FEATURE - 2022 BMW International GS Trophy
Words: Klaus Nennewitz
Photos: Amelie Mesecke, Vanessa Blankenagel, Markus Jahn, Klaus Nennewitz
A week-long test of skill and teamwork on BMW’s iconic GS dual sport bikes in an exotic country with everything included sounds like heaven. That’s what the biennial International GS Trophy is, but you have to qualify first, and for the most recent edition, a total of 5,000 applicants from 11 countries were whittled down to just 57 invitees. When those lucky few arrived in the former communist country of Albania, the competition was on!
There are some things money can’t buy, not even with the platinum edition of a credit card. Participation in BMW’s International GS Trophy is one of them. Since 2008, BMW riders from all over the world have come together every two years to compete in this seven-day, teams-based event that has competitive elements, but isn’t a race.
Past locations for the International BMW GS Trophy have included Africa, South America, Canada, the Philippines and New Zealand, but for the eighth edition, held in September, 2022, BMW riders would congregate in Albania.
New for this edition was a separate classification for male and female teams, while potential entrants had to meet a criteria for entry to the "once in a lifetime" happening via qualifier events in their respective countries.
Base Camp, but not Basic
An hour southwest of Albania’s capital Tirana, directly on the beach overlooking the Adriatic Sea, BMW set up base camp for the International GS Trophy 2022, where 126 new R 1250 GS bikes were waiting for the entrants, marshals, media and support personnel.
These were all standard spec machines, with only a few accessories and special Trophy decorations added. A small sticker on every tank clarified the spirit of the competition: "#it's not a race!” That motto particularly applied to the opening day’s riding, taking on Albanian roads with chaotic traffic, missing manhole covers. . . and plenty of livestock.
Safety for all was paramount, with BMW Motorrad even sending a rescue helicopter and crew from Germany. Fortunately, it was needed only twice over the seven days to transport slightly injured riders to Tirana. When you consider that more than 100 bikes covered 1,250 kilometres each over the week, the injury rate was remarkably low.
Credit must go to the fleet of international marshals who guided groups of up to eight riders over the daily stages. While this armada came from all sorts of countries around the world, they spoke the same "BMW language" and went about their work in a highly professional manner, with the kinds of principles and values that are essential for the success of such a complex event.
Despite the stark differences in cultures: it didn't matter whether they came from India, Australia, Brazil, Romania or Bavaria, everybody’s competence and know-how was lined up and they had solutions for every problem that arose during the Trophy.
Big Wigs on the Ride
After the iconic R 80 G/S, the International GS Trophy is perhaps the Bavarian brand's best invention in the adventure bike sector.
The eighth edition of the Trophy saw BMW Motorrad Managing Director Dr. Markus Schramm attend, together with Head of Design Edgar Heinrich and Head of Development Christof Lischka, showing how important this competition is to the top management.
All three of them, together with teams, journalists and VIPs, were on the trails every day, riding the GS according to the motto: have fun, watch and listen to the participants....
Amongst those participants, former Motorrad Motorsport boss and two-time Dakar winning team manager Berti Hauser, spent every day among the riders, camping in a tent and riding the event as a guide – all at the age of 65!
The nightly camps were in spectacular Albanian locations, like the castle of Berat, at Lake Ohrid and a farm in the mountains on the Greek border, as well as the beach looking out to the Adriatic.
Trophy Explained
Those who have never heard of the International GS Trophy will be asking ‘What’s it all about?’
The biennial event sees national teams, which in Albania last year consisted of 15 male squads of three riders each and six female teams with two riders each, led around the stages by experienced marshals. Daily stages had a length of about 200km, with more than half of that distance off tarmac.
After the 2020 Trophy in New Zealand received some criticism for the connecting asphalt stages being too long and the off-road parts too easy, organisers increased the off-road challenge in Albania, with more gravel roads, hollow tracks, muddy forest paths, river crossings and completely bombed jeep trails that would require superior riding skills
Riders spent up to eight hours in the saddle each day, so it took a fair amount of physical fitness and mental strength to keep up on the dusty tracks, where temperatures ranged between 20° and 36°C.
Several special stages had to be completed each day, so on one hand, there might be timed Enduro-Trial stages, including penalties for stepping off, while other tests were only a few hundred metres long but just as challenging. Team members sometimes entered these together, while in others they entered in relay. On one occasion, all riders in a team had to ride in a circle in a demarcated area of 10 x 10 metres, passing an oil can to each other without stopping or putting a foot down.
