Latest News BMW's 450 Does the Rounds It's been a good couple of weeks for BMW Motorrad's 450cc sports enduro. Not only did it achieve its first Cross Country win in the capable hands of factory rider Simo Kirssi last weekend, but the prototype has also been 'on tour' in the southern hemisphere, where BMW motorsport fans have been able to appreciate the single-cylinder four-stroke, hand-built 450 cc prototype. As GS Challenge participants will attest, the 450cc sports enduro project manager Christian Wettach recently came to South Africa, where the 600 participants in the event were able to see for the first time the factory race bike that has been campaigned across Europe this season by Joel Smets. And last weekend, the bike caused a sensation at the Australian Motorcycle Expo in Melbourne, where it was unveiled for the first time in Australia and won over the Melbourne show visitors, despite having been slightly delayed in transit. "We were excited by the huge response we had with the 450 sports enduro," said Miles Davis, marketing Manager, BMW Motorrad Australia New Zealand. "The 450 drew a huge crowd of intrigued and interested spectators. Many of them had read about the bike in magazines through the year and they were keen to finally see the bike in the flesh. BMW Motorrad Australia staff at the recent Melbourne Expo It is very compact, light and judging by its competition results recently, rather quick and agile too - it certainly felt light when we were lifting it onto the stand!" This weekend, the BMW 450cc sports enduro will be on display at this weekend's MotoGP round at Philip Island, where Australian Casey Stoner will line up on the grid for the first time as MotoGP world champion. Following that, the bike will be appearing at the Sydney Motorcycle Show in early November before taking a big jump across the Tasman Sea to Auckland in New Zealand for the 'Big Boys Toys' exhibition. Those north of the equator will be able to see the bike in action this weekend at the German Enduro Championship round at Zschopau, where Joel Smets and Sascha Eckert will campaign the 450cc sports enduro in the final round of the 2007 championship (Gerhard Foster will ride an HP2 Enduro as well). This will be the most popular round in the series, as it is a former World Enduro Championship venue and always attracts massive crowds. As always, we'll let you know how it fares...