2016 International GS Trophy Female Team
Selected
18 Sept 2015 活動查詢：BMW
Hong Kong
BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy Female Team
selected after international qualifying event in
South Africa. Stephanie Bouisson, France, Amy
Harburg, Australia and Morag Campbell, South
Africa, will form the first ever female team in
Thailand in 2016.
From 13 to 15 September at the Country Trax
Off-road Riding Academy in South Africa ten
female GS riders from UK, France, Spain,
Iceland, USA, Canada, Brazil, Thailand,
Australia and South Africa have been battling it
out for the ultimate prize – a place on the
first ever female team to contest the 2016
International GS Trophy in Southeast Asia from
28 February to 5 March 2016.
After an intense series of 13 separate
challenges held over three competition days,
France’s Stephanie Bouisson emerged as the
overall winner, followed by Australia’s Amy
Harburg in second place, with South Africa’s
Morag Campbell close behind in third. All three
ladies will go on to make BMW Motorrad history
by forming the first ever female team to enter
the BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy – the
fifth edition of which will take place in
Thailand next spring.
From the very start of this unique ‘qualifier’
held at Country Trax the spirit and sense of
camaraderie among the ten ladies has been
inspiring, given that they come from all across
the globe and are united only by their love of
riding BMW GS motorcycles.
A worldwide search earlier this year for a trio
of lady GS riders to form a team to contest the
International GS Trophy finals produced a
staggering 119 applications by girls from 29
different nations, all keen to show that they
had exactly what’s needed to represent their
country – and also their gender – in the most
famous competitive off-road customer
motorcycling event in the world.
From the initial applications, a jury decided on
a shortlist of the ten most suitable females to
go to South Africa for the qualifying event. The
ten girls came from all continents (Europe,
America, Africa, Asia and Australasia), with
ages ranging from 26 to 46-years-old.
The International GS Trophy female team
qualifier officially got underway on Sunday 13
September at the Country Trax Off-road Riding
Academy, using BMW R 1200 GS bikes equipped with
Original BMW Motorrad Accessories to protect
against the rigours of off-road competition
riding. After all, the tasks the girls would
face would be every bit as tough as all other GS
Trophy qualifying competitions, and in this
case, virtually identical to the recent South
Africa ‘national’ qualifying final held at this
same venue.
No sooner had the girls arrived than the
challenges began – the first one being a race to
pitch their tents for the night – against the
clock. Further challenges on the first day
included ‘Blindfold Cone’, ‘Fritz-garden’ (in
homage to “Fritz”, the only person to complete
this course with a 100 percent success record)
and ‘Rope the Tree’. A welcome dinner followed
but this wasn’t the end of the riding for the
girls, who had one final challenge to complete –
‘The Maze’ – despite it being completely dark
outside. Late in the evening the rankings were
added up and the top three girls announced.
Australia’s Amy Harburg had taken an early lead,
while local lady Morag Campbell was in second,
with Jennifer Huntley from the UK in third.
Day two started early for the multi-national
squad of ladies, with a photo-shoot with their
respective national flags, and interviews before
the first of many challenges they would face
throughout the day. These included ‘The Forest’;
‘The Rocks’; ‘The Mud’ and the imaginatively
titled ‘Suffer-Ring’ later in the morning, all
against the clock of course. The afternoon saw
the girls take on the ‘Up and Downs’ enduro
skills course before the final challenge of the
day, simply known as ‘The Oval’.
With so many challenges completed and just about
every kind of skill level tested, it was to be
expected that the positions in the rankings
would change dramatically. The surprise of the
day was France’s Stephanie Bouisson, who not
only came first overall on the day, but also
leapt from fifth to first place in the overall
standings. Second of the day was Australia’s Amy
Harburg, who remained second overall, while in
third for the day was the UK’s Jennifer Huntley,
who slipped one place to fourth on the leader
board, behind local lady Morag Campbell.
On 15 September – the final morning of the
competition – there remained only two challenges
to complete, but with the stakes so high, and so
much to lose (or gain), decisions had to be made
on whether to take big chances or to play it
safe. The first challenge – ‘Elephant Turn’ –
required the girls to ride approximately 50
metres through deep sand, turn their bike around
a cone and then return to their starting point.
