Date: 8 March 2009

The British Motocross Championship kicked off on the loamy hillside circuit of Canada Heights in Kent, UK this past weekend. Kawasaki Factory rider, Gareth Swanepoel, was one of many Grand Prix stars in action as Sunday morning dawned with slightly overcast weather.

With many people hoping the rain would hold off for the day, the track was slightly wet, but otherwise fantastically prepared for this premier international event.

Heat 1 blasted off for the MX1 class with Gareth Swanepoel in a strong position as he aimed his Kawasaki KX450F-SR through the first corner. Carrying a little too much speed ‘Swanie’ ran into the back of another bike, damaging his front brake system, rendering it useless. Gareth battled to hold off the charging riders as he tried to race with just his rear brake. Within a few laps the front brake was starting to jam on, making it impossible for ‘Swanie’ to continue the race.

Heat 2 lined up at the start gate and Gareth was ready to make amends for the unfortunate result of heat 1. The race got underway with Swanepoel placed in a good position in initial laps of the race. Pushing hard to fight towards the front, he got the bike cross rutted which threw the South African off and into the mud. Re-mounting quickly, Swanepoel charged on, only to make another unforced error leaving him on the floor once again. Time was running out to make amends and at the end of a frustrating race Gareth crossed the line in 9th position.

Swanepoel commented on a tough weekend: “I so badly wanted to start the British Championship well - today just did not work out for me. There was not one major reason for the result, just a bunch of silly things that put me down in the points at this early stage in the championship. I want to keep working on my speed in the coming weeks, but other than that today was just one of those days to put behind me and concentrate on the coming races and getting the results I am capable of.”

Swanepoel will contest the first round of the Open Dutch championship in Gemert next weekend which is close to the teams base in the Netherlands.

IImage: Stefan Paetow

Race results:

Heat 1 Results
1st Brad Anderson
2nd Cedric Melotte
3rd James Noble
4th Billy MacKenzie
5th Tom Church
DNF Gareth Swanepoel

Heat 2 Results
1st Carl Nunn
2nd Tom Church
3rd Brad Anderson
4th Jordan Rose
5th Jason Dougan
9th Gareth Swanepoel

British MX1 Championship standings after round 1:
1st: Brad Anderson,
2nd: Carl Nunn,
3rd: Tom Church,
4th: James Noble,
5th: Billy Mackenzie,
6th: Jordan Rose,
7th: Cedric Melotte,
8th: Kristian Whatley,
9th: Scott Columb,
10th: Jamie Lewis,
15th: Gareth Swanepoel.