60,000 enthusiastic viewers cheered the surprising debut of the MZ 1000 S at the legendary 24 hours World Endurance at Oschersleben
At the 7th Endurance World Championship Race in Oschersleben/Germany the OBI Breckle Bike Promotion Team on the MZ 1000 S gave a huge surprise to the audience. With hardly any changes to the factory version, the MZ 1000 S competed against the souped up four-cylinders of Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki and took 5th place in the Open Class. With this success, the MZ twin is the first two-cylinder engine ever to survive the 24 hours at the first try.
In a dramatic race, the MZ team, especially MZs Rigo Richter, formerly its Supermono rider captured the hearts of the audience. From 39th place Richter fought continuously forward. With two hours to the end of the race whilst he was riding 15th, he unfortunately slipped on the oil-spill of a Suzuki and crashed. Cheered by the audience, the slightly injured Richter pushed the damaged bike over more than one kilometre back to the pit box. Within 25 Minutes the mechanics managed to repair the MZ 1000 S so that it could go back to the race. His partner René Knöfler then continued the race for Richter and the MZ 1000 S finished 17th after exactly 24:01:00 hours and 794 laps.
In its class, the MZ riders reached an incredible 5th place and were, from the view of the audience as well as of the competitors, the heroes of Oschersleben. This success shows that MZ is well on the way to build world class motorcycles as good if not better than the established competitors
