TUNISIA THREE PREPARE TO REPRESENT USA IN BMW MOTORRAD INTERNATIONAL GS TROPHY

International Motorcycle Competition in Tunisia October 15-24

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - October 10, 2008... Three BMW GS owners are about to
embark on the motorcycle ride of their lives. Brad Hendry, of Thornton, CO; Jim
Stoddard, of Middlegrove, NY; and Jason Adams, of Rosendale, NY -- the "Tunisia
Three" -- will represent the United States in the inaugural BMW Motorrad
International GS Trophy in Tunisia, October 15-24. They will be joined by
three "embedded" journalists selected by BMW Motorrad USA to accompany Team
USA: Dirt Rider Editor Jimmy Lewis, Cycle World Off-Road Editor Ryan Dudek;
and writer Jonathan Beck.

Since their selection from a field of six GS owners at the BMW Performance
Center in Spartanburg, S.C. on August 28, Hendry, Stoddard and Adams have each
prepared for the upcoming international competition in their own unique way.

Hendry, 25, manages a motorcycle dealership in Colorado and races extensively
in on- and off-road competitions. He holds an AMA professional racing license
for road racing and supermoto, and he is a professional level motocross racer
locally. On Sunday, October 12, Hendry is poised to claim three roadracing
championships and will celebrate both the end of a successful racing season as
well as the promise of an international trophy on his racing resume.

"I thrive on competition," observes Hendry, who was voted Team USA leader by
his fellow teammates in Spartanburg. "I'm really excited to give my best
effort."

Competing year-round and working out six days per week, Hendry feels
well-prepared for the physical and psychological demands posed by the GS
Trophy. The son of South African parents, he has considerable experience
competing throughout the African continent.

Stoddard, 45, is a service manager for a large diesel engine manufacturer and a
seasoned Hare Scramble, enduro and Iron Butt competitor in the Northeast. Last
year, alone, he logged 34,000 miles on his BMW R 1200 GS Adventure.

Since his selection for the GS Trophy competition, his days have begun at 4:30
a.m. with a training regimen of aerobics, situps, and pushups. After work, he
goes mountain biking. Several weeks ago, he got up at 2 a.m., road his GS 300
miles from his home in upstate New York to a friend's home in the New Jersey
Pine Barrens. He had a six-hour training session in the sand, and he rode back
home the same day.

"I'm so excited to do this," Stoddard says. "I wake up in the middle of the
night and remind myself of what I'm doing."

Adams, 36, is a theatrical lighting director for the Bardavon Opera House in
Poughkeepsie. On his motorcycle, he prefers to take the road less traveled and
he has ridden off-road in Africa, Central and South America, crossing the Andes
twice. Adams has also ridden across the U.S., west to Idaho and east to the
northern tip of Newfoundland, toured the pavement and dirt roads of Europe and
Scandinavia on his Oilhead GS, and raced his BMW Airhead off-road (including
the Sandblast, Black River, and West Virginia RallyMotos).

"To beef up my desert riding skills, I've traveled to the Western deserts
numerous times and the Sahara once," comments Adams. I do the majority of my
own wrenching, and I can speak passable, if simple French, which may be helpful
in Tunisia."

Living in the northeast gives him access to several miles of rocky, steep,
tight and technical trails in his backyard, where he practices most days.
During the past few weeks at the theater, Adams could be spotted running
several flights of stairs from the lobby to the balcony (he says there are
exactly 53 steps) and doing pull-ups from random bars throughout the stage
area.

"I am incredibly excited and proud to represent the USA and BMW in this
remarkable endeavor," he says. "We have a strong team!"
On Monday, October 13, Hendry, Stoddard and Adams will board separate flights
to Milan, Italy, where they will join fellow GS competitors from Germany,
Italy, Spain and Japan. On October 15, the riders and their identically
prepared BMW F 800 GS motorcycles will travel by ferry from Genoa to Tunisia
for the start of the "Survivor-style" competition in the Tunisian desert on
October 16.

Fortunately, the Tunisia Three love to camp.

"I always look forward to camping," says Hendry. "When I'm not racing, I'm
camping. So this will be like a holiday for me."

"My wife, Lisa, and I motorcycle camp all the time," adds Stoddard. "It's just
that this time, I'll be doing it without our queen-size air mattress. I'm also
really looking forward to the scenery in the desert."

"I would rather rough it and have this be an adventure." echoes Jason.

BMW Motorrad has provided each rider with an equipment bag, tent, sleeping bag,
camping mat, headlamp, hydration pack, compass and Rallye Pro Suit.
Competitors were asked to bring helmets, gloves, boots, goggles, sport shoes,
tracksuit, fleece jacket, swim suits, sandals, suntan lotion, sunglasses,
energy bars and mineral drinks, camping utensils, travel pillow, towels and
personal hygiene items.

Riders, relatives and friends from home can follow the adventures of the
Tunisia Three by reading their blogs posted on www.bmwmotorcycles.com.

