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BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2020 Oceania. Day 8 / Final Day. South Africa makes it three!
Sun Feb 16 11:38:00 CET 2020 Press Release
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Synopsis of Day 8. Location: Coronet Peak, South Island, New Zealand Weather: Sun / cloud, 18-23ºC Course: 265 km, Wanaka to Coronet Peak Terrain: Highway: 155 km, tracks & gravel: 110 km Tests: SP20: ‘Jerrycan Challenge’, SP21: ‘Final parcour’ Top three teams: 1. South Africa, 2. France, 3. Italy
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Tim Diehl-Thiele
BMW Group
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Tim Diehl-Thiele
BMW Group
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Coronet Peak, near Queenstown, New Zealand. After
eight days and approximately 2500 km the 2020 BMW Motorrad
International GS Trophy has reached its conclusion at the ski resort
of Coronet Peak near Queenstown. And it’s South Africa who are the
champions, having narrowly beaten off the close attentions of Teams
France and Italy. This marks South Africa's third International GS
Trophy win on the bounce, having won previously in Thailand in 2016
and Mongolia in 2018.
In the tradition of leaving the best until last, day eight
offered some of the most technical riding of this year’s
International GS Trophy, featuring a testing ride over the famous
Nevis Road – New Zealand’s highest public ‘road’ – which is much
more than a road, more an offroad tour de force with a reputed 24
river crossings and countless difficult rocky sections along its
near 70 km length.
Leaving Wanaka at the usual 7:00 am the riders first enjoyed a
flowing road section in the run through to Cardrona, and while
clouds prevented the usual spectacular sunrise it was an unusually
warm 18ºC making for a comfortable opening ride. Following the
line of the Crown Range, after an hour the riders caught a first
sight of the The Remarkables, the 2300 m mountain range that
towers over the adventure activity capital that is Queenstown. But
no sooner had the riders seen the mountains than they were plunged
down a steep track that led to the historic gold rush village of Arrowtown.
Only to enter Arrowtown first they had to ford the Arrow River,
which was over a metre deep in parts causing several riders to
come to a soggy halt before reaching the far bank. Taking an
opportunity to empty their boots of water, in leafy Arrowtown the
riders enjoyed a coffee break in the cafes among the historic
buildings of the village centre.
The break was timely, as from here – after a further road
liaison that took the riders along the eastern shores of the
stunning Lake Wakatipu – the riders were cast upon the Nevis
Road. First came the dramatic 1300 m climb up to the high
country of the Nevis Valley. Then came the challenge of the 24
river crossings. With so many rocks and muddy sections the
riders needed to employ good trials skills, but still many
suffered falls and a few soakings.
Nearing the end of the Road, the riders came to the first
test of the day, the Jerrycan Challenge. Here the GS riders
needed to ride up a track alongside a stream, two-up
carrying two fuel cans. At the top of the trail the pillion
dismounted and with the third team member ran the cans down
through the stream. Meanwhile the rider returned to the
start/finish line where they would be reunited, test
completed. The nerves among the leading teams were in
evidence here as many an error was made, which would be
critical to the outcome of the competition.
After the test, the riders completed their
circumnavigation of The Remarkables by regaining the
highway and heading up to the Coronet Peak ski resort for
the final test, the Parcour. This test carries double
points and with the top three teams being so close on
points it would prove pivotal to the outcome of the
competition. The test called for trials skills combined
with aggression to ensure a fast time with the minimum of
penalties. All three riders in each team rode the test, in
a relay – and again it paid not to drop or stall the bike
if the time and penalties were to be kept to a minimum.
All this set against the incredible backdrop of Queenstown
and Lake Wakatipu nearly 900 metres below.
And when the scores were totaled, newcomers to the
International GS Trophy Team Netherlands had dominated
the day, lifting themselves into fourth in the final
standings, while despite a nervous start to the day,
Team South Africa had done just enough to stay ahead of
their nearest rivals France and Italy to score their
third GS Trophy win.
Brandon Grimsted, Team South Africa:
“With just a five points gap coming into this morning
it was a scary start to the day, we were nervous,
shaking even and over-thinking everything! So in the
jerrycan test we had a few problems but we got back up
and carried on. For the final parcour this was one of
the scariest events I’ve ever taken part in. But it
was awesome, we set a fast time with super clean
riding, we felt we’d done all that we could. And it
was enough! We’re super-happy to take the win and we
know for the GS community at home this is cause for
celebration. Our third win, it’s wonderful.
“Equally we had a very fun week, we thoroughly
enjoyed it and
honestly it was some of the best off-road riding
I’ve done. As a team
we were already close, but the week of being in
each other’s company all the hours of every day has
bonded us for life! And the friends we’ve made along
the way, from all these different nations – well, it
makes the experience complete.”
The GS riders had enjoyed an incredible eight
days of adventure riding. New Zealand’s two
islands had delivered a vast range of
natural wonders; from ocean beaches to the peak of
Mt. Cook, the riders had seen so much of the
terrain, and the flora and fauna that makes
this remote country such an intense experience.
And along the way they had made so many new
friendships among the 22 international
teams, proving that through a shared passion it's
possible to unite all men and women of the world
under the one emblem – that of the GS!
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2020
Oceania.
Final standings:
1 South Africa 394
2 France 382
3 Italy 380
4 Netherlands 375
5 South Korea 361
6 Latin America 355
7 Brazil 335
8 Russia 316
9 Mexico 295
10 Argentina 278
11 Middle East 268
12 Australia 264
13 USA 254
14 Nordic 246
15 UK 238
16 Thailand 222
17 Japan 218
18 Malaysia 208
19 India 200
20 Int. Female Team I 169
21 North Africa 146
22 Int. Female Team II 118
The event’s excitement will also be
relayed with much more information of a more
informal kind via BMW Motorrad’s social
media sources:
BMW Motorrad Facebook www.facebook.com/bmwmotorrad
Twitter www.twitter.com/bmwmotorrad (#gstrophy)
YouTube www.youtube.com/bmwmotorrad
Instagram www.instagram.com/bmwmotorrad
“RIDE AND TALK – The BMW Motorrad Podcast”
Watch out for more information on the BMW
Motorrad International GS Trophy 2020 –
brought to you directly from New Zealand!
In case of queries, please contact:
Tim Diehl-Thiele, Head of
Communications BMW Motorrad
Tel.: +49 151 601 57505, Tim.Diehl-Thiele@bmw.de
Ingo Wirth, Head of Communications MINI
and BMW Motorrad
Tel.: +49 89 382 25814, Ingo.Wirth@bmw.de
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