BMW Motorrad's Success At Erzberg - Dirt Rider Magazine

The extremely tough terrain of the notorious Erzberg Rodeo 2008 turned out to be a perfect playground for the two BMW Motorrad factory riders, Andreas Lettenbichler and Gerhard Forster, and their BMW G 450 X this weekend. With a sensational second place and a further top ten result, BMW Motorrad fulfilled its ambitions in the extreme enduro scene at Erzberg, widely regarded as one of the toughest enduro events on the planet.In perfect weather conditions, 'Letti' even had the chance of securing first place at the final Hare Scramble - the highlight of the Erzberg weekend. The accomplished rider had a perfect start and was leading the field before breaking a footpeg touching a rock at the second checkpoint. Then at one of the most brutal parts of the course, the Gerichtsgraben, the gear shaft broke, leaving him with just first gear. Despite his set-back, only the Polish rider Taddy Blazusiak was faster than BMW Motorrad man Lettenbichler. The rest of the world's top enduro riders, most of them equipped with light two stroke bikes had no chance to beat the 33-year-old man from Rosenheim.The seventh place finish of Gerhard Forster should be seen as a great performance as well, and he too was robbed of a higher placing by the infamous Gerichtsgraben section. The inability to find a racing line over huge rocks cost him two places, but in a race where most fail to finish, a top ten position should not be overlooked.Elsewhere at the Erzberg Rodeo, Lettenbichler had put on a fantastic performance a day prior to the Hare Scramble - at the Rodeo-X Endurocross. He was surrounded by the 17 of the best extreme enduro riders in the world, but nevertheless finished in second position on the challenging course.Andreas Lettenbichler: "Erzberg was harder than ever and packed with dirty tricks. The Gerichtsgraben was absolutely crazy, and the Reitwagen-Klamm even topped it. There were 20 people with ropes pulling up bikes and riders. Without outside help it would have been impossible. At the second checkpoint I broke my foot peg, and then of all things the gear shaft broke so that I had to ride the rest in first gear. I just tried to take it easy and to ride smoothly to the finish."Gerhard Forster: "It could have gone better for me. I had a bad start and fought my way up to fifth position. In the Gerichtsgraben I got off the right track and found myself stuck in the rocks. That cost me two places. The bike was working perfectly. It is just so much fun to ride the 450 up banks, just open the throttle and off you go."Team manager Wolfgang Fischer: "We were at Erzberg only with a small team because we had parallel races in Walldorf and in Spain. Our small but highly motivated team proved the potential of a modern four stroke bike and that we can compete with the armada of light two strokes. BMW four stroke bikes in the top ten, the result speaks for itself. The performance of Andreas Lettenbichler is sensational. He was leading the race until check point 2. Then he lost a foot peg and as a result he couldn't keep up with Blazusiak. I am very happy to see that we are ready to compete for top positions. Now we can attack, let's go!"Result RED BULL HARE SCRAMBLE
1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL, KTM), 1:20:13
2. Andreas Lettenbichler (GER, BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 1:35:58
3. Paul Bolton (UK, Honda), 1:38:03
4. Cyril Despres (AND, KTM), 1:38:22
5. Kyle Redmond (USA, Christini KTM), 1:42:19
6. Geoff Aaron (USA, Christini KTM), 1:45:32
7. Gerhard Forster (GER, BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 1:46:15
8. Chris Birch (NZL, KTM), 1:47:35
9. Juha Salminen (FIN, KTM), 1:51:19
10. Mark Jackson (UK, KTM), 2:04:45