WEC GP of Poland '08

The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team had much to celebrate following the fourth round of the ’08 World Enduro Championship, the GP of Poland staged in Kwidzyn, as Enduro 2 class rider Simo Kirssi claimed BMW’s first ever enduro world championship podium result with a well deserved third place finish on day two. Amazingly only Kirssi’s fourth ever WEC event, the Finn performed faultlessly during the race aboard his G 450 X to claim his highest ever world championship result. With team rider Anders Eriksson having come close to putting BMW on the podium at the season opening GP of Sweden, Kirssi surprised even himself with his speed and consistency as he performed well on the event’s demanding motocross and enduro tests, and exceptionally well on the technical extreme test. Despite the tough conditions all BMW Motorrad Motorsport team riders finished the fourth round of the ’08 WEC series with no technical problems.

Third in the Enduro 2 class on the opening special test on day one marked an encouraging start to the fourth round of the ’08 WEC series for Simo Kirssi. Looking to continue his rise up the E2 class results after promising performances at the opening three rounds of this year’s championship Simo quickly showed that he would be challenging for a podium result despite his relative lack of international enduro experience. Faltering slightly on the opening lap’s second and third special tests the Finn then improved his speed on lap two and on lap three placed as the E2 class runner-up on the extreme test. Repeating that result on the fourth and final extreme test Kirssi went on to place sixth on the final motocross test, which was enough to see him place fifth in class and finish just 12 seconds away from the final podium spot.

Realizing that he had narrowly missed out on a podium result on day one Kirssi started day two steadily before getting into his stride on lap two. With competition for the third place position close between Kirssi, Frenchman Antoine Meo and Italian Alessandro Belometti, Kirssi put in a superb final lap finishing in fourth, second and fourth on the three consecutive special tests to edge ahead of Meo and claim his well deserved third place result. BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider Jeff Goblet was missing from competition in Poland due to injuries he sustained at a recent round of the Belgian Enduro Championship.

Simo Kirssi – Enduro 2 class: “It’s been a hard weekend but it’s great to have got my, and BMW’s, first podium result. The conditions were a little like in Finland, which helped me, and I enjoyed the race. I never thought that I would finish on the podium. I struggled a little bit on the first lap on day one, even though I was pushing hard. But as the track got rougher I found things easier and my special test times improved.
On the first day I had some really good times on the extreme test, which was a bit of a surprise. In general I was happy with the way I rode on all the tests but like I said I never expected to finish on the podium. My bike was perfect and I didn’t have any problems at all. It feels great to have got my first podium. I have to thank the BMW team for their support, without them it wouldn’t have been possible.