Napier Beach, New Zealand. The 2020 BMW Motorrad International GS
Trophy enjoyed a spectacular opening stage today as the competitors
set off from the thermal springs and Maori homelands in Rotorua to
travel through native forest, up onto pastoral high country before
descending to Hawke’s Bay for a first camp on the trails, overlooking
the Pacific Ocean.
The GS Trophy riders were up before
dawn, striking camp ahead of a 5:30am breakfast call in preparation
for the 7am start – that breakfast being very important with no less
than 11 hours of riding ahead. After passing by the first volcano of
the tour, the 821m cone of Putauaki (Mt. Edgecumbe), the route took
the riders into the native forests of the Huiarau Ranges, where gravel
roads followed the river valleys upstream, each turn revealing new
natural highlights of the stunning beech forest, which is peppered
with native exotics like ponga, toi (mountain cabbage tree) and
fuscia. Beautiful to see, sweet to smell.
After two hours the
riders reached the banks of Miniha Stream, a tributary to the
Whakatane River, where the arrival of the BMW F 850 GS motorcycles
startled a family of Kuni Kuni pigs grazing on the grasses. When the
engines quietened the riders could appreciate the sounds of the
forest: cicada buzzing their incessant ‘zid-zid’ while bell birds, tui
and fantails added their myriad song.
It was here the
riders faced their first test in the 2020 Int. GS Trophy – River
Crossing. For each team the three riders needed to ride a trials
course that crossed and recrossed the stream before exiting up a steep
bank – all three needing to complete the course before a four minute
cutoff. The stones and boulders rattled the GS bikes as well as the
nerves of the riders, particularly as footing and falls attracted
additional penalties – a daunting prospect on this opening day. Falls
did indeed come, but so did some spectacular rides, the French notably
smooth, fast and efficient.
After the River Crossing the riders regained the gravel tracks,
working their way up to the beautiful Lake Waikaremoana and the
impressive Mokau waterfall. Here the GS Trophy riders faced the second
test of the day, ‘Sena Challenge’ were one rider was effectively
blindfolded and would be guided by instructions from his teammate –
via his Sena 50R mesh intercom bluetooth headset – around a slalom
course. A simple act of faith, and a fun test, but it also highlighted
the benefits the riders have been enjoying for the first time in the
GS Trophy of being able to communicate in real time with their
marshals and each other.
The course changed in character
immediately after Lake Waikearemoana as the forest gave way to the
high country grazing lands that eventually lead down to Hawke’s Bay.
This region is typified by steep valleys, high cliffs and tenacious
sheep! Riding both highway and gravel this made for a most sinuous
trail that allowed the riders to enjoy the F 850 GS’s agility and
punchy 95 horsepower. The finish came at a camp ground just outside
the seaport of Napier, a beautiful city famed for its Art Deco
buildings – those buildings being so prominent on account this city
was levelled and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931. The riders could
have been mistaken for having survived a seismic event of their own
such was their powder-white appearance after enduring Metzeler-created
dust trails for most of the
day!.
Quotes:
Nikki van der Spek,
International Female Team 1: “It’s been a lot of fun today. The
country is amazing, it is so beautiful and it’s different all the
time. The off-road is mostly gravel, not so hard to ride but you have
to be careful of the loose gravel. The tarmac is like a race track,
corner after corner – a lot of fun! The first test wasn’t easy, my
bike fell down and so did that of the second rider so we timed-out.
The Sena Challenge revealed that we have a language barrier in our
team; we are Dutch, French and Colombian – so three different
languages! We’ll have to work on that.”
Sunao Ueda, Team
Japan: “The route today was very good, beautiful if dusty in the
gravel. But a great experience and when our marshal took us to the
highest point in the ranges the view was huge – magnificent! The tests
were good, too, although I laid my bike down in the stream, so not so
good for us. What I really enjoyed with the company of Team Italy.
With the Sena intercoms we were talking – and laughing – all the way,
this is a very nice feature of this GS Trophy.”
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2020 Oceania.
Day One overall standings:
1 South Korea 65 points
2 Italy 53
3 USA 50
4 Russia 42
5 France 41
6 South Africa 35
7 Argentina 32
8 Middle East 32
9 Netherlands 30
10 Latin America 28
11 UK 27
12 Nordic 24
13 India 21
14 Mexico 21
15 Thailand 18
16 Brazil 17
17 Japan 16
18 Malaysia 15
19 North Africa 15
20 Australia 10
21 Int. Female Team II 9
22 Int. Female Team I 8
The event’s excitement will also
be relayed with much more information of a more informal kind via BMW
Motorrad’s social media sources:
BMW Motorrad Facebook www.facebook.com/bmwmotorrad
Twitter
www.twitter.com/bmwmotorrad
(#gstrophy)
YouTube www.youtube.com/bmwmotorrad
Instagram www.instagram.com/bmwmotorrad
“RIDE
AND TALK – The BMW Motorrad Podcast”
Watch out for more information on the BMW Motorrad International GS
Trophy 2020 – brought to you directly from New
Zealand!
In case of queries, please
contact:
Tim Diehl-Thiele, Head of Communications BMW
Motorrad Tel.: +49 151 601 57505, Tim.Diehl-Thiele@bmw.de
Ingo Wirth, Head of Communications MINI and BMW Motorrad
Tel.: +49 89 382 25814, Ingo.Wirth@bmw.de
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