Date: 12 April 2010

CAS Honda racer, Gareth Swanepoel, has had a tough outing during the second round of the FIM Motocross World championships at the GP of Lombardia in Italy this past weekend..

A first turn pile up in the MX1 qualification race witnessed a gaggle of riders hitting the floor, including the number 8 machine of Swanepoel. Remounting at the back of the pack he gave chase but with a stacked field of top riders 24th was the best he could do by the end of the short 20 minute race.

Overnight rain made for rough and technical circuit on Sunday as 40 riders lined up for the first MX1 moto. The gate dropped and a thunder of 450s blasted off, but as the riders headed through turn one Swanepoel was only just inside the top 20, leaving a pile of work ahead if he was to stay in contention. Making limited progress ‘Swanie’ did what he could to climb the standings and finished in 16th.

A better start in moto 2 saw Swanepoel just outside the top ten as the pack completed lap one. As riders jostled for positions, ‘Swanie’ tried to defend his position against Ramon, Albertson and Leok however the trio made their way past as Swanepoel latched on. With 5 minutes remaining he closed down a train of riders including Albertson, Coppins, Strijbos and Boissiere and ended in 14th place, giving a combined overall result of 15th position.

“ I battled with the track this weekend and rode too defensive. Once I went down on the start in heat 1 it was just crazy trying to get back through from there. I have a couple of weeks now until the next GP, which is in Holland on a track I enjoy, I need to really focus on a few points that have let me down this weekend and come out swinging there.” Commented an annoyed Gareth Swanepoel.

Results

Moto 1
1 DESALLE, Clement
2 CAIROLI, Antonio
3 NAGL, Maximilian
4 DE DYCKER, Ken
5 POURCEL, Sebastien
6 ALBERTSON, Jimmy
7 BOOG, Xavier
8 BARRAGAN, Jonathan
9 LEOK, Tanel
10 RAMON, Steve
11 MONNI, Manuel
12 DE REUVER, Marc
13 GUARNERI, Davide
14 BOBRYSHEV, Evgeny
15 SWANEPOEL, Gareth

Moto 2
1 CAIROLI, Antonio
2 PHILIPPAERTS, David
3 NAGL, Maximilian
4 DESALLE, Clement
5 DE DYCKER, Ken
6 BOOG, Xavier
7 RAMON, Steve
8 BARRAGAN, Jonathan
9 BOBRYSHEV, Evgeny
10 BOISSIERE, Anthony
11 COPPINS, Joshua
12 STRIJBOS, Kevin
13 ALBERTSON, Jimmy
14 SWANEPOEL, Gareth
15 MONNI, Manuel

Overall
1 CAIROLI, Antonio
2 DESALLE, Clement
3 NAGL, Maximilian
4 DE DYCKER, Ken
5 BOOG, Xavier
6 BARRAGAN, Jonathan
7 RAMON, Steve
8 PHILIPPAERTS, David
9 ALBERTSON, Jimmy
10 BOBRYSHEV, Evgeny
11 POURCEL, Sebastien
12 LEOK, Tanel
13 MONNI, Manuel
14 COPPINS, Joshua
15 SWANEPOEL, Gareth

GP Standings after round 2

1 CAIROLI, Antonio 88
2 NAGL, Maximilian 87
3 DESALLE, Clement 79
4 DE DYCKER, Ken 65
5 PHILIPPAERTS, David 60
6 RAMON, Steve 59
7 BARRAGAN, Jonathan 56
8 BOOG, Xavier 54
9 POURCEL, Sebastien 37
10 COPPINS, Joshua 37
11 GUARNERI, Davide 32
12 SWANEPOEL, Gareth 31
13 MONNI, Manuel 31
14 LEOK, Tanel 30
15 ALBERTSON, Jimmy 29