The second was simply entitled ‘Skills
Challenge’ yet it was anything but simple. There
were a number of tough trial style obstacles to
overcome on a flowing circuit designed to expose
any weaknesses in riding technique, including a
360-degree ‘coffee-grinder’ pipe, a see-saw, a
log-jump, riding the pavement, deep ruts and
parallel logs, to name just a few.
When the challenge was completed by all ladies,
the marshals and judges took their leave to
collate the results, while the ten competitors
all embraced and offered each other words of
encouragement completely in keeping with the
true Trophy spirit. Their final challenge was to
strike their tents, pack their bags and await
the results.
The results were not long in coming, with all
the competitors honoured for their amazing
efforts during the course of the hard-fought,
yet hugely entertaining qualifier. Commenting on
this GS Trophy experience, head of BMW Motorrad
Marketing Dr. Ralf Rodepeter praised all the
ladies for their phenomenal efforts and
commitment, stating that: “All these ladies are
winners, just to have made it to South Africa to
compete in the qualifier. There has been a true
spirit and sense of camaraderie shown by all the
competitors, who have been fighting until the
end but have supported each other throughout all
the challenges.
For sure there have to
be three lucky ones who get the chance to go to
Thailand, but all ten should consider themselves
winners for the way they have come together as a
family and demonstrated the unique GS spirit. We
truly hope that these amazing ambassadors will
take this passion back to their respective
countries and riding communities, and will
encourage even more women to embrace the GS
lifestyle.”
Statements from the three winners:
First place: Stephanie Bouisson (France). “I did
the GS Trophy France qualifier event last May,
and some time after this, my friends told me to
try to apply for the chance of a place at this
new women’s qualifying event. I thought ‘why
not’ because I wanted to experience South
Africa. I was really surprised to get through
and was really looking forward to a great new
adventure, making new friends and riding over
here. To have actually won the qualifying event
is incredible for me and I’m very proud to be
representing all the lady riders around the
world at the International GS Trophy in Thailand
next year.”
Second place: Amy Harburg (Australia). “I was so
excited about coming here for this qualifying
event. I had high expectations for myself, but
it was hard to gauge what the other girls would
be like until we were all together. But my
expectations were definitely exceeded by the
time we’ve spent in South Africa and to actually
make the team is amazing for me. I can’t wait to
go to Thailand and show BMW enthusiasts
worldwide how these GS bikes can be ridden and
what we can all do together. My team-mates are
incredible so I can’t wait to be part of the
first ever women’s team with them.”
Third place: Morag Campbell (South Africa). “My
expectations coming to this GS Trophy female
qualifying event were to have fun and enjoy
myself, but I didn’t realise just how much I
would learn in the process. It’s been a
whirlwind of people offering their help, sharing
their knowledge and helping me experience a real
sense of community that’s just been amazing. I
think I’m still in shock really to have made it
to the final three. There are five months ahead
of us now before the main event so I’ll be
learning new skills on the GS and keeping in
touch with Stephanie and Amy. It’s going to be
awesome!”
International GS Trophy Female Team Qualifying South Africa
Date:
13th–15thSeptember
2015 / right after GS Trophy South Africa event
(11th–13thSeptember)
Location:
EnduroPark Country TRAX South Africa (3 hours
from JHB airport)
Concept:
Selecting the 10 most suitable int. female
riders of all received applications (criteria:
GS / enduroexperience, personal background /
community, charisma / different nations).
Setting up a female qualifier in South Africa
(September 2015) and inviting the 10 finalists.
Inviting visitors and fans as well as selected
media partner to be part of the event.
Qualifying 3 female GS Riders to participate in
the Int. GS Trophy 2016 (spring 2016).
1.Morag Campbell (43) from
Johannesburg in South Africa
2.Kim Krause (43) from
Tracy in USA
3.Stephanie Bouisson (30) from
La Foilladein France
4.DusitaNasuriyawong(30) from
Samutsakornin Thailand
5.Inga Birna Erlingsdottir(37) from
Mosfellsbaerin Iceland
6.Amy Harburg(40) from
Brooklyn in Australia
7.Jennifer Huntley (45) from
Swansea in Wales
8.IciarTatay(26) from
Valencia in Spain
9.Rosa Freitag(45) from
Sao Paulo in Brazil
10.Caroline Stevenson (46) from
Lethbridge in Canada
