Date: 1 March 2010

Gareth Swanepoel had his season opener this past weekend at Round 1 of the British Championship, held at Little Silver in Exeter, UK. The race would also be the first time out on the new CAS Honda, having swapped manufacturers for 2010.

With torrential rain in the UK for most of the week, there was talk as to whether or not that race would take place, but by all accounts the circuit held up well and made for good racing.

The opening moto would see a reasonable jump out the gate for Swanepoel as he powered through the first turn in around 5th spot, but an early mistake would see ‘Swanie’ get stuck for a second and a few bikes pile into him. From that point he battled to get back through the pack in the short race, and in the end had to settle for a disappointing 10th place.

As the gate dropped for race 2 Swanepoel launched his Honda out the blocks grabbing a strong hole-shot and powering around the rough and rutted circuit out front. ‘Swanie’ was looking strong and relaxed up front, but as he dropped into one of the ruts on lap 5 he stalled the engine causing him to fall over and lose a few positions. Re-starting quickly the South African ultimately crossed the line in 3rd position.

The 3rd moto would once again see the number 8 CAS Honda take a solid hole-shot and sit comfortably out front. Towards the end of the moto, cutting through lapped riders, ‘Swanie’ once again stalled the bike in a rut. Luckily though this time he had enough of a gap to re-start and still cross the finish line to take victory in the moto, and hand him second place overall, just one point off the 2009 Championship winner Anderson.

“ The Honda is just so strong, I love it. This is the first time I have taken convincing hole-shots in the MX 1 class. The suspension and handling also works well for me, usually when the track is this rough and rutted the 450 is brutal, but today I can’t complain, the bike just did what I needed from it. This has given me a real confidence booster”, commented Swanepoel.
This coming weekend Swanepoel heads back to the UK for the Hawkstone Park International, where many of the top GP boys will be out in force on the natural and spectacular circuit.

Image: 182 Photography

Results
Moto 1
1 777 Evgeny Bobryshev
2 47 Pascal Leuret
3 111 Ray Rowson
4 31 Alex Snow Albion
5 16 James Noble
6 85 Jason Dougan
7 1 Brad Anderson
8 7 Gordon Crockard
9 71 Stephen Sword
10 8 Gareth Swanepoel

Moto 2
1 1 Brad Anderson
2 777 Evgeny Bobryshev
3 8 Gareth Swanepoel
4 71 Stephen Sword
5 85 Jason Dougan
6 7 Gordon Crockard
7 31 Alex Snow
8 30 Ben Lamay
9 40 Jordan Rose
10 11 Jamie Lewis

Moto 3
1 8 Gareth Swanepoel
2 24 Tom Church
3 71 Stephen Sword
4 1 Brad Anderson
5 23 Carl Nunn
6 85 Jason Dougan
7 7 Gordon Crockard
8 31 Alex Snow
9 40 Jordan Rose
10 16 James Noble

Overall
1 1 Brad Anderson 57 Points
2 8 Gareth Swanepoel 56 Points
3 777 Evgeny Bobryshev 55 Points
4 71 Stephen Sword Buildbase
5 85 Jason Dougan
6 31 Alex Snow
7 7 Gordon Crockard
8 24 Tom Church
9 16 James Noble
10 23 Carl Nunn