Salminen Wins Zschopau Classic

October 26, 2009, 4:09pm

Juha Salminen has taken the win at the "Rund um Zschopau" Enduro classic. The Finn held off fellow countryman Eero Remes to give BMW their first victory at the prestigious event. The race held on Saturday marked the final round of the German Enduro Championship. Salminen won the overall and the E2 class.

Zschopau used to be the center of the sport in former East Germany. The region has plenty of enthusiastic fans who showed up in thousands to witness brilliant motorsport and what Enduro racing is all about: man and machine fighting the elements.

World Championship runner-up Salminen came to Saxony to end the season with a win, fully aware that Remes was going to be his main contender. By taking the prologue on Friday night, Salminen fired an early warning, but the 33-year-old had to suffer through the following day like everyone else before finally stepping on top of the podium. The BMW factory rider won by 0.04 seconds over Remes, with Markus Kehr and Samuli Aro next on the list of results.

Juha Salminen: "What a perfect end to the season. Zschopau has always been a great event. The race and the special tests were among the best of the year, better than most of the World Championship rounds. It´s really special to win in front of this huge crowd. Eero gave me a hard time, guess I had that little bit of extra luck. The bike worked perfectly."

"Rund um Zschopau"
1. Juha Salminen (FIN), BMW Motorrad Motorsport, 48:55,25
2. Eero Remes (FIN), KTM, 48:55,29
3. Markus Kehr (GER), KTM, 49:36,11
4. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 50:03,05
5. Marko Straubel (GER), KTM, 50:26,04