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Added on the 17/02/2020 10:24:23 - Copyright : Auto Moto EN
There was a concerted push south today as the 2020 BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy looked to finish the day within striking distance of the Cook Strait, ready for a leap onto the South Island tomorrow. Only first there was nearly 350km of mixed trail and highway, through the never ending hills of the Wairarapa, diving into native woodlands, crossing pastoral flatlands then a return to the spectacular east coast before finally crossing the Rimutaka Range to make camp in the bush on the edge of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. The GS riders again responded to a pre-dawn 5:30am call to breakfast, yet again finding wonder in the incredible sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, this time seen over the reef at Castlepoint. Less than a kilometre from the start they stopped for the first challenge of the day, Beach Drift. Here one rider from each team rode against the clock over a deep sand section, then crossed back and forth across flatter sands before making a precision stop in a defined box. The deep sand claimed many victims, either ti
The seventh BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy, the 2020 Oceania edition, came to a close on February 16. After eight grueling days, and over 2500km travelled over both the North and South islands of New Zealand, Team South Africa emerged victorious in this most iconic of adventure motorcycling competitions – for the third consecutive occasion.Some 22 international teams, with participants from over 40 countries, took on the challenge of the latest edition of this unique competition. Riding in the Southern Hemisphere summer, the riders mostly enjoyed comfortable temperate conditions, but more than once they also experienced the unique Kiwi phenomenon of ‘four seasons in one day’ as overnight temperatures plummeted and the riders found rain and winds as they tackled the trails. The GS riders also found themselves everywhere from sea level – on the North Island beaches – to thousands of feet up alpine passes in the South Island.The days were typically long with breakfast calls at 5:30 and up to 12-hours of riding. On the occasion of crossing the Cook Strait to reach the South Island the start was an even earlier 3:30; in all the riders became very familiar with eating breakfast by the light of their head torches.
After eight days and approximately 2500 km the 2020 BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy has reached its conclusion at the ski resort of Coronet Peak near Queenstown. And it’s South Africa who are the champions, having narrowly beaten off the close attent
Day seven of the 2020 BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy saw the GS riders head further south, exchanging the high country of the Mackenzie Basin for the first reaches of the Upper Otago, not an easy transition as mountains are constant barriers to movement here in the South Island. The smallest lines of weakness – passes and gorges – are typically the only way to reach new territory and so it was the GS Trophy route negotiated four mountain passes and plenty of water crossings before the riders were allowed to reach the camp at Lake Wanaka, which in the early evening sat in the shadow of the imposing Mount Aspiring (a world heritage site).
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.
Today’s stage was something of a liaison as the 2020 BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy transitioned from the North Island to the South Island of New Zealand. The GS riders had interpreted this as a chance to rest and recharge their batteries, only with a 3:30 am call to breakfast – so as to catch the early inter-island ferry – they soon realised, like Int. GS Trophy riders before them, that there really is no rest in this competition until the finish.Nonetheless, today was a great opportunity for the GS riders to share experiences, as with three hours on the ferry they had plenty of time for inter-team chats. Albeit that was after they had completed their first challenge of the day – the ‘40 years of GS Quiz’ in which they were tested on their knowledge of this iconic motorcycle that has become so much more than just a brand. In fact it was a ferry ride in three parts: knowledge test, sleep and sight seeing, the latter coming as the ferry made its way down the spectacular Queen Charlotte Sound to the port of Picton.