BMW’S AOTEAROA ADVENTURE
N
ew Zealand is widely regarded as a motor-
cyclist’s paradise, offering everything from
twisting tarmac and beautiful scenery
to challenging off-road trails on backcountry routes
for the more adventurous. Seemingly, Aotearoa
has it all.
While usually, our relative isolation keeps the influx
of foreign riders at bay, that all changed last week
with NZ setting the stage for the seventh edition
of BMW’s International GS Trophy competition.
Founded in 2008, the invitation-only competition
sees riders grouped into nationalised teams which
are pitted against each other and the elements to
successfully navigate some of the most challenging
adventure riding imaginable. All these challenges
are, of course, taken on aboard BMW’s highly
capable Gelande-Strasse (GS) badged machines.
Previous years have seen the GS Trophy take to
the Steppes of Mongolia, the jungles of Thailand,
the trails of Canada’s Rocky Mountains and even
further afield.
New Zealand was selected to host the seventh
edition of the Trophy, in part, due to our diverse
riding conditions.
14 KIWI RIDER
“I think it’s a dream destination for riders, and
therefore the decision was taken that New Zealand
as one of the most exotic locations would be the
host of the seventh International GS Trophy, says
BMW Motorrad’s Head of Communications, Tim
Deihl-Thiele. “I think all our guests and riders are
super excited, including the internal team to come
to visit this country.”
“All of [the Trophies] have been super spectacular
in terms of routes and types of scenic landscape,
but the decision was made to go to New Zealand
because this is maybe one of the most exciting
countries worldwide in terms of landscape
and looking at all these climate zone changes to
the mountains to the sea, there’s no other place
like that.”
A big change for the 2020 event was the move
away from the legendary R series of GS Adventure
motorcycles which have been the basis for the
most recent International GS Trophy events.
Instead, BMW Motorrad’s newly launched F850GS
will be the bike which the international teams
of riders use to tackle the best adventure riding
challenges New Zealand has to offer.