Podium finish for BMW Motorrad and Kirssi at WEC GP of Poland

Munich. The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team had much to celebrate following
the fourth round of the '08 World Enduro Championship, the GP of Poland
staged in Kwidzyn, as Enduro 2 class rider Simo Kirssi claimed BMW's
first ever enduro world championship podium result with a well deserved
third place finish on day two. Amazingly only Kirssi's fourth ever WEC
event, the Finn performed faultlessly during the race aboard his G 450
X to claim his highest ever world championship result. With team
rider Anders Eriksson having come close to putting BMW on the podium at
the season opening GP of Sweden, Kirssi surprised even himself with his
speed and consistency as he performed well on the event's demanding
motocross and enduro tests, and exceptionally well on the technical
extreme test. Despite the tough conditions all BMW Motorrad Motorsport
team riders finished the fourth round of the '08 WEC series with no
technical problems. Third in the Enduro 2 class on the opening special
test on day one marked an encouraging start to the fourth round of the
'08 WEC series for Simo Kirssi. Looking to continue his rise up the E2
class results after promising performances at the opening three rounds
of this year's championship Simo quickly showed that he would be
challenging for a podium result despite his relative lack of
international enduro experience. Faltering slightly on the opening
lap's second and third special tests the Finn then improved his speed
on lap two and on lap three placed as the E2 class runner-up on the
extreme test. Repeating that result on the fourth and final extreme
test Kirssi went on to place sixth on the final motocross test, which
was enough to see him place fifth in class and finish just 12 seconds
away from the final podium spot. Realising that he had narrowly missed
out on a podium result on day one Kirssi started day two steadily
before getting into his stride on lap two. With competition for the
third place position close between Kirssi, Frenchman Antoine Meo and
Italian Alessandro Belometti, Kirssi put in a superb final lap
finishing in fourth, second and fourth on the three consecutive special
tests to edge ahead of Meo and claim his well deserved third place
result. BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider Jeff Goblet was missing from
competition in Poland due to injuries he sustained at a recent round of
the Belgian Enduro Championship. While the GP of Poland was an
extremely pleasing event for Finn Kirssi it proved to be a frustrating
one for seven-time enduro world champion Anders Eriksson in the Enduro
3 class. Returning to the place where he claimed his first ever WEC
victory in '93, Eriksson placed a disappointing 13th on day one. On day
two the Swede performed notably better jumping to a strong seventh place
result in the competitive Enduro 3 class. Simo Kirssi - Enduro 2
class: "It's been a hard weekend but it's great to have got my,
and BMW's, first podium result. The conditions were a little like in
Finland, which helped me, and I enjoyed the race. I never thought that
I would finish on the podium. I struggled a little bit on the first lap
on day one, even though I was pushing hard. But as the track got
rougher I found things easier and my special test times improved.On the
first day I had some really good times on the extreme test, which was a
bit of a surprise. In general I was happy with the way I rode on all
the tests but like I said I never expected to finish on the podium. My
bike was perfect and I didn't have any problems at all. It feels great
to have got my first podium. I have to thank the BMW team for their
support, without them it wouldn't have been possible." Anders
Eriksson - Enduro 3 class: "I wasn't at all happy with the way
things went on day one, but finishing seventh on day two was much
better. I have been training a lot recently, and, well, maybe I did a
bit too much riding. I seemed to be fighting my bike a lot and just
didn't feel good. On day two I relaxed a lot and things were much
better. It's been a tough race, there was nowhere you could rest on the
course. Yes it was really dusty, but apart from that it was a really
good world championship race." Wolfgang Fischer - BMW Motorrad
Motorsport Team Manager: "It's been a lot of hard work reaching
this point but it's great to see a BMW rider on the podium. I have to
thanks the team, Markus Theobald for designing the bike, and of course
Simo for his superb performance. Considering that the GP of Poland was
only Simo's fourth ever international enduro race makes his result even
better. Less than 12 months ago Simo had no ambitions to be an enduro
rider but ever since January he has really been bitten by the enduro bug
and is really enjoying competing in the world championship. He had some
top three results on the extreme test during the weekend, which shows
that he is really adapting to life in the WEC. The other thing that is
extremely pleasing considering the tough conditions is the fact that
the team didn't have any technical problems at all. In the Enduro 3
class Anders rode very well on day two having tried a little too hard on
day one. The weekend has been a very encouraging step forward for
everyone in the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team." 2008 World Enduro
Championship Grand Prix of Poland - Day 1 results Enduro 2 class 1.
Juha Salminen (KTM) 1:19:25.50; 2. Jonny Aubert (Yamaha) 1:20:27.33; 3.
Alessandro Belometti 1:22:59.11; 4. Rodrig Thain (TM) 1:22:59.71; 5.
Simo Kirssi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:23:11.36; 6. Aaron Bernardez
(Husqvarna) 1:23:38.52; 7. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 1:24:02.11; 8.
Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 1:24:10.10; 9. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha)
1:24:34.65; 10. Hans Vogel (KTM) 1:25:00.88; 11. Nicolas Paganon
(Aprilia) 1:25:00.95; 12 Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 1:25:17.54; 13. Fabio
Mossini (Honda) 1:25:21.10; 14. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 1:27:25.24; 15.
Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 1:27:49.59; 16. Amel Advokaat (KTM)
1:28:27.38; 17. Filipe Zanol (Yamaha) 1:28:47.75; 18. Peter Kralik (KTM)
1:30:41.10; 19. Nicolas Joye (Husaberg) 1:32:15.26; 20. Sebastien
Adielsson (Beta) 1:32:55.50 Enduro 3 class 1. Sebastien Guillaume
(Husqvarna) 1:21:49.59; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 1:21:58.82; 3. Stefan
Merriman (Aprilia) 1:22:05.01; 4. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 1:22:31.88; 5.
Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1:22:36.80; 6. Marcus Kehr (KTM)
1:23:33.98; 7. Alessandro Botturi (Honda) 1:24:52.71; 8. Xavier Galindo
(KTM) 1:25:31.15; 9. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 1:26:13.67; 10 Antoine
Letellier (Aprilia) 1:26:44.57; 11. Stefan Svitko (KTM) 1:26:48.85; 12.
Jordi Figueras (KTM) 1:27:00.43; 13. Anders Ericsson (BMW Motorrad
Motorsport) 1:27:04.76; 14. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 1:27:27.25; 15. Euan
McConnell (TM) 1:28:37.83; 16. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda) 1:29:11.34;
17.Alessio Paoli (BETA) 1:29:34.46; 18. Andre Decker (Husqvarna)
1:33:44.48; 19. Gordon Clarke (TM) 1:34:38.38 Enduro Junior class 1.
Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 1:24:09.32; 2. Roni Nikander (KTM)
1:24:21.19; 3. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 1:24:31.44; 4. Oriol Mena (KTM)
1:25:25.79; 5. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 1:26:19.93; 6. Jeremy Joly (Sherco)
1:27:24.54; 7. Robert Kvarnstrom (TM) 1:28:06.85; 8. Edward Hubner
(KTM) 1:28:15.97; 9. Lucas Puerta (Yamaha) 1:28:16.66; 10. Romain
Dumontier (Husqvarna 1:28:48.20; 11. Armand Monleon (Yamaha)
1:29:38.29; 12. Bert Meyer (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:29:48.27; 13.
Lauri Salonen (Honda) 1:29:50.10; 14. Martin Kuklik (KTM) 1:30:02.63;
15. David Gannac (Suzuki) 1:30:24.96; 16. Edoardo D'Ambrosio (TM)
1:30:53.29; 17. Jonas Karlsson (KTM) 1:31:26.00; 18. Marcin Frycz (KTM)
1:31:27.59; 19. Carl Sjoo (KTM) 1:31:29.55; 20. Carl Svensson (KTM)
2008 World Enduro Championship Grand Prix of Poland - Day 2 results
Enduro 2 class 1. Juha Salminen (KTM) 1:05:52; 2. Johnny Aubert (Yamaha)
1:06:34.48; 3. Simo Kirssi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:08:35.88; 4.
Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 1:08:37.67; 5. Alessandro Belometti (KTM)
1:08:51.13; 6. Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 1:09:21.57; 7. Joakim Ljunggren
(Husaberg) 1:09:31.02; 8. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 1:09:42.03; 9. Fabrizio
Dini (Yamaha) 1:09:47.31; 10. Rodrig Thain (TM) 1:09:52.47; 11. Nicolas
Deparrois (Gas Gas) 1:10:41.13; 12. Hans Vogel (Yamaha) 1:10:55.98;
13. Nicolas Paganon (Aprilia) 1:11:45.50; 14. Filipe Zanol (Yamaha)
1:12:20.48; 15. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 1:12:25.51; 16. Andrea
Belotti (KTM) 1:13:51.96; 17. Amel Advokaat (KTM) 1:14:01.95; 18. Rudy
Cotton (Beta) 1:14:21.26; 19. Peter Kraklik (KTM) 1:14:40.22; 20. Mario
Patrao (Suzuki) 1:15:21.53 Enduro 3 class 1. Marko Tarkkala (KTM)
1:07:18.68; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1:07:26.30; 3. Samuli Aro
(KTM) 1:08:20.66; 4. Sebastian Guillaume (Husqvarna) 1:08:24.27; 5.
Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1:08:32.80; 6. Alessandro Botturi (Honda) 1:09:43.07;
7. Anders Eriksson (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:10:58.83; 8. Bjorne
Carlsson (Husaberg) 1:11:01.35; 9. Jordi Figueras (KTM) 1:12:00.48; 10.
Stefan Svitko (KTM) 1:12:20.41; 11. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda)
1:12:41.57; 12. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 1:12:41.67; 13. Euan McConnell (TM)
1:12:57.76; 14. Gordon Clarke (TM) 1:21:27.28 Enduro Junior class 1.
Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 1:09:19.36; 2. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna)
1:09:49.15; 3. Oriol Mena (KTM) 1:10:47.78; 4. Oscar Balletti (Honda)
1:11:24.54; 5. Roni Nikander (KTM) 1:11:36.21; 6. Robert Kapajcik (KTM)
1:11:55.39; 7. Robert Kvarnstrom (TM) 1:12:01.71; 8. Mirko Gritti
(Honda) 1:12:20.96; 9. Jeremy Joly (Sherco) 1:12:49.19; 10. Bert Meyer
(BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:13:21.76; 11. Simon Wakely (Husqvarna)
1:13:37.40; 12. Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) 1:13:43.60; 13. Armand
Monleon (Yamaha) 1:13:44.62; 14. Seabastien Bozzo (Husqvarna)
1:14:00.07; 15. Edward Hubner (KTM) 1:14:08.28; 16. Adrien Metge
(Husqvarna) 1:14:38.24; 17. Victor Karlsson (Honda) 1:14:41.63; 18.
David Gannac (Suzuki) 1:14:58.27; 19. Philip McLaughlin (TM)
1:15:00.44; 20. Jonas Karlsson (KTM) 1:15:33.22 For further
information about the BMW G 450 X see BMW Group PressClub at www.press.bmwgroup.de