BMW Husqvarna Motorsport’s Simo Kirssi re-established himself as a title contender at round two of the German Cross Country Championship last weekend. Following his average start to the campaign four weeks ago, the Finn responded at Walldorf with a convincing victory. As the former series champ powered away aboard his BMW G 450 X, his fellow competitors were left battling for the remaining positions.
Kirssi wasted no time on the deep Thuringia soil and immediately made it clear who would be in command. Having opened a decent gap on the first lap, Kirssi powered away and increased his lead with each lap. The 30-year old dominated the difficult course, characterised by plenty of up and downhill sections, and only briefly surrendered the lead after coming in for fuel. Following this, Kirssi was dominant for the second part of the two-hour moto and crossed the finish line nearly two minutes ahead of round one winner Stefan Svitko, who maintained his championship lead.
Several thousand fans came to see the racing at Walldorf and were eventually greeted with improving weather conditions and even some sunshine during the closing stages of the race.
Simo Kirssi: “That’s how I like it – right from the start! Everything was plain perfect today: the bike, the team and the track. I do enjoy riding at Walldorf – it’s a challenging track, sort of Enduro style with lots of fans, but this year things were particularly tricky. Because of the rain there was a very limited choice of lines, and the cross section was difficult also. Fortunately I made no mistakes and even had some reserves left. There was only one moment when Stefan came close, but I was pretty much in control the whole time.”
German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 2, Walldorf, XC Pro class results
1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 16 laps
2. Stefan Svitko (SLO), KTM, 16
3. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 16
4. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 16
5. Chris Weiß (GER), TM, 16
6. Andy Boller (GER), KTM, 15
7. Hans Vogels (NL), Husaberg, 15
8. Erik Müller (GER), Kawasak, 15
9. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 15
10. Andreas Weber (GER), Kawasaki, 15
