christian Weiß (GER), TM, 24
6. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 24
7. Maurizio Micheluz (ITA), TM, 24
8. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 24
9. Stefan Svitko (SK), KTM, 23
10. Jens Getteman (BEL), KTM, 23

German Cross Country Championship, Point standings (after five rounds)

1. Simo Kirssi, 140
2. Stefan Svitko, 108
3. Samuli Aro, 107
4. Marco Straubel, 94
5. Steffen Albrecht, 93

Kirssi and BMW in a class of their own

Round four of the German Cross Country Championship (GCC) clearly belonged to Simo Kirssi. The BMW Husqvarna Motorsport factory rider never left a shadow of a doubt who would be winning Sunday’s race held at Mernes (Hesse).

Kirssi rode a lonely race in front of 2,500 spectators to capture his third straight victory in what’s considered to be Europe’s biggest motorcycling off-road series. The Finn led the two-hour moto almost from start to finish, as he increased his championship lead to 18 points.

The humid and very warm weather may have hurt Kirssi’s competitors, but not the 30-year-old Scandinavian. Kirssi steered his BMW 450 X masterfully around the demanding and varying Mernes track and made short work of his fellow countryman Samuli Aro in the opening lap. Neither Aro, nor Dutchman Hans Vogels or even five-time Motocross World Champ Joel Smets were able to keep Kirssi in sight, who pitted for fuel with a commanding lead. Kirssi’s crew even posted a new record when they sent their rider back into the action after only 14 seconds.

Simo carried on like clockwork to claim one of his most dominant series victories ever, taking the win over two minutes ahead of Hans Vogels and three minutes in front of Samuli Aro.

Simo Kirssi: “Usually I don’t like this track a lot as I’ve had problems here in most of my recent visits, but today it went very well. Everything was perfectly prepared and the team did a great job, but so did the bike! I felt excellent and being out there came easy. I knew by the end of lap one that the competition would find it hard to catch me today. Now we’re in a great position for the rest of the season.”

German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 4, Mernes results

1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 18 laps
2. Hans Vogels (NED), Husaberg, 18
3. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 18
4. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 18
5. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 18
6. Mickael Musquin (FRA), BMW, 18
7. Christian Weiß (GER), TM, 18
8. Joel Smets (BEL), Husqvarna, 17
9. Jan Zulauf (GER), KTM, 17
10. Andreas Schulz (GER), KTM, 16

German Cross Country Championship, Point standings (after 4 races)
1. Simo Kirssi, 110
2. Stefan Svitko, 92
3. Samuli Aro, 82
4. Marco Straubel, 77
5. Steffen Albrecht, 75

Simo Kirssi is on a roll. The Finn has taken yet another win in the European Cross Country Championship (XCC), as he dominated round three of the Austrian Cross Country Championship (ACC) at Türnitz. The BMW Husqvarna Motorsport rider came from behind aboard his BMW G 450 X to control the two-hour moto.

Kirssi started with number twenty-one, following a late decision to participate. This meant having a not-so-favourable position on the grid. The Scandinavian nevertheless passed a bunch of riders immediately after the Le Mans-style start procedure. Kirssi came in fifth around the first corner, where he stayed until mid-race to study the track and his competition.

Once the 30-year-old European champ felt fully accustomed to the technical, woody and rather muddy Türnitz course, he started to twist the throttle a bit further and increase his speed. Once out in front, there was no stopping Kirssi and by the time the race was over, Simo had increased his lead to two minutes over second-placed challenger Markus Tischhart.

Simo Kirssi: “That was a fabulous race today – a real nice Enduro terrain with lots of difficulties included, pretty much like at all the ACC rounds. I needed to find a way to the front, but then I was able to ride my own race and control the field. Some of the root sections were extremely slippery, which was completely opposite to the German Cross Country round in Germany a fortnight ago, when the ground was rock-hard. This proves that my BMW works perfectly on all types of track.

“I’d like to add a special thanks to my brother Juho and everyone on the team – they’re all doing a fantastic job. This has been my fourth consecutive cross country victory and we’re back in Germany for a round at the beginning of July, so hopefully this winning streak will continue.”

ACC Rd. 3, Türnitz results

1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 21 laps
2. Markus Tischhart (AUT), KTM, 21
3. Daniel Stocker (AUT), KTM, 21
4. Rudi Pöschl (AUT), BMW, 21
5. Markus Auer (AUT), KTM, 20

BMW Motorsport team rider Andreas Lettenbichler has claimed a superb runner-up result at the 10th running of the Erzberg Rodeo’s Red Bull Hare Scramble. Beaten only by four-times winner Taddy Blazusiak from Poland, Letti produced a solid start-to-finish performance to place his BMW G 450 X on the second step of the podium after an extremely difficult race. Completing the gruelling event in a time of just under two hours, Letti was one of only 16 finishers.

