BMW win Prologue at Erzberg
BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider Simo Kirssi proved without question that he was the best rider up Erzberg's iron mountain this year when he recorded the fastest time in the Prologue, having already won the Twin-cylinder class race two days previously.
BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider Simo Kirssi proved without question that he was the best rider up Erzberg's iron mountain this year when he recorded the fastest time in the Prologue, having already won the Twin-cylinder class race two days previously.
Finishing ahead of 2006 Twin-cylinder class winner David Knight to win the 'Königsklasse' event for the first time, Simo then recorded a best time of eight minutes 44 seconds to top the results of the Iron Road 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 2007 Erzberg event.
With the 500 fastest riders in the Prologue qualifying to start Sunday's enduro event, Kirssi – although well aware that he would only be competing in the enduro for fun aboard his 1200cc HP2 Enduro – set about bettering the time that earned him victory in Thursday's twin-cylinder race. With each rider getting one timed run on Friday and Saturday 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 – and again finishing ahead of Muller. Multiple enduro world champion Juha Salminen claimed the third fastest time, with BMW's Micky Dymond claiming 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 2005 Twin-cylinder class. In eighth place, with a time of nine minutes and 19 seconds was Chris Pfeiffer, while Gary Trachy placed 18th.
"On the first prologue it was very slippery, but I managed not to make any mistakes," said 'Flying Finn' Simo Kirssi after celebrating his victory. "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 and 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."
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 in the famous Erzberg Enduro aboard BMW's prototype 450cc sports enduro bikes.
Pfeiffer had qualified for the enduro with the 14th fastest time in the Prologue on his 450cc machine, while Lettenbichler also ensured himself a front row starting position for the race, having qualified in 19th. Both riders started the event with the simple goal of trying to finish this race that is widely regarded as the hardest one-day off-road motorcycle event in the world. However, conditions were anything but kind to the two BMW riders as both failed to make it to the finish.
"I had a really bad start and was around 15th early on in the race," said Chris Pfeiffer after the event. "I was still in a pretty good position but then I crashed at checkpoint 11 and broke my handlebars. It's disappointing but Erzberg is the kind of race where anything can happen."
Overall though, the event was a massive success, much to the delight of Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager for BMW Motorrad Motorsport: "We have had three great days with the HP2 Enduro, winning everything that was possible with the bike, and 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 2007 Erzberg has been a great event for the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team.
"Having the US riders here with us has been great, as the whole team really enjoyed having them around and the riders have 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."
Prologue results
1. Simo Kirssi, BMW HP2, 08:44.03
2. Werner Müller, KTM 950 Super 08:47.09
3. Juha Salminen, KTM 300, 09:07.62
4. Mickey Dymond, BMW HP2, 09:10.83
5. Giovanni Sala, KTM 950 Super, 09:12.19
6. Bernhard Walzer, KTM 300, 09:12.71
7. Werner Müller, KTM 300, 09:16.13
8. Chris Pfeiffer, BMW HP2, 09:19.25
9. Marco Tarkkala, KTM 450 EXC, 09:20.41
10. Paul Edmondson, Suzuki 250 RM, 09:21.67
11. Chris Pfeiffer, BMW 450, 09:23.21
18. Gary Trachy, BMW HP2, 09:31.86
19. Andi Lettenbichler, BMW 450, 09:35.4