In addition to the pure riding tests, there was also a timed wheel change, a navigation challenge through the forest on foot and a “Baywatch” kind of life-saving event on the beach! Each team also had to present themselves in a video, with the online evaluation taken into account, along with the results of a quiz about Albania and the Trophy itself.
But it was just as important for each team to get their GSs through the competition in one piece - every broken lever, busted peg or other item of damage inflicted on the bike led to penalty points.
International Challenge
There was no Australian team in the International GS Trophy 2022, but Miles Davis, former National Marketing Director for BMW Motorrad Australia (and former MTB Downhill Pro-rider), was one of the marshals leading teams to the first special stage of the event; an Enduro course about 300m long high above the sea.
This was the first round in what would be a fierce competition between the male teams, with UK, South Africa and Germany soon proving themselves to be the powerhouses, but the “exotic” teams from South Korea, Thailand and China occasionally placed themselves on the rostrum after the daily stages, too.
In the female category, the German team gained the lead on the first day, challenged by the ladies from Mexico, France and South Africa.
Despite all the competition and ambitions for victory, a friendly atmosphere prevailed on the track and in the bivouac each evening. For example, Dalton de Bruin, a 23-year-old giant from South Africa, repeatedly took on the job of clearing competitors’ stuck or sunk 240kg GSs with the ease of a trials bike – and also beat everyone in arm wrestling!
I was able to experience the spirit of the GS Trophy first hand on the afternoon of the first stage, even though I was "only following” as a journalist.
I was the last in my group, with three Chinese competitors ahead of me as we juggled the GS with considerable ease down into a forest valley on a long and difficult path, negotiating ditches, rocks and knee-deep ruts. As the group set a brisk pace, it started a playful competition as we “fought” for the lead, riding side by side on the slippery gravel road, kicking up a dense cloud of dust through narrow bends. I kept getting an incredulous glance from one of the Chinese, as if he was saying: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’. We had never seen each other before, yet all of a sudden, we were riding heavy off-road bikes together like the main characters in the classic motorbike movie, "On any Sunday".
Stopping at a petrol station, we broke out in a loud cheer of joy and embraced, hardly able to express in words what had just happened. This was the real spirit of the International GS Trophy: an event that unites people, opens up worldwide friendships and creates new networks.
Later, I found out that one of the Chinese riders, Vincent Lai, is an off-road star in Hong Kong... and he’s now my friend!
South Africa four-peat
Before the start of the last, difficult special stage that would conclude the International GS Trophy 2022, the leading male teams from South Africa, the UK and Germany were separated by 21 points. A surprise victory by the German trio would still have been possible by awarding double points, but between rocks, deep sand and the surf on the beach of Kavaje, west of Tirana, the South Africans left no stone unturned and finished ahead of the UK and Germany to take their fourth Trophy victory in a row.
The South African women's team, which arrived late and had to get used to each other, also put in a merciless performance for the final test, leaving no chance for the other female teams that followed. In the end, they won by just one point from Germany, while the Mexicans ladies surprised to move up to third place.
After seven gruelling, but exhilarating days, participants in the International GS Trophy 2022 left with memories of a country with spectacular landscapes and fantastic off-road tracks, plus an extremely robust R 1250 GS, probably the only maxi-adventure bike that would allow us to do the stunts we did. And then, of course, there were encounters on the tracks and in the bivouac, with new friendships that were born from them.
Namibia Next Year
For the International GS Trophy 2024, the location was recently confirmed to be Namibia, bringing the event back to the continent where it all started in 2008. Completely new teams will compete, so those wanting to take part should enquire about the national qualifiers in their country so they don’t miss out on this "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
There’s no Australian qualifier for next year’s Trophy, but an International Qualifier for those outside the nominated national qualifying events will be held in Berlin in July.
For more details, go to: bmw-motorrad.com and follow the links.
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2022 - final standings
Men:
1. South Africa - 217 points, 2. United Kingdom – 204, 3. Germany – 185, 4. China 2020 – 169, 5. USA – 165, 6. Netherlands – 155, 7. Thailand – 146, 8. South Korea - 142, 9. Latin America – 141, 10. Mexico – 139, 11. France – 133, 12. India – 120, 13. China 2022 – 113, 14. Brazil -100, 15. Japan – 88.
Women:
1. South Africa – 297 points, 2. Germany – 296, 3. Mexico – 264, 4. France – 241, 5. Latin America – 237, 6. Brazil – 167.