Qualifying ninth during the prologue, Letti secured an all-important first row starting position for the main Hare Scramble event. Because he didn’t get a great start, his progress during the early stages of the race was slowed due to thick dust. However, Letti pushed hard to move into a top three position well before the halfway stage of the race. Once in a podium position, and knowing that his chances of catching winner Blazusiak were slim, he settled into a steady pace and battled his way up and through the many near impossible climbs.

An experienced Erzberg competitor – having now finished as runner-up on three separate occasions – Letti made light work of one of the hardest ever circuits around Austria’s ‘Iron Giant’ and was more than pleased with his performance.

Andreas Lettenbichler: “I made a real mess of the start, which made things really difficult for me because I was stuck in the dust. That made things really tricky because you couldn’t attack the first section of the track. The guys at the front were able to really push hard, but I had to be really careful. After that I just pushed as hard as I could.

“At the first checkpoint I think I was behind Graham Jarvis and in front of Dougie Lampkin, I think I was about third. After the second check point I fell down and lost some time. That allowed Graham and Dougie to pass me. I just rode my own race after that and tried to keep my mistakes to a minimum. For me the race was a little harder than last year because there were some new tracks. The second part of the track was tough, like it is every year. Even with a better start there was no way I could have won, as Taddy was incredibly fast. I’m more than happy with second though – I rode well and my bike was incredible. It was tough but a great race, I enjoyed it.”

Erzberg Rodeo, Red Bull Hare Scramble results

1.Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 1.45:43
2.Andreas Lettenbichler (BMW Husqvarna Motorsport) 1.56:26
3.Dougie Lampkin (Beta) 2.02:26

On the first weekend in June, thousands of off-road enthusiasts will make their way to Eisenerz in the heart of Austria for the 16th Erzbergrodeo – the world’s biggest motorcycle off-road event that attracts many of the top riders from the worlds of Enduro, Motocross and Trials, as well as enthusiastic amateur and hobby riders from four continents.

Among them will be BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Andreas Lettenbichler, who finished the gruelling event in third place last year and is looking to go even better on the BMW G 450 X sport enduro in 2010.

Riding for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport, ‘Letti’ raced onto the podium of the famous Hare Scramble, arguably the world’s toughest one-day Extreme Enduro. Interestingly, out of 1,500 riders that tried to qualify for the Hare Scramble, and the 500 who made the start line, only 21 made it to the mountaintop. It took ‘Letti’ two hours, 25 minutes and 17 seconds to complete the treacherous course and he finished in third, behind Poland’s Taddy Blazusiak and Britain’s Graham Jarvis. However, the popular German had special reason to be satisfied with his result, as his BMW G 450 X was by far the best four-stroke performer among a sea of lightweight two-strokes.

This year, the highly anticipated Hare Scramble will start at its usual time of 12 noon on Sunday 6 June and ‘Letti’ will be hoping to use his formidable trials skills, high fitness levels and the excellent traction of his G 450 X to achieve his goal of another podium finish.

“It’s my fifth start at the legendary Erzberg,” said the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider. “Before such an event, I always make sure I train as much as possible – not only on my Enduro bike, but also on a Trials bike because of the skills you need for success. For sure the Erzberg is the most popular extreme Enduro challenge in the world and the media coverage of the event is amazing. You’ll see all kinds of expert riders participating, many of whom have a Trials, Motocross or Extreme Enduro background, and the level of competition is very high, even from the amateur riders. I have a very clear target for Erzberg 2010 – there is no other option than to win the Hare Scramble and I will give all I can to be on top.”

In addition to ‘Letti’, who will surely be starting as one of the favourites for the victory, there will also be two other BMW riders taking on the challenge of the Hare Scramble. Gerhard Forster has finished in the top ten twice in the past two years and for three-times Austrian Cross Country Champion Rudi Pöschl, his main goal this year is to win at Erzberg. Don’t bet against any of these guys doing the business on their BMWs.

So popular is the Erzbergrodeo that all the starting places were sold out within two weeks of them being released. This has helped establish it as not only Austria’s biggest motorsports event, but also one of the world’s premier Extreme Enduro events as well. Off-road enthusiasts from all over Europe, Australia, Africa, South America and the USA and Canada will travel thousands of kilometres just to get a taste of the unique atmosphere and to take up the challenge of the ‘Iron Mountain’.

For more information on this amazing event, visit www.erzberg.at or to watch a selection of video footage, just enter ‘Erzberg’ in the Search option on YouTube, choose a clip and enjoy the action.

BMW Husqvarna Motorsport’s Simo Kirssi re-established himself as a title contender at round two of the German Cross Country Championship last weekend. Following his average start to the campaign four weeks ago, the Finn responded at Walldorf with a convincing victory. As the former series champ powered away aboard his BMW G 450 X, his fellow competitors were left battling for the remaining positions.

