Simo Kirssi showed once again that he’s the man to beat in the German Cross Country Championship. The BMW factory rider completely dominated round five of the series, held at the beautiful Goldbach circuit. In front of 5,000 spectators Kirssi posted yet another impressive start-finish victory aboard his BMW 450 X, as his fiercest competition came from fellow countryman Samuli Aro during the early stages of the two-hour moto.

Conditions couldn’t have been better on race day. Temperatures were around 26° Celsius and some recently added technical sections to the course guaranteed a fabulous race.

With his latest victory, the Finn now leads the championship by 32 points over his closest rival Stefan Svitko, meaning that the penultimate round at Mühlhausen could see Kirssi claim the 2010 title with one round still left to run. All he and his Team BMW Husqvarna Motorsport need is a top five finish to make it happen.

Simo Kirssi: “Goldbach proved to be a superbly organised event once again. I like the atmosphere and the enthusiastic fans – it’s pure fun to come here racing. My day was just perfect, so was the bike. The team had everything well prepared and I managed to control the field. What else can you wish for?”

German Cross Country Championship, Rd. 5, Goldbach results

1. Simo Kirssi (FIN), BMW Husqvarna Motorsport, 24 laps
2. Samuli Aro (FIN), KTM, 24
3. Hans Vogels (NED), Husaberg, 24
4. Mickael Musquin (FRA), BMW, 24
5. Christian Weiß (GER), TM, 24
6. Steffen Albrecht (GER), Yamaha, 24
7. Maurizio Micheluz (ITA), TM, 24
8. Marco Straubel (GER), KTM, 24
9. Stefan Svitko (SK), KTM, 23
10. Jens Getteman (BEL), KTM, 23

German Cross Country Championship, Point standings (after five rounds)

1. Simo Kirssi, 140
2. Stefan Svitko, 108
3. Samuli Aro, 107
4. Marco Straubel, 94
5. Steffen Albrecht, 93