At the demanding 4. race of the German Cross Country Championship in the Franconian ADAC Motodrom in Höchstädt, Simo Kirssi on the BMW HP2 managed to convince even the very last sceptic. The flying Finn did battle the whole time in the top group of the Professional Class and rode to his first GCC series top ten placement among the high-calibre field of racers. And it could have been even better.
Following an unusually poor start, Kirssi slotted in at twelfth position in the first round. In typical Kirssi style he did not go all-out right away to get to the front of the pack, but after a third of the distance played his best card, namely his consistency and physical condition, thereby leaving five further competitors behind him.Meanwhile Simo Kirssi has become a sympathetic figure in the GCC and the crowd once again carried him on a wave of excitement. Football-style "La Ola" waves accompanied the seemingly disadvantaged HP2 Enduro and its rider.
The track was all but easy. Its heart-piece was a rock-hard cross track featuring murderous jumps. Then there was a big forest section with difficult root and stone covered uphills and downhills. At the bottom, the route took the riders across a slippery meadow.
"This time everything was going quite well" said the modest Kirssi after the race. "The HP2 had to prove its all-round talent here today." In the course of the race the Finn had ridden up to 7. place. He couldn´t move much further ahead since the German Champion Arne Domeyer was already one minute out front. However, Kirssi was also almost a minute ahead of his pursuers. Then another stroke of bad luck threw him back. A technical defect on the rear suspension slowed him down so had to more or less nurse his bike to the finish line on the last kilometres thereby losing three places and valuable championship points.
At the next GCC race on July 17th, 2005 in Goldbach there will be a showdown. No less than the multiple Enduro World Champion Giovanni Sala on the 950 2-cylinder KTM will challenge the Finn on the BMW HP2 Enduro.
