BMW Motorrad GS Trophy 2010 Media Guide.

A celebration of the GS spirit.

After eight months of preparation the waiting has come to an end:The BMW Motorrad GS Trophy 2010 finally begins.

This event is a celebration of the spirit of the BMW GS motorcycle, bringing together those elements of leisure, adventure and challenge that these bikes engender. The 2010 edition of the GS Trophy is extra special as it’s also celebrating 30 years of the GS motorcycle.

The Africa 2010 event is the second edition of the GS Trophy, the previous edition took place in Tunisia in 2008. This edition will see ten teams, comprising 30 riders from 13 nations, competing. The GS Trophy will see the competitors ride 2,000 kilometres over seven days as they cross the wilds of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.

The event is not a race but a team competition, pitching the international contingent against each other in a series of special tests – and not all are riding tests. With the competitors camped nightly in a bivouac the event also fosters a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie.

“The GS Trophy is an inspiration for GS riders all around the world,” explains Hendrik von Kuenheim, General Director of BMW Motorrad. “GS riders are by their very nature both enthusiasts and adventurers, so the GS Trophy captures that essence by bringing together people from different cultures and backgrounds to ride these wonderful bikes through such beautiful and challenging landscapes. The event is quite unique, and with 2010 being the 30th anniversary of the GS this edition in South Africa will be something very special.”

Facts and figures.

On Saturday November 13, 2010 the competitors and supporting staff will arrive at the event headquarter at Touratech South Africa, for a full day of preparation. Apart from the official welcome it will be all about getting to know each other, bike allocation, rider briefings and photo taking.

The competition itself will start early in the morning on Sunday November 14 and ends in Johannesburg again on November 21.

 The GS Trophy convoy will comprise 65 BMW motorcycles, most of them being BMW F 800 GS, as well as a number of accompanying cars that will transport the 90 people involved over the 2,000 km distance.

Nine marshals and guides as well as three medical cars will look after the safety and comfort of participants, media and organisation crew.

50 tons of equipment have been shipped to South Africa, 10,000 km of route and scenery scouting have been accomplished – all to ensure that the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy 2010 will be an experience of a lifetime for all participants.

Africa waits.

In the course of the GS Trophy 2010 the competitors will be riding across the beautiful countries of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.

GS Trophy co-organiser Tomm Wolf: “We will be travelling across an extremely varied landscape. South Africa will be open and very wide; we’ll experience mountains, forests and great enduro landscapes in Swaziland, while in Mozambique, it will be sand all the way. We have been able to call upon local experience and knowledge to devise a programme that ensures that the riders will enjoy a unique, authentic and diverse experience that will take in five game reserves and six different venues in total, with elevation ranges from sea level to around 2,000 metres.”

The competitors will get to test their skills and powers of endurance when they reach arguably the most extreme of all their challenges – the traverse of the infamous tracks of the Ponta do Ouro as they seek to reach the Indian Ocean on the Mozambique coast –the most easterly point of the GS Trophy’s route.

The adventure goes on into the evenings, after the riding is done. The GS Trophy convoy will – amongst others – spend a night each in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, the Phinda Game Reserve and the Pongola Game Reserve – with stunning nature very close at hand.

 Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.

Mlilwane, Swaziland’s pioneer conservation area, is a beautiful, secluded sanctuary situated in Swaziland’s “Valley of Heaven”, the Ezulwini Valley.
The Sanctuary covers 4,560 hectares and comprises southern and northern sections with striking grassland plains, mountains and waterfalls. Apart from abundant bird life, there are a number of animal species to be seen including hippo, giraffe, crocodile, zebra and kudu. Seldom seen, but present in the reserve, is the ever-elusive leopard as well as a variety of smaller mammals.

Phinda Game Reserve.

Phinda Private Game Reserve encompasses an impressive 23,000 hectares of prime wilderness in KwaZulu-Natal in northern South Africa. Showcasing one of the continent’s finest game viewing experiences, Phinda features Africa’s Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. Phinda is described as “Seven Worlds of Wonder”, with its seven distinct habitats - a magnificent tapestry of woodland, grassland, wetland and forest, interspersed with mountain ranges, river courses, marshes and pans waiting to be discovered.

Pongola Game Reserve.

The scenic variety of bushveld, mountains and major water bodies in combination with an abundance of space are the key ingredients of the special experience offered by Pongola Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu- Natal. The Pongola River, broad and perennial, meanders through the centre of the reserve before entering the man-made 13,276 hectare lake. The area is home to many typical plains game species, four of the Big Five (excluding lion), hippopotamus and crocodile.

The Challenge.

The GS Trophy is not a race but a competition and so the teams will be tested, not only in their riding skills, but in broader challenges that will fully engage their intellectual as well as physical capacities.

With overnight bivouacs followed by early morning starts and long days in the saddles (in the order of 300km), with so much of the riding off-road, endurance will be a significant factor in the event. So will be teamwork. In the environments the riders will be riding through it’ll be imperative – for safety reasons – that they travel in groups. Each day different teams will be paired to ride together. Along the route the competitors will face up to three special tests per day (details of which will be revealed as the competitors meet them for themselves).

Wild country also throws up wild challenges, tracks do not have road signs and rivers do not always have bridges. And the wildlife does not live in cages. The successful team will be respectful of their environment, sympathetic to their machinery and understanding of their team-mates.