The weekend of 05-06 June saw the selection of Team UK for the International BMW Motorrad GS Trophy 2010 to be held later this year in Southern Africa. The event involved 90 GS owners competing for just three places in the team at the 4000 acre Walter’s Arena in Wales – home of BMW Off Road Skills.

The three GS-owning riders who will be representing the UK are Alastair Allan who took first place in the final round, Kevin Hammond in second and Mark Kinnard in third.

The competitors were put through five varied stages testing a range of off-road and machine control skills. By the end of the first day the 20 top-scoring riders moved on to the next round – and every stage was extended and made a little more challenging. Sunday saw the 20 reduced to five – who then faced a final round. The tension was palpable, with the spectators following from event to event to cheer on the finalists.

The excitement rose to a peak when the scores were tallied and there was a tie for the final space in the UK team – when the instructors decided that the two hopefuls should ride the final stage again – backwards! Rider Mark Kinnard took the final spot in a truly nail-biting end to the UK qualifier.

The tests were completed on a range of 5 different BMW on-off road motorcycles with the final two rounds completed exclusively on the F 800 GS – the machine selected for the International GS Trophy Final .

The UK qualifying event and five special stages created were organised by seven-time Dakar rally competitor Simon Pavey and judged by his team of BMW Off Road Skills instructors and expert volunteers.

Simon Pavey, Chief Instructor at BMW Off Road Skills said: ‘Overall the event was a great success. We had 90 GS owners with a wide range of skills from the Level One of the Off Road Skills course through to life-long off-road riders competing on a challenging course but they all entered into the spirit of the event and it was fun for all involved. The standard of riding was excellent, especially among the finalists.’

The international round of the GS Trophy takes place from 13 – 21 November across South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique and involves teams of riders from around the world competing in off-road challenges and competitions. Other nations entering include the USA, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Scandinavia (Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Finland), South Africa and Switzerland/Austria.

For a full list of results from the UK qualifying event of the GS Trophy 2010 click on the links to the right.

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