BMW Faqs

The Dolomiten Rallye is the type of event that BMW Motorrad’s HP2 Enduro was built for. The event requires a machine that is good for both on and off-road, that has great handling and most importantly lots of power. These are three attributes that the HP2 Enduro is certainly blessed with.

This year’s three-day event happened in Italy at the beginning of October and took place in the beautiful Tuscany region near the town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. Formerly the rally wound its way through the Dolomites but with the total ban on off-road riding in the area the event has had to be moved to its new location.

Organised by legendary ex-BMW racer Helmut Dähne, the Dolomiten Rallye is open to all twin-cylinder enduro bikes, so the majority of the competitors rode BMW’s GS range of machines.

This made it the ideal challenge for the HP2 Enduro and with this in mind, BMW Motorrad Chassis Engineer Robert Wagner who has won the rally for the last two years suggested to BMW Motorrad’s President Dr Diess (a former Dolomiten Rallye participant) that they enter three HP2 Enduros in the event.

With Wagner riding one of the bikes, the other two machines were piloted by BMW engineers Florian Dietrich and Udo Ochner. Udo has a special link with the HP2 Enduro: as the former leader of the Boxer motorcycle project team, he was one of the main driving forces behind the HP2 Enduro. With the background knowledge the riders had they were sure that they could triumph at the Dolomiten Rally.

With 95 starters this year, the race was split with 50 per cent being off-road and the rest taking place on the tarmac roads in the area. This combination of terrain suited the all-round ability of the HP2 Enduro perfectly.

“I was convinced that the HP2 Enduro would be the perfect bike for this competition,” explained Robert. “It has fantastic handling on both tarmac and dirt combined with awesome power.”

Robert’s prediction came true as well, because he took the victory with Florian and Udo following him home in second and third places respectively. “The bikes not only allowed us to win again,” continued Robert, “but they were also fantastic fun to ride on this type of terrain.”

The HP2 Enduro’s first full season of racing is now coming to an end and with a long list of race wins and podium finishes it has certainly been successful. Both professional factory and amateur racers have found the bike a formidable weapon in off-road racing, so it almost seems a shame to stop for winter.