BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider Simo Kirssi proved without question that he was the fastest rider up Erzberg’s iron mountain this year when he recorded the fastest time in the Prologue having already topped the Twin-cylinder class race. Finishing ahead of ’06 twin-cylinder class winner David Knight to win the ‘Konigklasse’ event for the first time, Simo then recorded a best time of eight minutes 44 seconds to top the results of the Prologue. In adding a winning performance in the Prologue to his Twin-cylinder class victory Simo made it a perfect two from two for the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team and their HP2 motorcycles at the ’07 Erzberg event.

With the 500 fastest riders in the Prologue qualifying to start the Hare Scramble Kirssi, although well aware that he would only be competing in the Hare Scramble for fun aboard his 1200cc HP2, set about bettering the time that earned him victory in the Twin-cylinder class. With each rider getting one timed run on each of two days Simo recorded the fastest time on day one, finishing two and a half seconds ahead of Austrian Werner Muller. On day two Simo managed to shave a staggering 17 seconds off his first run despite conditions being much rougher. Again finishing ahead of Muller multiple enduro world champion Juha Salminen claimed the third fastest time with BMW’s Micky Dymond claiming a solid fourth best time. Just three seconds behind Salminen, Dymond, on only his fourth ever run up the Erzberg mountain, placed ahead of experienced competitor Gio Sala, winner of the ’05 Twin-cylinder class. In eighth with a time of nine minutes and 19 seconds was Chris Pfeiffer while Gary Trachy placed 18th

Having accomplished exactly what they set out to achieve in winning the Twin-cylinder class and then topping the results sheets in the Prologue the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team then entered Chris Pfeiffer and Andi Lettenbichler into the famous Hare Scramble aboard BMW’s prototype 450cc sports enduro bikes. With Chris qualifying for the Hare Scramble with the 14th fastest time in the Prologue on his 450cc machine Lettenbichler also ensured himself a front row starting position for the race having qualified in 19th. With both riders starting the event with the simple goal of trying to finish the race widely regarded as the hardest one-day off-road motorcycle event in the world was anything but kind to the two BMW riders as both failed to make it to the finish. For Pfeiffer the race came to an end when having snapped and then replaced his handle bars following a crash he then put a hole in his bike’s clutch cover. Suffering with mechanical problems Andi Lettenbichler also failed to join the 19 riders that managed to finish the event which was won by Poland’s Teddy Bzazusiak.

Simo Kirssi: "On the first prologue it was very slippery, but I managed not to make any mistakes. It certainly wasn’t a perfect run up the mountain but it was good enough. On the second run I started early in the day to make the most of the conditions, which worked really well. I got to the summit without any mistakes. In some turns I could have braked a little bit later but I was happy with the way I rode and to have got the fastest time is great."

Chris Pfeiffer: "I had a really bad start to the Hare Scramble and was around 15th early on in the race. I was still in a pretty good position but then I crashed at checkpoint 11 and broke my handlebars. I flipped my bike and it came down right on the handlebars, which meant that I had to wait for 40 minutes while a new set arrived and were fitted. My plan then was just to try and finish. But I got a hole in the clutch cover in one of the rock sections, which meant that by the time I got the hole filled with liquid metal and filled the bike back up with oil I had lost even more time. Then the heavy rain started, which made the decision not to continue an easy one. It’s disappointing but Erzberg is the kind of race where anything can happen."

Wolfgang Fischer – Team Manager: "We have had three great days with the HP2, winning everything that was possible with the bike. We are extremely happy about that. It has taken us two years to finish on top in both the twin-cylinder class and during the prologue so the ’07 Erzberg has been a great event for the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team. This has been our first year with the single-cylinder bike and although we weren’t able to finish the race we have learned more about the bike, in some of the absolute toughest conditions. Having the US riders here with us has been great, the whole team really enjoyed having them around and the riders learned a lot ahead of the Pike’s Peak race. We’re already looking forward to coming back next year, where we will have a more competitive 450 and be ready to defend our twin-cylinder victory."