Swanepoel has rough start to SX debut.

The much anticipated Supercross debut for South African racer Gareth
Swanepoel  took place at  round 1 of the Supercross Lites East
coast this past weekend at the Reliant stadium in Houston, Texas.
  The DNA Shred Stix Star Yamaha racer  looked set for a
great result after setting the fastest qualifying time in both his group
timed sessions, which placed him 12^th on the overall list, only
a few tenths adrift of American talents such as, Justin Barcia, Blake
Wharton, PJ Larson and Nicco Izzi.

Lining up for heat 1 Swanepoel knew that  a good start would be
necessary to secure a qualifying spot for the 15 lap final.  Although
he didn’t get the best of jumps  ‘Swanie’ was in the
top ten and quickly moved through to 8th spot where he tried to focus on
not making mistakes but catching the riders ahead.  He was closing
down 7^th  spot with one and half laps to go when he made a
detrimental error in the whoops and went down.  Unfortunately for
Swanepoel he was hit by Blake Bagget who ran straight over his back,
causing a serious hematoma.  

‘Swanie’ bravely came out for the last chance qualifier but
a first turn crash saw his hopes of making the final go up in smoke.

“I felt really good all night and was surprised at my
speed.   It was just bad luck that Bagget rode over me in the
whoops.  I’m in quite some pain at the moment so hope that
it’s nothing serious and just some bruising.  Luckily I’ve
got a week off to recover before we head to Atlanta.” commented
Swanepoel.