Date: 21 June 2009

Following his outstanding win in last weekend’s British Championship, Factory Kawasaki’s Gareth Swanepoel headed to Teutschental in Germany this weekend to contest Round 9 of the MX1 World Championship.

In the short Saturday qualifying race ‘Swanie’ went down on the opening lap, losing any hope of a good qualifying position. Re-mounting, the twenty-four-year-old South African did what he could as he raced back through to 22nd position by the end of the race.

A terrible start in the opening moto on Sunday left Swanepoel down in 20th position on the first lap. Pushing a little too hard Swanepoel ran into the back of a rider after being ‘brake checked’ and hit the ground, putting him even further down the running. Getting back into a good rhythm after his fall the Kawasaki rider rode well throughout the remainder of the race, eventually salvaging a hard earned 15th position.

Moto 2 was another dire start for ‘Swanie’, rounding up the opening lap in 19th position. Riding solidly he pulled his way up to 14th position, when a mistake and a huge crash on the closing lap dropped Swanepoel back down to 17th. He still manage to remount and cross the finish line, putting an end to a Grand Prix he would rather forget.

“ A good GP result starts on Saturday and I was on the back foot after a bad qualifying race. I had two good starts in my motos but got pushed wide and was left to fight from there. I had a big crash on the last lap after fighting back to 14th which pretty much summed up my weekend. I have to move on and focus on Latvia. I’m looking forward to the change of underground.” commented a disappointed Swanepoel.

Gareth Swanepoel and the Factory Kawasaki Team head to Latvia next weekend for Round 10 of the MX1 World Championship.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

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

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

MX1 GP Overall:
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 47
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 45
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 36
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 36
5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 36
6 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 31
7 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 29
8 Pichon, Mickael FRA Honda 25
9 Leok, Aigar EST TM 21
10 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 20
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 18
12 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia 15
13 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia 15
14 Church, Tom GBR CCM 14
15 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 11
16 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 10

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 338
2 Philippaerts, D. ITA 297
3 Nagl, M. GER 293
4 Coppins, J. NZL 274
5 Desalle, C. BEL 268
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 264
7 Leok, Tanel EST 252
8 Barragan, J. ESP 215
9 Leok, Aigar EST 139
10 Vuillemin, D. FRA 137
11 Swanepoel, G. RSA 130
12 Mackenzie, B. GBR 103
13 Ramon, Steve BEL 100
14 Priem, Manuel BEL 95
15 Aranda, G. FRA 91