Gareth Swanepoel Shows Speed in Bulgaria

With the wet weekend of Italy behind him, Gareth Swanepoel arrived at the beautiful motocross circuit of Sevlievo in Bulgaria to continue his World Championship campaign, this time is the glowing sunshine. Having placed well in his maiden MX1 GP last weekend, ‘Swanie’ was confident from the off, keen to now establish himself in the elite MX1 class.

The qualifying race on Saturday saw Gareth ride fantastically well on the KX450F-SR, as he flung his number 17 machine around the hard pack circuit in commanding style. Recovering from a bad start he blasted his way to 13th, giving him a good gate pick for Sunday’s main events.

In the first heat on Sunday, fighting for position on lap 1, Gareth landed off line and on top of a hay bail. Crashing very hard the battered South African retired from the race. Luckily there was no major injuries sustained.

With all his hopes pinned on the 2nd moto, this time the Factory Kawasaki rider had to make it count. As the riders exited the first turn, Gareth was in the middle of the mayhem outside of the top 20. As ever with his never die attitude Swanepoel got on the gas and blasted out the laps with incredible pace. Lap after lap Gareth picked off the world’s best as he set his sights to the front. This time his fitness would be tested to the max, and it paid off. At the end of a tremendous 35 minute and 2 lap battle, Gareth Swanepoel had worked his way to a fantastic 10th position to the delight of the Kawasaki team and his supporters.

A motivated Swanepoel had this to say after the 2nd heat: ”The Kawsaki was awesome this weekend.  My mechanic, Jeremy, has done a great job of making it work for me and it is starting to pay off. I am also getting more and more confident on the 450. My goal today was top 10 and although I didn’t get that overall I achieved it in that 2nd race.”

With his first top 10 in the Elite MX class, Swanie travels to Turkey for round 3 next weekend.

Image: CDS

www.swanie.co.za

Race results :

Heat 1 Results

1        de Dycker, Ken         BEL

2        Coppins, Joshua        NZL

3        Nagl, Maximilian        GER

4        Barragan, Jonathan   ESP

5        Philippaerts, David     ITA

6        Leok, Tanel              EST

7        Cairoli, Antonio         ITA

8        Ramon, Steve          BEL

9        Strijbos, Kevin          BEL

10      Desalle, Clement       BEL

 

Heat 2 Results

1        Barragan, Jonathan   ESP

2        Coppins, Joshua        NZL

3        Philippaerts, David     ITA

4        Cairoli, Antonio         ITA

5        Nagl, Maximilian        GER

6        Leok, Tanel              EST

7        Ramon, Steve           BEL

8        de Dycker, Ken         BEL

9        Mackenzie, Billy        GBR

10        Swanepoel, Gareth  RSA

 

Overall Results - Bulgaria

1        Coppins, Joshua        NZL

2        Barragan, Jonathan   ESP

3        de Dycker, Ken         BEL

4        Philippaerts, David     ITA

5        Nagl, Maximilian        GER

6        Cairoli, Antonio         ITA

7        Leok, Tanel              EST

8        Ramon, Steve           BEL

9        Vuillemin, David        FRA

10      Desalle, Clement       BEL

 

MX1 World Championship Standings after Rd 2

1        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     60

2        Coppins, J.               NZL     59

3        Leok, Tanel              EST    55

4        Barragan, J.             ESP     54

5        Nagl, M.                  GER     50

6        Philippaerts, D.         ITA     48

7        Cairoli, A.                ITA     48

8        Desalle, C.               BEL     37

9        Ramon, Steve          BEL     36

10      Leok, Aigar              EST    23

12        Swanepoel, G.          RSA     19