Date: 7 June 2009

With the Motocross World Championship reaching the halfway point for 2009, Factory Kawasaki Racing’s Gareth Swanepoel travelled to Ernee in France, this weekend to try and climb up the leaders board in the elite MX1 class.

A terrible start in Saturday’s 20 minute and 2 lap qualifier, saw Swanie down in the pack and left with a lot of work to do. ‘Swanie’ rode as hard as he could, pulling through to 14th position. With some very fast lap times and great control of the Kawasaki 450, the South African looked forward to the Sunday Grand Prix.

Unfortunately the heavens opened on Sunday morning, turning the manicured hillside Ernee circuit into mud. In the opening heat, ‘Swanie’ got a good jump out the gate and entered the first corner inside the top 10, only to get roosted with a face full of mud and losing a number of positions to the fighting pack of MX1 riders. Closing up the opening lap in 13th position, this is where Swanepoel would remain until the end of the grueling race.

Swanepoel missed the opportunity of good start in the second heat as he battled to get the power down on his Kawasaki. On the opening lap, Swanepoel had was taken down by another rider which left him on the ground. Quickly re-mounting his machine at the , ‘Swanie’ was eventually able to get back through to 15th position.

“ In the first heat I got a pretty good start, but then lost a bunch of positions on the next few corners. Although I made up some positions in the race, I fell back to 13th on the last lap after getting stuck behind a back-marker who was stopped in the mud. In the 2nd heat I just got bunched in at the start. Then I got taken down which just put me way back. I need to concentrate on the next GP in Germany now, where I look forward to a better day.” commented Swanepoel after race 2.

Swanepoel is due to take part in the fourth round of the British champs next weekend before heading to Germany for round 9 of MX1 World championships in Tuetschenthal on the 20-21st June.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
4 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
5 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
7 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
8 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
9 Leok, Aigar EST TM
10 Church, Tom GBR CCM
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
13 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
14 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
15 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

MX1 Race 2
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
3 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
5 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
6 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
8 Leok, Aigar EST TM
9 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda
10 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
13 Church, Tom GBR CCM
14 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
15 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

MX1 GP Overall
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 50
2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 40
3 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 36
4 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 33
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 33
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 29
7 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda 28
8 Leok, Aigar EST TM 25
9 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 20
10 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 20
11 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda 19
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM 19
13 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia 16
14 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 16
15 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 14

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 291
2 Philippaerts, D. ITA 261
3 Nagl, M. GER 248
4 Coppins, J. NZL 238
5 Desalle, C. BEL 237
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 228
7 Leok, Tanel EST 223
8 Barragan, J. ESP 215
9 Swanepoel, G. RSA 120
10 Leok, Aigar EST 118
11 Vuillemin, D. FRA 117
12 Mackenzie, B. GBR 103
13 Ramon, Steve BEL 100
14 Strijbos, K. BEL 82
15 Aranda, G. FRA 80