Kirssi wasted no time on the deep Thuringia soil and immediately made it clear who would be in command. Having opened a decent gap on the first lap, Kirssi powered away and increased his lead with each lap. The 30-year old dominated the difficult course, characterised by plenty of up and downhill sections, and only briefly surrendered the lead after coming in for fuel. Following this, Kirssi was dominant for the second part of the two-hour moto and crossed the finish line nearly two minutes ahead of round one winner Stefan Svitko, who maintained his championship lead.

Several thousand fans came to see the racing at Walldorf and were eventually greeted with improving weather conditions and even some sunshine during the closing stages of the race.

Simo Kirssi: “That’s how I like it – right from the start! Everything was plain perfect today: the bike, the team and the track. I do enjoy riding at Walldorf – it’s a challenging track, sort of Enduro style with lots of fans, but this year things were particularly tricky. Because of the rain there was a very limited choice of lines, and the cross section was difficult also. Fortunately I made no mistakes and even had some reserves left. There was only one moment when Stefan came close, but I was pretty much in control the whole time.”

German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 2, Walldorf, XC Pro class results

1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 16 laps
2. Stefan Svitko (SLO), KTM, 16
3. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 16
4. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 16
5. Chris Weiß (GER), TM, 16
6. Andy Boller (GER), KTM, 15
7. Hans Vogels (NL), Husaberg, 15
8. Erik Müller (GER), Kawasak, 15
9. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 15
10. Andreas Weber (GER), Kawasaki, 15

No fear, no limit is the daunting description of one of the most challenging enduro events on the European racing calendar – and it did not disappoint competitors at the Akrapovic Offroad Weekend in Istrien, Croatia. Not all would complete the 35km stretch of unforgiving terrain on 7 March, but one rider finished way ahead of the competition: three-times Austrian Cross Country (ACC) Champion Rudi Pöschl and his BMW G 450 X.

His victory at the eighth annual Akrapovic Offroad Weekend is a positive sign for the start of the 2010 enduro season. It follows a successful 2009 for the BMW rider, in which he achieved 24 podium finishes, including 13 wins, five second places and six third places. “With last year’s overall win in the Austrian Enduro Trophy and third place overall in the ACC, the performance of the Rudi Pöschl/BMW G 450 X combination was clearly proven,” says Friedrich Reichl, Motorcycle Manager at BMW Motorrad Austria.
But Pöschl wasn’t the only rider looking for his first podium finish of 2010 at the Akrapovic Offroad Weekend. The standard was high on the Saturday’s Hobby and Expert Cross Country Races, in which a total of 200 riders took part. Pöschl was beaten by Werner Müller on the 10km, two-and-a-half hour Expert course, and finished ahead of Markus Tischart and Mario Hirschmugel in fourth.

This left Pöschl in second place to start the No Fear, No Limit Hard Enduro Race on the following day. However, Müller was unable to start the race due to a torn clutch cable/lead, which allowed Pöschl to take full advantage. After almost two hours, the BMW rider completed the course ten minutes ahead of second-place Bernd Jagersberger and 37 minutes ahead of Erich Brandauer.

“For me, it went perfectly,” says Pöschl. “I got away well at the start and during the race I had no difficulties whatsoever. The BMW G 450 X ran like clockwork.”

Pöschl has been competing with the BMW sports enduro motorcycle since 2009, after he was initially persuaded by Reichl to switch manufacturers in autumn 2008. “The technical innovations of the G 450 X quickly convinced him that it was the right decision,” says Reichl. “The bike’s reliability, engine performance, handling, chassis and outstanding traction give Rudi the best technical conditions in which to improve on last year’s achievements,” he adds.

After the win in Croatia, Pöschl will continue to focus on his main goals for 2010: the ACC and the Austrian Enduro Trophy. Reichl believes he has the potential to win both series, as well as compete in additional enduro events such as the Erzberg Harescramble and the Grantibeisser-Light in Schrems.

“The key to Rudi’s success is his professional attitude to sport, his strong desire to win and his clever racing tactics,” says Reichl. “Although he works full time, he uses every spare minute to improve himself physically and technically. He is extremely disciplined and professional. That also makes the co-operation between Rudi and us so successful,” he adds.

First prize at this year’s extreme enduro event in Croatia was a complete exhaust system provided by leading manufacturer Akrapovic. The brand is renowned for producing high-quality motorcycle exhausts and works with several factory teams. It not only has a presence in all racing categories, but also associates itself with 32 world championship titles. It is perhaps the start of another promising partnership for the Austrian rider and his BMW motorcycle, not least a deserving reward for his latest achievement.

“This is the first time that I’ve taken part in this race,” says Pöschl, “and I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely do it again.” No fear, no limit? No problem, it seems.