Bert von Zitzewitz and Team Germany have come close at the FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy plenty of times, but could never quite get over the hump. This past weekend, they finally pulled it off.

Von Zitzewitz and his teammates Johannes Steinel and Uwe Weber dominated the Veteran Trophy from start to finish, setting the fastest time across all four days. They held off Team USA on the first day before keeping Equipe de France at bay across the next three days.

He and Team Germany, featuring the same lineup, finished eighth in the 2024 edition. Unlike in 2024 when he raced a Maico MC490, von Zitzewitz opted for the MC250 this year. While a less powerful bike, he was still second quickest for all Veteran Trophy riders and second for C3 bikes (bikes with a displacement over 250cc and built before 1983) behind Giuseppe Gallino.

“We’ve been second multiple times in this race, so to finally take the top step of the podium is fantastic,” said von Zitzewitz. An ISDE veteran for both West and unified Germany, he is the brother of longtime Dakar Rally navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz.

“The whole week was hard, with long, physical special tests and lots of enduro riding in the forest. I enjoyed it a lot and didn’t have any issues with my bike despite not racing it since the FIM EVT in Spain in 2023.”

His son Davide, competing in Club Team, was knocked out of contention in Day 2 when a spark plug broke 50 meters in. He continued to race and was the fastest individual rider on the last day. Davide’s Germany Club 1 placed tenth in Club.

Team USA ultimately settled for tenth in the Veteran Trophy, a disappointing result incurred by trouble striking Billy Burns and Terry Cunningham and forcing them to retire. Fred Hoess was left on his own and put on a near-Herculean effort with his 1983 Husqvarna WR 250 as he set the fastest time of all riders in the class, even quicker than von Zitzewitz by 1:20.49.

Italy, who won the Veteran Trophy in 2024, finished eighth after being hampered by Gorgio Grasso’s retirement. Tullio Pellegrinelli was third individually.

While Germany dominated in Veteran Trophy, Silver Vase went down to the wire as Pantera 1 narrowly beat Gallino’s Moto Club Team Italia by 6.86 seconds. U.S. Leonessa D’Italia 1903 topped Vintage Club by six minutes on Czech Classic Enduro Team Club 1.

Class winners

Team

Class	Team	Total Time
Club Team	U.S. Leonessa D’Italia 1903	16:06.61
Silver Vase	Pantera 1	3.63
Veteran Trophy	Trophy Team Germany	6:35.45

Individual

Class	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
A0	40	Federico Fregnan	Moto Club Team Italia	1:31:07.36
A1	45	Paolo Maria Sala	Team LM Racing	1:33:42.39
A2	51	Claudio Giuggioli	Pantera 1	1:29:30.31
A3	55	Petr Žižka	Czech JAWA Vitage 1	1:24:21.23
B0	62	Roberto Cancelli	Pantera 1	1:31:29.92
B1	70	Massimo Parrini	Pantera 1	1:29:05.54
B2	78	Daniele Rebellato	MC Bergamo MX Line Team	1:29:50.19
B3	16	Johannes Steinel	Trophy Team Germany	1:27:10.77
B4	101	Jean-Paul Charles	France Enduro Vintage	1:30:25.60
C0	107	Mauro Varaschin	MC Bergamo MX Line Team	1:32:22.10
C1	115	Stefano Bosco	Moto Club Team Italia	1:28:19.80
C2	24	Fred Hoess	Team USA	1:24:00.08
C3	142	Giuseppe Gallino	Moto Club Team Italia	1:24:43.72
X1	251	Roberto Viescafe	Moto Club Scuderia Norelli 2	1:31:42.88
X2	262	Rob Duineveld	Rob Duineveld	1:30:58.45
Open	285	Marcel Triebel	Marcel Triebel	1:28:16.14

Featured image credit: Future7Media