Date: 9 May 2010

Gareth Swanepoel traveled to Portugal this past weekend for Round 4 of the MX1 World Championship, where he was looking to push for a top 10 overall, but it just wasn’t to be. Racing a solid qualifying race on Saturday ‘Swanie’ notched up a 12th, giving a good gate pick for the Sunday GP motos.

In the first moto Swanepoel was fast out the gate, but as the riders all headed through turn 2 ‘Swanie’ hit another rider and went down. Joining the tail-end of the pack Swanepoel had a mountain of work to do in order to salvage any points at all. Doing his utmost Swanepoel eventually finished the race in 20th position, for a hard-earned 1 point.

The second moto was a better start for the number 8 CAS Honda, as ‘Swanie’ rounded out lap one in 14th position. Battling to find a good rhythm allowed a couple of riders to slip past during the 35 min and 2 lap race, but Swanepoel continued to race hard to the end, crossing the line in 16th position.

“Today was just real tough going. On Saturday I felt comfortable in the qualifying race to get 12th, and I thought then a top 10 should be possible on Sunday. The first moto I went down, and coming back through the field is just insane, all the guys are just racing so hard. The second race was a better start, but unfortunately I let a couple of guys get past in the race.” Commented Swanepoel.

The next MX1 GP takes place in Bellpuig, Spain, on the 16th May.

Results

MX1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
9 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda
10 de Reuver, Marc NED Suzuki
11 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
12 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
13 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM
14 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Kawasaki
15 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda
17 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia
20 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda

MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Yamaha
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda
7 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda
8 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
9 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
10 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda
11 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia
12 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
13 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
14 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
15 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM
16 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda

MX1 GP Overall:
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki 44
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM 41
3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 41
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki 36
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 33
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda 30
7 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda 26
8 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki 25
9 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki 23
10 de Dycker, Ken BEL Yamaha 20
11 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM 18
12 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda 17
13 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki 16
14 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia 14
15 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM 14
16 de Reuver, Marc NED Suzuki 13
17 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Kawasaki 7
18 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda 6

MX1 Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 179
2 Nagl, M. GER 161
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 133
4 Ramon, Steve BEL 124
5 Desalle, C. BEL 123
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 114
7 Boog, Xavier FRA 106
8 Leok, Tanel EST 96
9 Bobryshev, E. RUS 79
10 Pourcel, S. FRA 75
11 Guarneri, D. ITA 73
12 Coppins, J. NZL 63
13 Albertson, J. USA 59
14 Swanepoel, G. RSA 57
15 Barragan, J. ESP 56