Latest News 450 Prototype Gets its First Podium The Austrian Cross Country Championship (ACC) race in Reisersberg was another testing ground for the 450cc sports enduro prototype last weekend and the results were almost perfect. After its outing a week previously at the German Cross Country Championship round in Walldorf, the aim for Reisersberg was to test further improvements to the engine. And the final conclusion was that things are progressing very well in this machine's development. "Well, I can't say I'm dissatisfied," said Simo after the race. "As I was approaching the finish I thought the win was a done deal, but that's racing for you - there's always a bit of luck involved. I'm happy at the team's progress though and we've certainly proved that the bike has the potential to win." Understandably, there were plenty of satisfied faces within the BMW Motorrad camp. Furthermore, Kirssi was by far the fastest rider in the field and the sports enduro prototype was also the fastest machine out there, as demonstrated by the lap times. ACC Reisersberg results 1. Rudi Pöschl, 19 laps, 2:07:02.182. Simo Kirssi, 19 laps, 2:07:06.363. Daniel Stocker, 19 laps, 2:12:46.474. Thomas Günther, 18 laps, 2:08:49.595. Mattias Fält, 18 laps, 2:12:13.81
It was one of these Earles fork machines that began my irrational love affair with BMWs whilst living in Dunedin in my youth over 40 years ago.
