The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team's participation in the'07 German Cross Country Championship came to a closelast weekend where team rider Simi Kirssi experiencedmixed fortunes during the two-hour race at Schweinfurt. Notmaking the best of starts the Finn furiously worked his waypassed slower riders during the opening laps of the race only to find himself having to stop mid-way through the event when his bike's fuel cap became dislodged. Soaking him in fuel Simo was forced to make an unscheduled pit where hechanged his race jeans before once again taking to the trackand charging through the pack.
Despite his less than perfect start to the race, and then losing valuable time in the pits having been forced to stop mid-way through the race, the final round of the GCC series ended in an extremely encouraging way for both Simo and the whole BMW Motorrad Motorsport team. During the closing stages of the race Simo, a rider that on many occasions this season has shown flashes of brilliance while playing a key role in the development of BMW's new 450 sports enduro bike, outpaced countryman and former Enduro 2 World ChampionSamuli Aro. Despite being several laps down on the Aro atthe time Simo caught, battled with, and eventually outpacedthe rider that would eventually be crowned as the '07 GCCchampion. In doing so Simo showed the true potential ofBMW's 450 sports enduro bike and brought a long seasonof development to an extremely positive close.
With the final round of the GCC series bringing to a close the first chapter of the development of BMW's prototype 450sports enduro team, the BMW Motorrad Motorsport teamwill now continue to develop the exciting new bike ahead oftheir participation in indoor enduro events this winter.Markus Theobald (development department): "The storyof the fuel tank cap is stupid, but it can happen and that'sexactly why we have been competing in selected races thisseason - it's one of the things you have to find out by racing.
At this race, following our successful completion of the final round of the World Enduro Championship, it was really important to see that the bike performed without problems during a tough cross-country race, which it did. Simo was really able to ride the bike to its full potential and it has brought the '07 GCC championship season to an extremely satisfactory end."