KIWI RIDER 03 2019 VOL.1 | Page 14

INTERNATIONAL GS TROPHY HEADS TO NZ! he international GS Trophy is the event you want to find yourself competing in if you happen to be a die-hard Gelande Strasse fan - and next year the biggest event in the BMW Motorrad world is heading right here to Aotearoa! The seventh edition of the GS Trophy will officially take place in New Zealand in early 2020, with qualifying events to be held in the months leading up to the 2020 event. While details of exactly where in our beautiful nation the GS Trophy will be taking place are yet to be revealed, the way the competition is to be run will follow the format set by previous incarnations of the GS Trophy. So what is the GS Trophy? In a nutshell, the GS Trophy is a unique, invitation-only, 14 KIWI RIDER competition in which riders in nationalised teams are pitted against each other, the elements and more through a series of challenges based around adventure riding BMW’s flagship R1250GS Adventure. Previous years have seen the GS Trophy take to the steps of Mongolia, the jungles of Thailand, the trails of Canada’s Rocky Mountains and even further afield. Riders lucky enough to make the cut for their national team are supplied with all the gear they need to compete, including a fully kitted out GS Adventure and a full set of BMW Motorrad rider apparel. To date, no New Zealand team has officially entered the GS Trophy. As it’s on home soil, could this be a first?