By Roger Chia for Autofreaks.com.
It was a triple celebration over the weekend of 30 October to 1 November for BMW Malaysia, insofar as its counterparts, BMW Motorrad Thailand, celebrated its 15th Anniversary by hosting the GS Trophy Southeast Asia Qualifier and BMW Motorrad Days. All the events took place at the Enduro Park Thailand, which saw the first ever GS Trophy Southeast Asia Qualifier, as well as the first BMW Motorrad Days to be held in Thailand. The International GS Trophy arrives in the Asian continent for the first time in history in early 2016, in Chiang Mai, 28th February – 5th March 2016, further increasing interest in this biennial adventure riding competition.
Markus Glaeser, Head of BMW Motorrad Thailand said, “The GS Trophy competition is BMW’s world-class off-road motorcycle challenge, which will reinforce the BMW name in the big bike market, both domestically and internationally.” One winner from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore would come together as a team of three to represent Southeast Asia against 18 other competing teams from across the globe – including the first female team – at the International GS Trophy 2016 finals.
The competition featured the usual variety of exercises designed to showcase the riding skills, teamwork and strategic thinking of the contestants, at the same time as entertaining all the spectators. Among the honourable judges invited to adjudicate in this important off-road tournament, was none other than ‘Mr. GS Trophy’ himself, Tomm Wolf. After much battling in the dirt, dust and sometimes mud, the three winners of the GS Trophy Southeast Asia Qualifier emerged.
They are Peerapat Woratham from Thailand, Mohd Faizal Sukree from Malaysia and Tommy Lee from Singapore. We participated in Thailand’s first BMW Motorrad Days event, also held at the Enduro Park Thailand. This was the largest motorcycle festival for big bikes in the country and was designed to showcase the BMW lifestyle, including classic BMW motorcycles and accessories, entertainment and new experiences for big bike lovers in Thailand.
What the Qualifying entailed…
– First day qualifying started with the riders from Thailand. Second day schedule comprised riders from Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Philippines. Third day was for the riders from Malaysia, including the sole female competitor in the GS Trophy qualifying.
– Total bike control is emphasized in the challenge.
– A competitor is required complete the following tasks, like ride as slow as possible without putting a foot down after being waved off (slowest time);
– then ride faster and then hard on brakes (fastest time taken); three tight anti-clockwise rounds (penalty points will be given if the participant touches the ribbon or puts a leg down);
– riding straight into a closed section, stop and reverse the bike the back out (fastest time); getting off the bike and guiding it over vertical blocks;
– ride again in three tight circle clock wise, without dropping the foot; (not timed challenge); getting off the bike and moving the bike while the engine was still running in 1st gear and moving the bike over two logs that have been tied together;
– pick-up a cone with right hand and dropping it to a left placed cone; pluck a banana from a string which was tied on a branch (no, really) and dropping it into one of three buckets;
– balancing on a narrow concrete bridge for ten meters and finally getting off the bike and guiding it around in a circle by controlling the clutch with the just the left hand, placing the stand after one circle to complete the challenge.
Even explaining the challenge makes me tired, imagine the participants having to go through for the first session and this is the outer course. The inner course is much harder, and that’s for the afternoon challenge, some of the tougher challenges is riding through a muddy pool of water and making a “U” turn to the next challenge, going around the bike for two rounds with left hand.
Dropping the bike means the full penalty points given and that challenge is considered failed then have to move on to the next challenge. The Malaysian competitors at the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy Southeast Asia Qualifier 2015 were Dr. Suhaimi Bin Said, Dato Hamzah Bin Mazlan, Eimran Ben Jettey, Khaizatul Akmar Binti Zabidin, Mohd Aswade Bin Ali and Mohd Faizal Bin Sukree.
The Malaysian media also had a chance to ride the F800GS in the Enduro Park after the end of the second session on Sunday during the Malaysian Team qualifying while waiting for the results. The winners of the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy Southeast Asia Qualifier 2015 were Thailand’s Peerapat Woratham, Tommy Lee from Singapore and Mohd Faizal Sukree from Malaysia.
Photo Gallery (Photos by Roger Chia, and courtesy of BMW Motorrad & Notle Gno
