Lake Tekapo, New Zealand: If day five of the 2020 BMW Motorrad
International GS Trophy had been upscaled, then day six was simply
super-sized. The GS riders crossed the South Island west to east,
riding 440 km over mountain passes and along the Canterbury Plain to
reach Lake Tekapo, in the foothills of the Southern Alps, in the early
evening. Along the way they encountered yet more mountain tracks, made
multiple river crossings and, as Team Middle East were keen to point
out, they’d been through that famous Kiwi experience: four seasons in
one day.
The GS Trophy riders started the day as they always do, with a 5:30
am call to breakfast ready for a 7 am start. They then enjoyed a dawn
ride along the west coast, heading south from Punakaiki Beach toward
the port town of Greymouth. The one test of the day came early, just
half an hour from the start. In ‘Rent-a-Ride’ the teams were
challenged to ride a trials course twice, with two different riders
recording as near as identical times as they could manage. With no
timing devices permitted it came down to the third member of the team
to pace the riders. At the same time, of course, they needed to ride
the course immaculately with no footing or stops. And as part of the
course was also submerged, it was a tricky enterprise start-to-finish.
Test finished, the GS riders passed through the Victorian gold rush
town of Greymouth (which latterly became a port, and a farming and
timber town, although these days tourism is an equal contributor to
the economy). From here the GS riders turned inland, taking Arthur’s
Pass to cross the mountains and enter the Canterbury Plain, although
first came the Canterbury High Country where dramatic limestone
escarpments rose tall in testament to the significant seismic activity
that regularly reshapes the South Island.
Gravel roads then brought the GS riders across the gentler Canterbury
Plain where for the first time on this cross-islands adventure arable
farming mixed with pastoral as sheep and cows grazed next to fields of
wheat and barley – a gentle calm beauty after the drama of the
mountains. After a late lunch in Geraldine, the GS riders then took to
the hills again, riding through the sheep stations of the Mackenzie
Country where they found technical riding in the rocky climbs and
descents and challenge in the many water crossings, as rocks and loose
stone unseated more than a few.
The day ended at Lake Tekapo, located almost plumb centre of the
South Island. The lake is in fact a reservoir built in the 1970s – it
takes its sparkling blue-green hue from the silica found in the
glacial waters that feed it – and is part of an extensive hydro scheme
that provides New Zealand with 85% of its total energy needs. Along
with energy taken from geo-thermal sources, New Zealand is close to
achieving a total renewable, sustainable energy supply. With riders
arriving in camp after 6 pm it had been another 11 hours riding day.
Although only one test was completed the riders were more than happy
given the challenge of the day’s riding and the never-ending
spectacular scenery.
Rider quotes:
Jorge Osorio, Team Middle East:
“What an amazing day! We start with a nice test, very technical. Then
we rode up the mountain pass, we saw massive slopes with waterfalls
and a huge viaduct – and shivered in the falling temperature! The
views were like we’ve never seen before – beautiful. And then we came
to this amazing off-road route where we crossed glacial rivers and
were riding up really technical climbs, it was amazing. And through it
all we got to experience what the Kiwi’s call ‘four seasons in one
day’, we had the cold, the rain and now the sunshine. Incredible.”
Gleb Koltsov, Team Russia:
“I came here as the team journalist but after we lost one of the
riders due to visa issues I’ve become a participant too! And making me
a participant is like an adventure – a real adventure – because I
didn’t expect to be here in this situation; I didn’t prepare, I’d
never ridden the BMW F 850 GS before. So now I’m doing every
challenge, it’s a real challenge for me – and very exciting, if
exhausting when I have to write my story every evening. Today, we’ve
had a typical day for us – where we start the first test with a fail!
But after that we relax and feel the emotions of the ride. Today was a
great route. Our marshal, Jean-Luc took us on the toughest route, with
big hills and so many river crossings, this has probably made it the
best day of the trip so far. So thank you to Jean-Luc, it’s been amazing.”
Isabela Londomo Rivas, Team Int. Female Team II:
“Today was incredible. Very long, 440 km I think, with a spectacular
route with gravel, rocks, hills, lots of river crossings and all the
time the views were amazing. Today we rode together with the second
international female team and being the first to leave in the morning
we made it our joint mission to make it first to the camp at the end
of the day. And we did this. So okay, it’s not a race – but we won!”
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2020 Oceania.
Day 6 overall standings:
1 South Africa 309
2 France 302
3 Italy 287
4 Brazil 260
5 South Korea 258
6 Netherlands 241
7 Russia 239
8 Middle East 217
9 Australia 215
9 Latin America 215
11 USA 211
12 Argentina 198
13 Japan 187
13 Mexico 187
15 Nordic 180
16 UK 172
17 India 166
18 Thailand 165
19 Malaysia 157
20 Int. Female Team I 127
21 North Africa 110
22 Int. Female Team II 98
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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