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After more than 12 hours of racing in slippery, muddy conditions at last weekend's Dawn to Dusk enduro in South Wales, the great news is that all 17 BMW riders finished the gruelling marathon ride without any mechanical problems whatsoever, clearly showing the new G 450 X sport enduro's performance capability and reliability in the most testing of conditions.

More than 500 competitors made the journey to South Wales for one of the largest dirt bike events in the UK. Around 85 teams of riders failed to complete the unique enduro that started at 0714 last Saturday and finished just over 12 hours later when the Dennis Irvine Superbikes team completed its 18th lap of the physically demanding course that tested participants' machine skills and fitness levels to the limit.

Lap times ranged from just over 33 minutes to more than two-and-a-half hours, clearing showing the wide range of ability levels of the participants, as well as the tricky nature of the course, which was extremely muddy and slippery thanks to some considerable rainfall leading up to the start of the event.

The first BMW team home was the BMW Touratech Racing G 450 X team of Lars Werdemann and Torsten Elze, who finished second in the 2 Rider Pro class and 12th overall, with a best lap time of 38:48.39. They were closely followed by the second Touratech team riders - Ian Rowley and Rolf Enting - who brought their G 650 Xchallenge home third in their class and 15th overall.

The BMW Off-Road Skills Team B trio of Michael Eberwein, Matt Hall and Si Pavey won the 3 Rider Clubman class with 16 laps of the course completed and a best lap time of 40:34.47, which put them 21st in the overall classification. The other BMW Off-Road Skills team of Frank Diepen, Gwyn Barraclough and Steve Hague finished second in class, and 34th overall.

A great experience - and respectable results - were also enjoyed by a team of BMW Motorrad dealers (Andy Rixon, Paul Cooper and Mark Thornhill) who rode the 450cc sport enduro they are very much looking forward to selling, to a third-place class finish and 61st overall, while a team of BMW Motorrad UK employees (Steve Bellars, Dave Halsall and Dave Alexander) finished fourth in class and 95th overall. Touratech Germany's Alexander Schönborn, who works as a marketing executive at the head office in Niedereschach, finished in 171st on a G 450 X, in front of more than 40 other riders.

Organiser Nick Plumb was pleased with how the seventh Dawn to Dusk event went and was delighted to see so many BMWs in the mix of enduro bikes competing at one of the largest, longest endurance races in the UK.

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"It was a fantastic weekend's racing, despite the weather," he said. "From an organisational point of view, things went extremely well, especially when you consider there were more than 500 riders that entered. I've had some great feedback from competitors, many of whom will be back for more 'punishment' next year. It was great to see the new G 450 X out there also, clearly showing that BMW has come to the party and is planning on staying around!"

This was a view that was shared by Simon Pavey, who is the Chief Instructor at the World of BMW Off-Road Skills programme, which operates its facility from the same venue where the Dawn to Dusk enduro was held.

"What was particularly important for me was just to see all the guys out there on BMWs, having fun and genuinely competing with other enduro riders," said the former Dakar competitor. "This was probably the first time, anywhere in the world, where we had eight G 450 X machines running for more than 12 hours in difficult track conditions - and none of them even missed a beat. This wasn't a factory-backed effort; it was just teams of dirt bike fans, from dealers, to importers to genuine enthusiasts like us, who just wanted to compete at clubman level on the new 450 and see how they could do.

"BMW Motorrad UK had a special promotional area where the enduro range was displayed, and the interest in the new bike was quite clear to see. The BMW dealers - especially the ones that had the opportunity to compete here - are very excited about the opportunities that exist with the new 450 and the fact that it allows them to engage with new areas of the off-road community. The bikes we raced were pretty much straight out of the crate and that's what any rider looking for the new G 450 X can expect too. We're also planning on running these bikes at the Off-Road Skills school in 2009 and we'll be actively encouraging riders of all levels to see what the possibilities are. We've been waiting for this bike for a long time and now that it's here, we want to make sure people know how to experience it fully."

The final say went to BMW Motorrad UK Marketing Manager Tony Jakeman, who has been actively involved with the publicity and promotion of the G 450 X ever since the early days of the sport enduro prototype: "To see all the G 450 X bikes out at the Dawn to Dusk was the culmination of a great BMW Motorrad team effort bringing together our departmental colleagues, instructors from our World of BMW Off-Road Skills programme, and our dealer network, who are of course our direct link with the customers. It was great to see how well the bikes and riders did, and having seen this action at first hand, we are all so much better informed about the bike and its impressive capabilities. Furthermore, to get all 12 riders safely to the finish with bikes that hardly missed a beat throughout the long race duration was the icing on the cake!"