Date: 28 June 2009

Latvia was host to Round 10 of the MX1 World Championship this weekend, a round where Gareth Swanepoel on board his Factory Kawasaki would be looking to get further up the leaders board in the elite class.

In Saturday’s qualifying race ‘Swanie’ rounded up the opening lap in 10th place as he raced hard on the ultra-rough Kegums circuit. With every rider ‘giving it their all’ Swanepoel rode a solid race, qualifying in 9th position, which was a good result considering that he took a hard knock in time qualification with a suspected light concussion.

Swanepoel managed to shake off Saturday’s mishap by posting the 5th fastest lap time in the Sunday warm up practice. Swanepoel knew if he could get a good start he had the speed to run towards the front of the pack. As the gate dropped for race 1 though, that good start was no to be, as ‘Swanie’ was sitting mid-pack on the opening lap. Gaining 5 places in the opening 4 laps Swanepoel was charging hard when he over jumped an obstacle, putting an enormous pressure on his lower back, and causing numbness to his extremities. Racing through the pain the determined Kawasaki rider continued his fight to the end, ultimately crossing the line in 9th position, 42 grueling minutes after the gate had dropped.

With the track getting even rougher through the day, ‘Swanie’ knew the second race was going to be a tough one for all. The gate dropped and once again that good start eluded the South African, this time it was even worse, heading through turn one in 20th position. At a point of despair ‘Swanie’ had no choice but to ‘dig deep’ and just race as hard as he could to salvage every last possible World Championship point. Lap by lap Swanepoel powered his KX450F-SR past the competition on the sandy circuit, ultimately crossing the finish line in 12 position, giving a 10th overall for the day.

“ I guess I came away lucky today” admitted Swanepoel “I had a big one yesterday and today my lower back took a pounding in the first moto over one of the jumps but I managed to grit my teeth and fight through it. I was pleased with my speed and making small steps all the time in different areas. My next goal is to now put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”

The spectacular Uddevalla circuit in Sweden will welcome the FIM MX World championship next weekend for round 11 of the 15 rounds series.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
6 Leok, Aigar EST TM
7 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
8 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM
13 Carlsson, Johan SWE Suzuki
14 Steinbergs, Ivo LAT Honda
15 Terreblanche, Shannon RSA Kawasaki

Mx1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
4 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
6 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
7 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
8 Leok, Aigar EST TM
9 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
10 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM
12 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
13 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda
14 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha
15 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia

MX1 GP Overall:
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 47
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 41
3 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 40
4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 35
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 34
6 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 30
7 Leok, Aigar EST TM 28
8 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 22
9 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha 22
10 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 21
11 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 18
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM 13
13 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 13
14 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha 12
15 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM 10

Mx1 World Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 385
2 Nagl, M. GER 328
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 327
4 Coppins, J. NZL 314
5 Desalle, C. BEL 309
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 298
7 Leok, Tanel EST 270
8 Barragan, J. ESP 215
9 Leok, Aigar EST 167
10 Swanepoel, G. RSA 151
11 Vuillemin, D. FRA 137
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 117
13 Aranda, G. FRA 104
14 Mackenzie, B. GBR 103
15 Ramon, Steve BEL 100