We see BMW's new 450 at Italian World Enduro - 29 May 2007

If you have never been to a World Enduro Championship round then you better have a look at the race calendar and put a date in your diary. It is a brilliant event if you enjoy watching spectacular off road riding from the best racers in the world.

I managed to travel to the fourth round of the championship which was approximately one hour from Milan airport to see BMW's new 450 being piloted by former motocross superstar Joel Smets and Germany's own enduro rider Sascha Eckert.

My first glimpse of the bike was in the pits, but I was more impressed with the bike when I saw Joel ride around the practice track on the Friday before the event. Here is the report from BMW about their weekend in Italy...

Competing aboard BMW´s new 450cc sports enduro bike BMW Motorrad Motorsport development rider Joel Smets claimed a well deserved eighth place finish in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class at the fourth round of the ´07 World Enduro Championship staged in Borno, Italy. With the two-day event proving to be the toughest race of the eight round championship held so far this year a demanding mountainous course, ever changing weather conditions and spectacular and challenging special stages ensured that all competitors, and their machines, were made to work extremely hard. Continuing the development of the 450cc sports enduro bike by returning to the competitive environment of the World Enduro Championship for the second time this year the team´s second rider Sascha Eckert also scored world championship points by placing in 18th, despite suffering with the flu. Despite their encouraging results on day one both riders disappointingly failed to finish day two. Bad luck stuck Joel when his chain derailed shortly before the mid-way point of the day while Sascha was forced to withdraw due to a problem with his bike´s fuel pump.

Kylie

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