Date: 16 May 2010

Clear blue skies on Sunday welcomed 17.000 spectators for the Spanish MX GP after Saturday downpours threatened to turn the Bellpuig hillside circuit into a quagmire for round 5 of the FIM MX World championship.

CAS Honda racer, Gareth Swanepoel, experienced a weekend of mixed results after his first moto got off to a testing start. A first turn pile-up in which the South African was caught in the middle of, meant that he had to re-start the race from stone last however Swanepoel could just not make it into the points as he ran out of time when the 35mins + 2 laps expired.

Determined not to get caught up for the second moto, Swanepoel managed to stay out of trouble in the opening laps and was positioned in 10th for almost half the race. Belgian, Kevin Strijbos made his way past ‘Swanie’ around the halfway mark with the number 8 Honda trying to latch on. By the end of the moto Swanepoel chased home fellow team-mate, Evgeny Bobryshev to finish 11th.

“Seems a lot of guys were involved in that first turn pile-up in race 1. I could not get going so was last and just missed out on points. I was happier with second moto however my goal is to start finishing in the top ten consistently. I’m really going to enjoy a change of scenery at the next GP. I enjoy racing in the US and thrive in those warm temperatures.” said Swanepoel.

Round 6 of the 15 round series will take place in Sacramento, California on the 29-30th May.

Image: CDS

Race results:

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

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

MX1 GP Overall:
1 Leok, Tanel EST Honda 39
2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 38
3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 37
4 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM 35
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki 35
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Yamaha 31
7 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki 30
8 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda 27
9 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM 25
10 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki 23
11 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki 20
12 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia 15
13 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM 14
14 Lozano Rico, Alvaro ESP Yamaha 14
15 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Kawasaki 12
17 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda 10

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 214
2 Nagl, M. GER 198
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 171
4 Desalle, C. BEL 158
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 145
6 Ramon, Steve BEL 144
7 Boog, Xavier FRA 136
8 Leok, Tanel EST 135
9 Bobryshev, E. RUS 106
10 Guarneri, D. ITA 84
11 Coppins, J. NZL 78
12 Pourcel, S. FRA 75
13 Strijbos, K. BEL 70
14 Swanepoel, G. RSA 67
15 Boissiere, A. FRA 62