The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team used the second round of the German Cross Country series, staged in Walldorf, to continue the development of their 450cc sports enduro bike on May 13 where development rider Sascha Eckert and team racer Simo Kirssi took to the start along with close to 40 other Pro class competitors. With the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team having officially unveiled their 450cc sports enduro bike at the second round of the ’07 World Enduro Championship in Spain, where the bike got its first official taste of a competitive racing environment, the Walldorf competition allowed the team to take the next step in the bike’s continued development.

Competing on the 450cc sports enduro bike for the first time ever in the GCC having participated in the series aboard BMW’s twin-cylinder HP2 motorcycle during both ’06 and ’05, Simo’s hopes of a podium finish disappointingly ended as he neared the end of the second lap. Holding a strong runner-up place behind reigning Enduro 2 world champion Samuli Aro a mechanical engine problem put Simo out of the event.Forced to work his way forwards during the early stages of the race after a mid-pack start Simo narrowly avoiding a second corners pile-up, which claimed French rider Antoine Letellier and German Thomas Gunther. Fifth as he entered

the motocross section of the course Simo passed two riders before disappearing out of sight and into the wooded section of the track. Passing two more riders the Finn looked settled in the runner-up position just 23 seconds adrift of eventual race leader Samuli Aro and comfortably ahead of the third placed rider. With a clear track ahead of him and with no riders catching him Simo’s race ended as he neared the end of lap two.

Competing alongside Simo was BMW Motorrad Motorsport test and development rider Sascha Eckert. Involved in several days of testing alongside five-time world motocross champion Joel Smets prior to the race Sascha used an experimental suspension set-up as well as some new parts in the event finishing in an eventual 14th position.

Simo Kirssi: It’s really disappointing not to have finished but we knew that it could happen as we are still developing the bike and trying new parts. The start was actually pretty good for me. Things were a little crazy in the first couple of corners so I didn’t want to make any unnecessary mistakes. There were a few riders crashing in front of me but I missed them. I passed a few riders on the motocross track soon after the start. The track was quite narrow and slippery, which meant that most riders were going to the outside of the turns. The BMW is really agile so I was able to turn tight and get ahead of some of the riders. Next I passed a couple of other riders ahead of me in the woods, which got me to second. I pushed pretty hard on the first lap and then relaxed a little after that. Samuli Aro already had a good lead so I’m sure he was settling into his rhythm ahead of me. Then as I entered the woods again my bike stopped, which was the end of me race.

Sascha Eckert: I was testing some new parts and settings on my bike. Some of which worked and some of which weren’t so good. I wasn’t pushing too hard at all during the race, I was just trying to learn how the changes we made were affecting the bike. The race was good though, the track got pretty rough, but it was a good work out for the bike.