This high-speed success has now been followed in Italy by a top ranking which is at least as important from a racing point of view.
Kirssi in fact "only" finished second in the Italian Cross Country Championship race in Cervarese near Padua. However, it was actually a real victory for the HP2 Enduro and its talented rider.
The track in Cervarese was everything but ideal for the HP2. The young local club had made every effort to set out a perfect and demanding trail through its new motocross facility: it was extremely tight, angular and including the entire motocross track with murderous table and double jumps.
And then the "flying Finn" conjured up a real fireworks of a performance which left spectators speechless. First of all he won the start, though he was overtaken by three riders of the Italian motocross elite who pitted all their skills against him.
The BMW man maintained fourth position for a while, sizing up his opponents. After about an hour`s racing time, Kirssi then launched his attack and put two of his rivals in the bag.
The last one - Matteo Rubin, Enduro World Champion in 2000 - had already moved too far ahead by this time. In the last few laps, Kirssi?s amazing stamina took him up close to Rubin and he finished just 35 seconds behind him.
