Date: 23 June '07

Molson Kawasaki’s Gareth Swanepoel has lost valuable points in the Maxxis British championship at round 5 in Desert Martin, Northern Ireland. Both Swanepoel’s races were marred by crashes while challenging for the lead on the former GP circuit close to Belfast.

Swanepoel’s first knock came in the opening moto after he had passed Tommy Searle on the third lap. Swanepoel was carrying great speed and was just about to set up Martin Barr to take over the lead when he lost his front end and landed on his head. Swanepoel remounted a bit groggy and salvaged 3 championship points with a swollen eye.

‘Swanie’ was back in the ring for round two as he and Tommy Searle both left the rest of the MX2 pack standing as they opened up more than 20 seconds with the Molson Kawasaki leading. Searle snuck past on lap 5 with Swanepoel hot on his heels. With ten minutes left on the clock, Swanepoel went for the pass in a turn but Searle unintentionally squared off and connected the South African sending him over the berm. Swanepoel once again remounted, this time with bruised ribs and shoulder and finished 8th.

“What a tough day,” lamented Swanepoel. “I ran the fastest lap time in moto 2 and was riding well considering that the first moto crash dazed me. It was just unfortunate that I clipped Tommy and went down hard again. There are still 3 rounds to go and I’m not going to give up hope just yet. Anything is still possible.”

Swanepoel will return to Belgium and will tone down his training schedule to give his body time to heal before the next Motocross GP in Uddevalla, Sweden this coming weekend.

Race results:

MX2 Race 1
1 Tommy Searle
2 Martin Barr
3 Tom Church
4 Jason Dougan
5 Mike Brown
6 Carl Nunn
7 Ray Rowson
8 Shaun Simpson
9 Elliot Banks - Browne
10 Stephen Sword
11 Wayne Smith
12 Jake Nichols
13 Lewis Gregory
14 Ashley Greedy
15 Alex Butler
18 Gareth Swanepoel

MX2 Race 2
1 Carl Nunn
2 Tom Church
3 Carlos Campano
4 Tommy Searle
5 Shaun Simpson
6 Mike Brown
7 Jason Dougan
8 Gareth Swanepoel
9 Stephen Sword
10 Wayne Smith
11 Elliot Banks - Browne
12 Lewis Gregory
13 Ashley Greedy
14 Jake Nichols
15 Alex Snow

MX2 British championship standings:
1 Tommy Searle 253
2 Mike Brown 216
3 Gareth Swanpoel 210
4 Tom Church 207
5 Shaun Simpson 203
6 Sean Hamblin 159
7 Martin Barr 151
8 Jason Dougan 146
9 Carl Nunn 124
10 Ray Rowson 114
11 Lewis Gregory 111
12 Jake Nichols 84
13 Wayne Smith 83
14 Elliot Banks - Browne 77
15 Ashley Greedy 50