Off-road avontuur in Afrika. Bijgaand het volledige, Engelstalige persbericht
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Munich. The venue of the BMW Motorrad International
GS Trophy 2024 has been decided: this time the off-road adventure will
take place in Namibia. Having been held on all continents around the
globe, the International GS Trophy now returns in 2024 to where it all
began in 2008 – Africa.
Namibia’s fascinating attractions includes magnificent landscapes as
well as unique flora and fauna. When night falls after a hot day has
drawn to a close with a deep red sunset, a spectacular starry sky
stretches out over this paradise located on the Atlantic coast of
south-western Africa. In short, the journey into fascinating Namibia
will be an entirely unique experience in many respects – well seasoned
with a good portion of SpiritOfGS.
National qualifying rounds and the first international qualifying
round for an International Team at the 2023 BMW Motorrad Days:
There is still some time to go before the official start of the BMW
Motorrad International GS Trophy 2024, however. Meanwhile, the
national qualifying rounds offer a foretaste of what is to come. There
will be 15 national qualifying event and one international qualifying
round worldwide, giving skilled endurance specialist to demonstrate
their capabilities.
In order secure a place on one of the 22 national teams, participants
are required to perform GPS navigation exercises, off-road rides and
technical tests. The women’s teams that prevail at national level will
win a trip to the international female qualifying round, where a total
of six women’s teams will be selected for the much-coveted seats on
the plane to Namibia, along with the 16 men’s teams.
The qualifying rounds for the
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2024
are confirmed for the following countries and regions:
Brazil
BeNeLux
China
Germany
France
Italy
India
Japan
Latin America
Chile
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Columbia
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Mexico
Middle East
Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai)
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Pakistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
South Korea
UK
USA
For those who do not see their home country on the list of national
or regional qualifying rounds, there is no reason to despair: As part
of the BMW Motorrad Days taking place in Berlin from July 7 to 9,
2023, BMW Motorrad is offering international qualifying for the first
time from July 6 to 8, 2023 to give even more enthusiastic enduro
riders a chance to participate in the Int. GS Trophy 2024 in the
so-called International Team. A link to the sign-up page will be
available on gstrophy.com in March 2023.
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy
2024 Namibia:
Rugged cliffs, deep valleys, raging rivers and a gorgeous
Mediterranean coastline provided the challenging terrain for the BMW
Motorrad International GS Trophy from 4 to 10 September 2022 in
Albania, making full demands of the 57 participants in total.
But Namibia will present GS riders with completely different
conditions, as Dr Ralf Rodepeter, Head of Brand Management BMW
Motorrad, explains: “After Tunisia, South Africa, Patagonia, Canada,
Thailand, Mongolia, New Zealand and most recently Albania, BMW
Motorrad was again on the look-out for perfect GS terrain – and found
it in the beautiful country of Namibia. Countless off-road kilometres
with challenging route profiles passing through marvellous landscapes
with fascinating flora and fauna once again ensure an exciting GS Trophy.”
About Namibia:
Namibia is located on the Atlantic coast, bordering South Africa to
the south and south-east, Botswana to the east and Angola to the
north. Since 1990 the state has been a semi-presidential republic and
has stable political conditions. In the very sparsely populated
country, the inland highlands with an average altitude of 1,700 metres
stretch out between the two deserts of the Kalahari in the east and
the Namib in the west – the latter is considered the oldest desert in
the world. In the area of the capital Windhoek, which has a population
of some 300,000, the highlands actually rise to over than 2,000 metres.
Namibia’s climate is subtropical continental and predominantly hot
and dry. There are significant differences between the individual
regions of the country, however. In both desert regions of the Namib
and the Kalahari, rainfall is typically rare, while on the Atlantic
coast a powerful warm wind blows all year round. In the summer months
of December and January temperatures can rise to 30 degrees Celsius,
and even in the winter months of July and August, the thermometer
climbs to 25 degrees. In winter, frost and sometimes even snowfall can
be expected in the inland highlands.
Namibia has a number of national parks, game parks and nature
reserves, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including
Sossusvlei National Park with its orange sand that is more than five
million years old. Other national parks include the Skeleton Coast,
the Namib-Naukluft National Park and the Etosha National Park. In
addition, the region between the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean
is one of the areas with the best climatic conditions for astronomical
observations worldwide. Here, keen astronomers dedicate their
attention to the unique night sky and stargazing in specially built “astrocamps”.
Cars drive on the left-hand side of the road in Namibia, and the
well-developed Namibian road network covers a total of some 45,000 km.
However, only the trunk roads, some main roads and the main inner-city
roads are asphalted, while about 80 per cent of the road network is
made up of dirt tracks with a gravel base – ideal terrain for the BMW
Motorrad International GS Trophy 2024.
Capital: Windhoek
Population: ~ 2.3 million
Size: 824,116 km²
Currency: Namibia Dollar (NAD)
Language: English (official
language, Afrikaans,
German and numerous others)
About the BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy:
The BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy is an event that celebrates
the spirit of the legendary BMW Motorrad GS models. It encompasses
everything that a BMW GS stands for: riding fun, adventure and
challenges. The BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2024 Namibia is
the ninth edition of the event. Previous editions were held in South
Eastern Europe (Albania) in 2022, Oceania (New Zealand) in 2020,
Central Asia (Mongolia) in 2018, Southeast Asia (Thailand) in 2016,
North America (Canada) in 2014, South America (Chile, Argentina) in
2012, South Africa (South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique) in 2010 and
North Africa (Tunisia) in 2008. The current event will involve 22
teams from all over the world with a total of 60 riders. Others
involved include the GS Trophy marshals, media representatives,
doctors, sponsors and a photo and film crew.
The BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy is not a race: it is a team
competition in which an international contingent of off-road
enthusiasts compete against each other in various special tests. Not
all of these involve just motorcycling: skills and teamwork are
essential, too. Since competitors are together for a lot of the time,
also spending the night in bivouacs, this is an adventure that
promotes a sense of togetherness, too. People, cultures and
motorcyclists from all over the world come together, and it is not
uncommon for friendships to be made for life.
Based on the experience of past GS Trophy events, the most successful
teams are ultimately those that demonstrate solid preparation,
excellent teamwork and riding ability, while at the same time having a
lot of fun and experiencing wonderful international camaraderie.
Be sure to get in on the action!
In subsequent press releases, BMW Motorrad will provide details of
the GS motorbikes to be used and the equipment participants will be
able to use to take on the challenges, as well as more information on
the participating countries and selected teams. BMW Motorrad will be
offering a multi-channel media experience during the event: details
will be published in due course. The spectrum ranges from live streams
and up-to-date social media posts through to regular written
communications and professionally shot and edited video summaries
produced on a day-to-day basis.
For details of event and teams, see the dedicated website gstrophy.com.
Immediately following the BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2024
Namibia, BMW Motorrad will once again be offering “Follow the Trails”
tours: these allow customers to follow in the footsteps of the
competition on the original GS Trophy motorbikes.
For further press material on BMW motorcycles and BMW Motorrad rider
equipment, see the BMW Group PressClub at www.press.bmwgroup.com.
In case of queries please contact:
Tim Diehl-Thiele, Head of Communication BMW Motorrad
Telephone.: +49-151-601-57505, Tim.Diehl-Thiele@bmw.de
Jens Lemon, Head of Communication MINI and BMW Motorrad
Telephone: +49-151-601-23635, Jens.Lemon@bmw.de
Internet: www.press.bmw.de
E-mail: presse@bmw.de
_______________________________________________
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