Simo Kirssi re-established himself as a title contender at round two of the German Cross Country Championship. Following his average start to the campaign four weeks ago, the Finn responded at Walldorf with a convincing win. As the former series champ powered away aboard his BMW 450 X, the competition was left battling for positions.
Kirssi wasted no time on the deep Thuringia soil and immediately made clear who would be in command. Kirssi opened a decent gap on the first lap already, only to increase his lead with each further lap. The 30-year old dominated the difficult course, characterised by plenty of up and downhill sections, and only surrendered the lead briefly after coming in for fuel. Kirssi completely owned the second part of the two-hour moto afterwards. He crossed the finish line nearly two minutes in front of round one winner Stefan Svitko, who maintained his championship lead.
Several thousands of fans came to Walldorf and were eventually greeted with improving weather conditions and even some sunshine during the closing stages of the race.
Simo Kirssi: "That's how I like it - right from the start. Everything was plain perfect today, the bike, the team, the track. I do enjoy riding here at Walldorf, it's a challenging track, sort of Enduro style, with lots of fans. This year things were particularly tricky, though. Because of the rain there was a very limited choice of lines, and the the cross section was difficult also. But I made no mistakes and even had some reserves. There was only one moment when Stefan came closer, but I was pretty much in control the whole time."
German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 2, Walldorf, XC Pro class
1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 16 laps
2. Stefan Svitko (SLO), KTM, 16
3. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 16
4. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 16
5. Chris Weiß (GER), TM, 16
6. Andy Boller (GER), KTM, 15
7. Hans Vogels (NL), Husaberg, 15
8. Erik Müller (GER), Kawasak, 15
9. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 15
10. Andreas Weber (GER), Kawasaki, 15
Kirssi wasted no time on the deep Thuringia soil and immediately made clear who would be in command. Kirssi opened a decent gap on the first lap already, only to increase his lead with each further lap. The 30-year old dominated the difficult course, characterised by plenty of up and downhill sections, and only surrendered the lead briefly after coming in for fuel. Kirssi completely owned the second part of the two-hour moto afterwards. He crossed the finish line nearly two minutes in front of round one winner Stefan Svitko, who maintained his championship lead.
Several thousands of fans came to Walldorf and were eventually greeted with improving weather conditions and even some sunshine during the closing stages of the race.
Simo Kirssi: "That's how I like it - right from the start. Everything was plain perfect today, the bike, the team, the track. I do enjoy riding here at Walldorf, it's a challenging track, sort of Enduro style, with lots of fans. This year things were particularly tricky, though. Because of the rain there was a very limited choice of lines, and the the cross section was difficult also. But I made no mistakes and even had some reserves. There was only one moment when Stefan came closer, but I was pretty much in control the whole time."
German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 2, Walldorf, XC Pro class
1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 16 laps
2. Stefan Svitko (SLO), KTM, 16
3. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 16
4. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 16
5. Chris Weiß (GER), TM, 16
6. Andy Boller (GER), KTM, 15
7. Hans Vogels (NL), Husaberg, 15
8. Erik Müller (GER), Kawasak, 15
9. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 15
10. Andreas Weber (GER), Kawasaki, 15
