Riff Raff
29th June 2006, 11:52
BMW Motorrad’s Chris Pfeiffer swapped his F 800 S stunt bike for an HP2 Enduro to compete in the European Hillclimbing Championship event at Obersaxen in Switzerland over the weekend of June 17-19. Against the odds, the 2006 European Stunt Champion finished on the podium for the second consecutive year. In his own words, he describes how he managed to almost conquer the Karitscha Hill
“The European Hillclimbing Championship was held in Obersaxen (CH) in front of a crowd of 7,000 spectators and, like last year, I competed on the BMW HP2 Enduro. I managed to finish in a surprisingly good third place in the cross/enduro category – just as I had done last year – but if that sounds like a repeat performance, I beg to differ!
“The Swiss organisers under Guiseppe Zollet once again put on a magnificent event. The Karitscha Hill was the object of the competition – set in a beautiful skiing area at over 1,400 metres. Once again, none of the participants actually managed to complete the task as the last 30 metres are just incredibly steep and stony. But we’ll try again next year!
“In superb weather, I was easily able to qualify for the semi-final, though with a distance of 200 metres I didn’t reach the levels I had hoped. However, the spectators were happy to see just how high BMW’s 1200cc flat twin could reach and of course they loved the powerful sound of the open Akrapovic exhaust, compared to all those single-cylinder bikes with half as much capacity. The cable car which takes the motorcycles downhill afterwards wasn’t required on any of my four runs since, like many of the good riders, I just rode down the slope again after finishing the climb.
“Here are a few figures to consider: the start is at 1435 metres; the ‘finish’ is at 1550 metres. This makes for an elevation gain of 115 metres in a distance of just 235 metres. The minimum gradient is 15 per cent, rising sharply to a maximum gradient of 141 per cent!
“On Sunday morning it was time for the semi-final for which the best 30 had qualified. I went at it pretty quickly and a bump at 180 metres shook me fairly badly. Many others had problems too so I got into the top ten to qualify for the final pretty easily with seventh place. It was actually in the final that I was able to give my best performance, finishing third with a distance of 204,7 metres. The winner was Werner Müller (three times Enduro European Champion from Austria) with 209.1 metres, ahead of hillclimbing specialist Lars Nonn from Germany with 207metres.
“It wasn’t that easy to move the HP2 to this height because from about 180 metres the terrain is more like an uphill trials section. But in the lower sections of the slope there is no other off-road motorcycle that can catapult you uphill so impressively. It was pure fun, which isn’t surprising with 105 hp off-road.”
Chris Pfeiffer’s third place finish mirrored his result last year at the same event and came as a pleasant surprise, as he was expecting a harder run in this year’s event. Despite the track lacking the grip of last year’s course Chris once again proved how effective the combination of him and his HP2 can be by finishing third for the second year in succession.
“This year’s event was very difficult,” explained Chris. “The track was very dusty and the weather was really hot. It meant there was very little traction so I couldn’t use all the power of the HP2 Enduro.”
Although the HP2’s main advantage of 105 hp was limited by the terrain it was left to another of its unique features – the air suspension – to be the deciding factor. “The air damping that the HP2 is fitted with is the perfect suspension for hill climbs,” admitted Chris. “There is nothing better; it really flew across the rocks at the bottom of the hill.”
According to Chris he also had added help from the crowd who really got behind the German on his HP2. “The HP2 was the darling of the crowd. Everyone loved it because it was the big bike next to all the tiny single-cylinder bikes. It also sounds awesome, much better than the other bikes.”
The semi-finals didn’t go quite according to plan though and with Chris down in seventh position he thought he would have to quite literally ‘climb a mountain’ in the final. However as usual the German extreme rider found the performance he needed when it mattered and reached his personal best (204.7 metres) in the final.
Competing in the hill climb wasn’t enough for Chris though. He also decided to take his F 800 S stunt bike along to entertain the crowds between rounds and gave several displays that confirmed just why he was crowned European Stunt Champion last weekend.
