Beirer takes inter-German Motocross title.

Sunday Pit Beirer won his first German title in nearly a decade.

The soon-to-be KTM factory rider took the International German Motocross Championship for the third time in his career.

Under temperatures slightly above the freezing point Beirer's consistent season was finally crowned with a title win. The only man to steal the triumph from Beirer, Bernd Eckenbach, rode strong once again - but realistically the KTM rider never had a real shot at the championship.

Beirer rode the national series for Sarholz Honda, the team that also celebrated third and fourth place in the final standings thanks to Jiri Cepelac and Avo Leok. Fifth place went to last year?s runner-up, Johnny Aubert. Meanwhile defending champ Collin Dugmore missed the whole campaign due to injury.

For Pit it's a new challenge ahead. The KTM 250SX means the fourth brand in as many years for Germany's No. 1 Motocross star. Since leaving the Kawasaki factory team in 2000, Beirer, who celebrates his 30th birthday this week, has raced a Yamaha 250 in '01, and two different Hondas in '02 (250 in GPs, 450 in Germany).

The Austrian manufacturer and the popular pro should make a good match for what's probably the closing years of Beirer's career. And for the German market, the second most important for KTM, too.

Worth a note: Honda has taken the domestic open titles in Holland, Italy, Great-Britain and Germany.

Results:

Moto 1:
1. Johnny Aubert F YAMAHA
2. Pit Beirer D Honda
3. Bernd Eckenbach D KTM
4. Avo Leok Est Honda
5. Rui Goncalves Por YAMAHA

Moto 2:
1. Pit Beirer D Honda
2. Bernd Eckenbach D KTM
3. Johnny Aubert F YAMAHA
4. Jiri Cepelak CZ Honda
5. Josef Dobes CZ YAMAHA

Moto 3:
1. Avo Leok Est Honda
2. Pit Beirer D Honda
3. Jiri Cepelak CZ Honda
4. Josef Dobes CZ YAMAHA
5. Andreas Boller D Honda

Final Point Standings:
1. Beirer 302
2. Eckenbach 249
3. Cepelac 208
4. Avo Leok 157