The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team’s season long development of BMW’s new 450cc sports enduro bike has drawn to a successful and rewarding close as team rider Simo Kirssi claimed victory at the final round of the ’07 European Cross Country Championship, held in Schefflenz, Germany. Having experienced a season full of ups and downs while developing the new machine, at the XCC final both Finn Simo Kirssi and BMW’s new 450cc bike performed well with Simo’s victory giving him the overall runner-up position in ’07 European Cross Country Championship.

Developing the new 450cc sports enduro machine in the very public arenas of both the World Enduro Championship and the Germen Cross Country Championship the constant cycle of testing, developing and racing, that had delivered both promising results and disappointments in near equal measures prior to the Schefflenz event, finally saw the BMW Motorrad Motorsport claim their maiden 450cc powered victory. With the focus of the ’07 season having been the development of the new bike, to end the year with a win allowed the team show the bike’s true potential. With team rider Joel Smets showing that the development programme was delivering the right results by finishing both days of the final round of the WEC series, only bad luck stopped Simo Kirssi claiming a podium finish at the final round of the GCC series. In Schefflenz the bike produced the goods with Simo winning ahead of Honda’s Bert Meyer and KTM’s Jorg Haustein.

In Schefflenz the sun not only shone, but also shone on BMW. Kirssi made a great start running fourth as the opening lap neared its close, before the determined Finn started working his way passed the three riders ahead of him. Come lap four and the ’07 Erzberg XIII Twin-cylinder class winner was leading and pulling away at the front of the field. Unchallenged and out front it was only when Simo made a mistake and fell as the race progressed that things got interesting as second placed Antoine Letellier caught him. But Simo had things under control and with Letellier forced to withdraw from the event soon after the BMW rider claimed a well-deserved victory.

Entering two riders into the event five-time World Motocross Champion Joel Smets competed in his first ever cross-country event having spent the majority of the ’07 season helping the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team develop the new 450cc bike in the World Enduro Championship. Forced to start at the rear of the entry Joel spent the entire race working his way forward and shortly before the end of the race had worked himself up to third. Disappointingly Joel’s bike stopped almost within sight of the finish. While the exact reason why the bike stopped has yet to be determined early investigations suggested that a damaged kill button was the likely reason.

Simo Kirssi: "Everything worked perfectly during the race. I really enjoyed the race, the track was great, and the new Ohlins suspension I used worked perfectly too. I started the race well and pushed hard, as I always try and do, during the early stages of the race and was able to open up a bit of gap. I eased my pace a little after that and for a while I wasn’t concentrating enough and fell. I didn’t lose much time and was felt good during the closing stages of the race. It’s great to win and prove the competitiveness of the new BMW."

Joel Smets: "It’s a pitty that I didn’t get the podium. The reason why my bike’s engine stopped isn’t clear but it was running perfect early in the race. I really enjoyed the race, it was my first cross-country event but it certainly won’t be my last. It was a fantastic race, a fantastic atmosphere, a fantastic sport, and a fantastic result for Simo."

Wolfgang Fischer, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager: "This has been the perfect end to a turbulent and exciting season. Everyone involved in the team has put in a huge amount of work so to finally win is thrilling. Everyone in the team knew that the bike was capable of winning but the hundreds of hours spent training and testing mean nothing really - it’s all about how the bike performs in competition that really matters. To have finally won is great, we can really start working towards our goals during ’08 now."

Berti Hauser, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: "I am so happy about this superb end to the ’07 season – for Simo, the hole team and specifically for project leader Markus Theobald. We were finally able to demonstrate just how well the concept of this new bike really works, and importantly we showed that the 450 is able to win. That was always our target this season as we developed the new bike. It has been a season with many ups and downs and winning at the end of the season gives everyone a great boost."

Result - XCC Europe final Schefflenz

1. Simo Kirssi, BMW Motorrad Motorsport
2. Bert Meyer, Honda
3. Jörg Haustein, KTM
4. Jean-Francois Goblet, KTM
5. Jan Zulauf, KTM
6. Stefan Geyer, Suzuki
7. Antoine Letellier, Aprilia
8. Joel Smets, BMW Motorrad Motorsport
9. Arne Weidemann, Husaberg
10. Alex Pacioretti, Honda