“The whole weekend was great,” said Chris. “There were over 7,000 people there and the atmosphere was really good. I’ll definitely be back next year for another go.”
Chris’s next appearance will be at the BMW Motorrad International Biker Meeting, held from 7-9 July at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.
“The European Hillclimbing Championship was held in Obersaxen (CH) in front of a crowd of 7,000 spectators and, like last year, I competed on the BMW HP2 Enduro. I managed to finish in a surprisingly good third place in the cross/enduro category – just as I had done last year – but if that sounds like a repeat performance, I beg to differ!
“The Swiss organisers under Guiseppe Zollet once again put on a magnificent event. The Karitscha Hill was the object of the competition – set in a beautiful skiing area at over 1,400 metres. Once again, none of the participants actually managed to complete the task as the last 30 metres are just incredibly steep and stony. But we’ll try again next year!
“In superb weather, I was easily able to qualify for the semi-final, though with a distance of 200 metres I didn’t reach the levels I had hoped. However, the spectators were happy to see just how high BMW’s 1200cc flat twin could reach and of course they loved the powerful sound of the open Akrapovic exhaust, compared to all those single-cylinder bikes with half as much capacity. The cable car which takes the motorcycles downhill afterwards wasn’t required on any of my four runs since, like many of the good riders, I just rode down the slope again after finishing the climb.
“Here are a few figures to consider: the start is at 1435 metres; the ‘finish’ is at 1550 metres. This makes for an elevation gain of 115 metres in a distance of just 235 metres. The minimum gradient is 15 per cent, rising sharply to a maximum gradient of 141 per cent!
“On Sunday morning it was time for the semi-final for which the best 30 had qualified. I went at it pretty quickly and a bump at 180 metres shook me fairly badly. Many others had problems too so I got into the top ten to qualify for the final pretty easily with seventh place. It was actually in the final that I was able to give my best performance, finishing third with a distance of 204,7 metres. The winner was Werner Müller (three times Enduro European Champion from Austria) with 209.1 metres, ahead of hillclimbing specialist Lars Nonn from Germany with 207metres.
“It wasn’t that easy to move the HP2 to this height because from about 180 metres the terrain is more like an uphill trials section. But in the lower sections of the slope there is no other off-road motorcycle that can catapult you uphill so impressively. It was pure fun, which isn’t surprising with 105 hp off-road.”
Chris Pfeiffer’s third place finish mirrored his result last year at the same event and came as a pleasant surprise, as he was expecting a harder run in this year’s event. Despite the track lacking the grip of last year’s course Chris once again proved how effective the combination of him and his HP2 can be by finishing third for the second year in succession.
“This year’s event was very difficult,” explained Chris. “The track was very dusty and the weather was really hot. It meant there was very little traction so I couldn’t use all the power of the HP2 Enduro.”
Although the HP2’s main advantage of 105 hp was limited by the terrain it was left to another of its unique features – the air suspension – to be the deciding factor. “The air damping that the HP2 is fitted with is the perfect suspension for hill climbs,” admitted Chris. “There is nothing better; it really flew across the rocks at the bottom of the hill.”
According to Chris he also had added help from the crowd who really got behind the German on his HP2. “The HP2 was the darling of the crowd. Everyone loved it because it was the big bike next to all the tiny single-cylinder bikes. It also sounds awesome, much better than the other bikes.”
The semi-finals didn’t go quite according to plan though and with Chris down in seventh position he thought he would have to quite literally ‘climb a mountain’ in the final. However as usual the German extreme rider found the performance he needed when it mattered and reached his personal best (204.7 metres) in the final.
Competing in the hill climb wasn’t enough for Chris though. He also decided to take his F 800 S stunt bike along to entertain the crowds between rounds and gave several displays that confirmed just why he was crowned European Stunt Champion last weekend.
“The whole weekend was great,” said Chris. “There were over 7,000 people there and the atmosphere was really good. I’ll definitely be back next year for another go.”
Chris’s next appearance will be at the BMW Motorrad International Biker Meeting, held from 7-9 July at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.