BMW Continues Race Development of New 450

by Dave · May 16, 2007

The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team used the second round of the German Cross Country (GCC) series, staged in Walldorf, Germany, to continue the development of the new 450cc sports enduro bike. Development rider Sascha Eckert and team racer Simo Kirssi took to the start this weekend along with around 40 other Pro-class competitors.

It's a fortnight since the team officially unveiled its 450cc sports enduro at the second round of the 2007 World Enduro Championship in Spain, where the bike had its first competitive outing. This weekend's GCC round at Walldorf competition allowed the team to take the next steps in the bike's continued development within a racing environment.

simmo kirsi bmw 450

Competing on the sports enduro for the first time ever in the GCC – having participated in selected rounds of the 2005 and 2006 series aboard BMW's twin-cylinder HP2 Enduro – Simo's hopes of a podium finish came to a premature end as he neared the final stages of the second lap. Holding a strong runner-up place behind reigning Enduro 2 world champion Samuli Aro, a mechanical problem put Simo out of the running.

Forced to work his way towards the front after a mid-pack start, Simo narrowly avoided a pile-up at the second corner, which claimed French rider Antoine Letellier and German rider Thomas Gunther. As he entered the motocross section of the course in fifth place, Simo passed two riders before disappearing out of sight into the wooded section of the track. Passing two more riders the Finn looked certain to finish in the runner-up spot, as he was 23-seconds adrift of eventual race winner Samuli Aro and comfortably ahead of the third-placed rider.

However, Simo's race ended as he neared the end of lap two, much to the Flying Finn's disappointment: "It's frustrating 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 but things were a little crazy in the first couple of corners and I didn't want to make any unnecessary mistakes. There were a few riders crashing in front of me but fortunately I managed to miss them all. I passed a few riders on the motocross section soon after the start and 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. Then I passed a couple of other riders in the woods, which got me up to second. I had pushed pretty hard on the first lap and was able to relax a little after that, as Samuli Aro already had a good lead and was settling into his rhythm ahead of me. Then as I entered the woods again my bike stopped, which was the end of my race."

Competing alongside Simo in the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team was development rider Sascha Eckert, who had been involved in several days of testing this week with five-times world motocross champion Joel Smets. Sascha used an experimental suspension set-up as well as some new parts in the event, finishing in a creditable 14th position.

"I was testing some new parts and settings on my bike, some of which worked and others that weren't so good," said Sascha. "I wasn't pushing too hard during the race, because I was trying to learn how the changes we made were affecting the bike. The race was good though, and as the track got pretty rough, it turned out to be a good workout for the sports enduro."