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Following a superb debut season of competition in 2005, BMW Motorrad´s motorsport works team and individual riders around the world have had a fantastic 12 months racing the HP2 Enduro at a wide range of international off-road events throughout 2006. Under the experienced management of team boss, Berti Hauser, BMW Motorrad´s works team contested many European events, including selected rounds of the German, Austrian and Italian Cross Country championships, the legendary Erzberg Rodeo (where Simo Kirssi scored a second consecutive victory in the Iron Road prologue) and the 24-hour Endurance Day race held at Neiden, Torgau. Overseas events also included the Baja 500 and 1000 races and the Pikes Peak international hill climb event in the American Rocky Mountains, where Californian Casey Yarrow and Simo Kirssi dominated the Exhibition Class on their HP2 Enduros, taking first and second positions respectively.
There were also many races contested by individuals and private teams that all served to highlight the HP2 Enduro´s sporting potential. These started off with the inaugural Snow Speedhill challenge that involved racing motorcycles up a ski slope at the southern Bavarian resort of Bischofswiesen. The ´flying Finn´ Kirssi took his HP2 Enduro to victory, beating world-class competitors on various enduros and motocross bikes. Then it was the turn of current European Stunt Riding Champion Chris Pfeiffer to swap his F 800 S stunt bike for an HP2 Enduro to compete in the European Hillclimbing Championship event at Obersaxen in Switzerland. He finished on the podium for the second year in succession, using the power of the flat-twin to reach his personal best distance (204.7 metres) in one of the toughest hill climbs on the calendar.
An equally challenging, but rather longer test of endurance was completed by Dakar rally veteran Per Gunnar Lundmark, who rode his HP2 Enduro from the Nordkap in Norway all the way to Cape Agulhas on the tip of South Africa. The ´Cap to Cape´ trip took the Swede over seven weeks and not only showed his determination and riding ability but also gave a fantastic example of just what the HP2 Enduro is really capable of in tough terrain, over 22,000 km across two continents.In the United Kingdom, veteran Irish racer and adventurer Philip Gunn won the ´twins´ class of the Big Trail Bike Challenge (a championship run over six trail bike rally rounds) before entering his HP2 Enduro in the March 2007 Tuareg Rallye, against approximately 140 other riders on much smaller, lighter single-cylinder machines. Phil finished second, but the winner was also on an HP2 Enduro. 
In Italy, the HP2 Enduro proved that it was the perfect bike for the perfect challenge, when BMW Motorrad Chassis Engineer Robert Wagner persuaded BMW Motorrad´s President Dr Diess to let him enter a team of three HP2 Enduros in the event, with BMW engineer Florian Dietrich and Udo Ochner - a former leader of the Boxer motorcycle project team and one of the main driving forces behind the HP2 Enduro. Against 95 starters, Robert took the victory with Florian and Udo following him home in second and third places respectively.And in France for the first time it was a BMW rider on an HP2 Enduro that won the ´holeshot´ prize at Le Touquet beach race. In heavy wind and rain, local rider Jean-Charles Lenain beat 922 other riders to the end of the 4.5-kilometre straight at Merlimont to claim the €1,500 prize, which was donated to the Fabrizio Meoni association. 
In America, HP2 riders Mark Albertson and Peter Canning contested the Sandblast Rally in South Carolina on an HP2 Enduro, alongside their Max BMW XPLOR race teammates on various bikes, including the new G 650 Xchallenge. The Max BMW team grabbed three of the top six places, with Mark Albertson finishing in third place overall aboard his HP2 Enduro, while Peter Canning came fifth on his HP2 Enduro. And even at the time of writing, former motocross and supercross champion Pierre Karsmakers from Holland is currently crossing the Sahara desert on an HP2 Enduro in the 6,500 kilometres Heroes Legend classic ride from Paris to Dakar, alongside 130 other competitors. Pierre chose this bike due to its legendary power characteristics and off-road ability, and he can´t think of a better place to ride it than in the desert. 
For the remainder of 2007, BMW Motorrad´s HP2 development programme continues and off-road enthusiasts will be pleased to know that BMW Motorrad has retained the services of Simo Kirssi, as well as Christian Pfeiffer to campaign the HP2 Enduro at various events, including this year´s Erzberg Iron Road prologue. As BMW Motorrad´s sporting model offensive continues to gather speed throughout the year, more details will also be communicated about the race activities of the HP2 Megamoto sister model, which is expected to make an appearance at this year´s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Post count: 305Some photos of Lenain's holeshot at Le Touquet
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