Date: 29 March 2009

Factory Kawasaki MX1 rider Gareth Swanepoel headed to Faenza in Italy this past weekend for the first Grand Prix of 2009 and his first GP in the premier class of Motocross. After a mix of results in the few international events leading up to this first GP Gareth was looking for a good finish to kick off his 2009 World Championship campaign in the elite MX1 class.

Saturday morning started with good weather and a manicured circuit as the riders headed out for the MX1 qualifying race, which was a change of format from last year’s fastest lap qualifying sessions. Recovering from an average start ‘Swanie’ had a smooth race to finish 16th.

Sunday was a very different start to the day, as the rain poured down on the circuit many people questioned if they would even run the race.

When the gate dropped for the first heat it was hard to tell who was up front as the crowds waited for the leading riders to drop down the long hill and into view for the first time. Gareth was down in 18th position with a huge amount of work to do as he dropped down into view. Lap by lap Swanepoel managed to get faster and faster on the Kawasaki 450 as he battled his way through the deep ruts.

Keeping his head down and riding a consistent race allowed the South African to get his way up to 13th position by the end of the 35 minute + 2 laps race.

Heat 2 was cancelled due to the weather conditions, which meant the results from Heat 1 would stand as the overall Grand Prix result.

Gareth spoke to us after the race: “When I started this race I was just determined to finish because I knew so many people would drop out. I crashed about 5 times and really struggled to get up the hills, but in the end I was happy to get the points. Now my first MX1 Grand Prix is over I feel much more relaxed and look forward to Bulgaria next weekend.”

IRace Results Heat 1 MX1

1 Leok, Tanel EST KTM

2 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

3 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

4 Leok, Aigar EST TM

5 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

7 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

8 Church, Tom GBR CCM

9 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

10 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM

12 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

13 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

14 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

15 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia

World Championship Standings MX1

1 Leok, Tanel EST 25

2 de Dycker, Ken BEL 22

3 Desalle, C. BEL 20

4 Leok, Aigar EST 18

5 Cairoli, A. ITA 16

6 Coppins, J. NZL 15

7 Nagl, M. GER 14

8 Church, Tom GBR 13

9 Philippaerts, D. ITA 12

10 Barragan, J. ESP 11

11 Dougan, Jason GBR 10

12 Ramon, Steve BEL 9

13 Swanepoel, G. RSA 8

14 de Reuver, M. NED 7

15 Bill, J. SUI 6