Swanie Fast at British MX GP

Factory Kawasaki’s MX1 Grand Prix rider, Gareth Swanepoel headed into Round 7 of the 15 Round Motocross World Championship this weekend, which was held at Mallory Park in England. With consistently improving results ‘Swanie’ looked forward to a good performance in front of fans that regularly cheer him on in the British Championship, in which Swanepoel also contests.

In the Saturday qualifying race ‘Swanie’ put in a solid performance, bringing home his KX450F-SR in 8th position.

The gate dropped for Moto 1 on Sunday and it was a great start for ‘Swanie’ as he powered his Kawasaki around the opening lap in the top 5. A few small mistakes dropped the South African down the lap charts slightly as the chasing riders capitalized on the errors. Riding a really fast pace Swanepoel spent the last 8 laps battling bar to bar with MX1 championship leader, Antonia Cairoli, who eventually got passed with only 3 laps remaining. At the end of an intense 40 minute race, Swanepoel crossed the line in 11th position.

In the second moto it was almost the ‘Hole-shot’ for Swanepoel who was then pushed slightly wide on the first corner. Battling with the leading pack on the opening laps ‘Swanie’ unfortunately dropped it and struggled to get his machine re-fired quickly. Relegated to 29th position this was going to be a hard battle for Swanepoel as he eventually got going. Lap after lap, Swanepoel’s strength and fitness paid off as he passed riders on almost every lap, eventually crossing the finish line in 17th position.

“I am really pumped with my starts today. Everything is starting to fall into place now on the 450, my pace is getting better all the time and now with the starts improving I am confident of a top 5 position in one of the coming Grand Prix events. I really like the tracks in both France and Germany, so hopefully at one of those races I will be right up there.” explained the confident South African.

Gareth Swanepoel is now up to 9th position in the MX1 World Championship standings heading into Round 8 of the championship this coming weekend in France.

Image: CDS

www.swanie.co.za

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

1 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

2 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

3 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

7 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda

8 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha

9 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

10 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

11 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

12 Anderson, Bradley GBR Honda

13 Leok, Aigar EST TM

14 Nunn, Carl GBR Suzuki

15 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM

MX1 Race 2

1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

3 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

5 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda

6 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha

7 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda

8 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

9 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

10 Nunn, Carl GBR Suzuki

11 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

12 Anderson, Bradley GBR Honda

13 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha

14 Neugebauer, Filip CZE Kawasaki

15 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia

16 Terreblanche, Shannon RSA Kawasaki

17 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

MX1 GP Overall

1 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 47

2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 43

3 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 42

4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 34

5 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 28

6 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda 28

7 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 25

8 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 24

9 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 24

10 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM 20

11 Nunn, Carl GBR Suzuki 18

12 Anderson, Bradley GBR Honda 18

13 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda 16

14 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 14

15 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha 13

MX1 Championship standings:

1 Cairoli, A. ITA 255

2 Philippaerts, D. ITA 221

3 Barragan, J. ESP 215

4 Coppins, J. NZL 209

5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 208

6 Desalle, C. BEL 204

7 Nagl, M. GER 198

8 Leok, Tanel EST 190

9 Swanepoel, G. RSA 106

10 Vuillemin, D. FRA 101

11 Ramon, Steve BEL 100

12 Leok, Aigar EST 93

13 Mackenzie, B. GBR 84

14 Strijbos, K. BEL 82

15 Aranda, G. FRA 74