The GS Trophy

The GS Trophy is not a race, but a lengthy and challenging ride, both on- and
off-road, through the rugged countryside of Tunisia on new BMW F 800 GS bikes
adapted by Touretech and Metzeler. The competition will include numerous tests
in individual riding skills and group teamwork to overcome natural and manmade
obstacles. Routes will be announced at the last minute, allowing competitors
to demonstrate their navigation skills and team spirit - characteristics which
make competent enduro riders. Each machine has had a selection of Touratech
parts added, all designed to protect the machine - and rider - from the African
conditions.
"Many of the parts we've adding give increased protection against the
conditions riders will face out in Africa," said Herbert Schwarz, Executive
Director or Touratech. "For each bike, we've added crash bars, a skid plate,
installed small LED blinkers, foot-pegs with additional grip, foldable brake
and gear change levers, hand protectors, and cross-brace protection pads for
the handlebars."

"We've added a modification to the front fender to raise it by 3cm because of
the extra ground clearance that will be needed on certain terrain in Tunisia,"
Schwarz added. "We've also installed a headlight protection grill, a special
protector against stones for the radiator, and a chain guard. Other little
'extras' include a tail rack that a small bag attaches to for everyday
necessities, and all bikes are being fitted with Metzeler Karoo off-road tires,
which are perfect for the conditions participants will encounter."

Schwarz is keen to stress that there have been no engine modifications
whatsoever carried out on the F 800 GS machines, and that the majority of the
work has been carried out to minimize the effects of crash damage, as he is
expecting riders to drop the bikes on a regular basis due to the competitive
nature of the event and the diversity of riding terrain on the courses.

The Road to Tunisia - The Selection Process

The road to Tunisia began in June when all BMW GS and G 650 Xchallenge owners
were invited to apply for an opportunity to represent Team USA against teams
from Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain in the international competition, October
15-24. Nearly 100 riders made the first stage of the application process to be
considered for Team USA.

"In a country as big as the U.S., a single GS challenge/elimination for scores
of riders would have been impractical," said Laurence Kuykendall, Community &
Communications Manager for BMW Motorrad USA. "So, unlike other markets, we
relied on a 'paper process' to start. Next year, we will probably have more
regional challenges to initiate the selection process."

Five equally weighed criteria were used in selecting 20 semi-finalists from the
initial pool of 96 applicants: Riding skill (the obvious skill for which all
markets are testing); Experience, including competition (amateur, XPLOR GS, AMA
Adv. Series, rallies etc.); Fitness (physical and mental); Ambassador (the
ability and track record of getting the word out); and Teamwork (demonstrated
ability to work well with others). All 96 original applicants were graded with
5 points for each criterion by four judges within BMW and Husqvarna Motorcycles
NA, LLC for a total of 100 points possible per person. The top 20 point
recipients were then further reviewed and judged by the references they
provided.

The 20 successful riders were informed separately that they had advanced to the
next round, while the 76 who didn't 'make the cut' received a gift from BMW
Motorrad to say thanks for participating and to encourage them to try again in
2009. The 20 International GS Trophy semi-finalists that remained were then
subjected to further tests to determine a final shortlist. The six chosen
riders were then invited at BMW's expense to participate in further testing at
the BMW Performance Center, in Spartanburg, SC, on August 28.

In Spartanburg, seven judges evaluated the riding, leadership and teamwork
skills of the six riders in a series of grueling challenges aboard equally
prepared BMW R 1200 GS and G 650 Xchallenge motorcycles. Competitors navigated
an offset slalom course, circle drill, controlled ascents and descents, an
uphill slalom, sand recovery, sand relay, team trail challenge, a barrel race
and high speed maneuvering drills.

This final test determined which of the "Spartanburg Six" (as they have become
known) would become the "Tunisia Three" who would go on to represent the United
States in the International GS Trophy in October. As Kuykendall stated, "just
getting down to the final six riders was an extremely difficult task for his
team."

"We've not only had many excellent riders to chose from, but the criteria was
complex too, including not only riding ability and experience, but more
intangible qualities like teamwork, personality, physical and psychological
fitness, and the capability to spread the BMW faith. It would have been equally
easy to end up with six other, equally deserving names, as the standard was so
high, but as a consolation, there is always next year, when we will require new
riders for the 2009 GS Trophy - wherever it might be!"

"The real point of the GS Challenge is to have real BMW riders in a
"Survivor-style" environment," Kuykendall summed up. "In the end, it's the
same kind of adventure that any BMW GS owner can indulge in. If you own a GS,
you can do this for yourself!"

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW
Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial
service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including
motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars;
DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in
Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW
Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global
manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4
models, X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sport Activity Coupes. The BMW
Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW
passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW
motorcycle retailers, 83 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 Rolls-Royce Motor
Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for
North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet
at:

www.bmwgroupna.com
www.bmwusa.com
www.bmwmotorcycles.com
www.miniusa.com
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available
to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address:
www.press.bmwgroup.com. Broadcast quality video footage is available via The
NewsMarket at www.thenewsmarket.com.

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