Gareth Swanepoel Prepares For Comeback!

Molson Kawasaki’s conspicuously absent team-member Gareth Swanepoel is on the mend and
should be back to full fitness – and back at the races – for the tail end of the 2008 grand prix
season.

With the ongoing on track success of Molson teamsters Stephen Sword, Gautier Paulin and Tom Church it has almost been possible to overlook the absence of the team’s missing rider, South African 23-year-old Gareth Swanepoel, who’s been sidelined since competing in the first round of the British motocross championship back in March.

After suffering in pain with an injury he originally picked up early in 2006, Swanie made the brave decision to sit out of the start of the 2008 season in order to undergo further surgery to ensure he could return at full strength and then continue his career on an uninterrupted long-term basis.

Since making the call to go under the knife again it’s been a long few months for Gareth who finished a fine fifth in the 2007 MX2 world championship as he waited to see if the surgery would be a success but after a scan last week Dr Claes – Swanie’s surgeon – is confident that everything is healing well and we may see the super-tough Johannesburg-born racer back on track sooner than initially thought.

“I had a scan last week and the doctors are happy that everything is healing well,” explained Gareth. “I’ve been keeping myself busy by working on my general fitness and obviously I’ve had a fair few appointments to see my doctor and also my physiotherapist. My wrist and also my foot is feeling much better now it’s had time to heal – in a week or so I’ll be able to start running again and in two to three weeks I can start cycling.”

While obviously keen to start riding his Kawasaki once more Gareth is planning to only return to the track when he is absolutely ready.

“I don’t want to come back too early, I’d rather come back when I’m ready to run top five or top-10 at least – I’m thinking maybe Loket or the Irish GP is a possibility for my return. I’m quite excited to ride again because I’ve been watching Stephen and Gautier ride the factory KX250F-SRs and I can see that the bikes are performing well –they look great and they’re obviously very fast from the start.”