Date: 17 April 2009

With his growing speed on the 450cc Kawasaki machine, Gareth Swanepoel arrived in Catalunya this weekend determined to climb further up the Mx1 championship table. In the hot conditions on Saturday the South African MX1 GP rider was looking smooth in the qualifying race as he held his own in the elite class. Slightly hampered by a rock breaking through the lens of his goggles, Swanepoel still posted a good qualifying position of 13th for the two Grand Prix heats on Sunday.

In heat 1 Swanepoel was sluggish out the gates, but made up for it on the opening lap as he powered his KX450F-SR up into 8th position by the close of lap 1. With a new determination and raw speed, Swanepoel put in fast times as he powered around the rough hard pack circuit. Keeping his pace right to the very end a delighted Swanepoel crossed the finish line in 6th position, his best ever MX1 Grand Prix finish.

Heat 2 would see another mid pack start for ‘Swanie’ as he once again made up positions on the opening lap getting into 10th spot. A very small mistake midway dropped Swanepoel to 11th where he rode comfortably to the end of the long race in the Spanish heat to give him 9th overall for the day, moving into 11th position overall in the World Championship standings.

“ The first heat was awesome for me. I nearly got a 5th but ran off the track at one point dropping me to 6th. That is my best MX1 result to date and it makes me happy to know that I am improving every week at the moment and that I am stringing together consistent results in both motos.” explained an elated Swanepoel.

With a week’s break affording Swanepoel time to recuperate, the 7th round of the FIM MX world championship will take place on the 30-31 May in Mallory Park, UK.

Race results:

Mx1 Race 1
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
5 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
6 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
7 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
8 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
9 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
10 Leok, Aigar EST TM
11 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
12 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
13 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
14 Church, Tom GBR CCM
15 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM

MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
5 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
7 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
8 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
9 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
10 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
11 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
12 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
13 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
14 Leok, Aigar EST TM
15 Krestinov, Gert EST KTM

MX1 GP Overall
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM 43
2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 40
3 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 38
4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 36
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 36
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 31
7 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 28
8 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda 26
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 25
10 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 20

Mx1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 231
2 Barragan, J. ESP 195
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL 183
4 Coppins, J. NZL 175
5 Philippaerts, D. ITA 174
6 Leok, Tanel EST 162
7 Desalle, C. BEL 162
8 Nagl, M. GER 155
9 Vuillemin, D. FRA 101
10 Ramon, Steve BEL 100
11 Swanepoel, G. RSA 92
12 Leok, Aigar EST 85
13 Strijbos, K. BEL 82
14 Mackenzie, B. GBR 68
15 Aranda, G. FRA 50