Date: 5 July 2009

Gareth Swanepoel journeyed to Uddevalla in Sweden this weekend, where he enjoyed solid results on board his Kawasaki KX450F-SR. Being his maiden GP season on the 450, ‘Swanie’ had the aim of rounding up the 2009 MX1 World Championship inside the top 10, and currently lying in 9th with just 4 rounds left this goal is firmly on track.

The qualifying race on Saturday went with relative ease for the South African, as he grabbed a decent start and rode error free to finish in 8th place, giving a good gate pick for Sunday’s Grand Prix races.
The crowds turned out in their thousands on Sunday as they lined the spectacular circuit waiting to cheer on the world’s best. The gate dropped for moto 1, and it was a good start for Swanepoel who exited turn one in 8th position. With a very smooth ride ‘Swanie’ held onto 8th position until just 3 laps from the end where a small mistake put him into 9th place at the finish.

The 2nd moto was a slightly tougher start for ‘Swanie’, rounding up the opening lap in 15th position. Riding with confidence, Swanepoel calculatingly picked off the competition one by one, keeping his strength throughout the race. At the end of a long 2nd moto Swanepoel jumped his Kawasaki across the finish line in a well deserved 9th place, awarding him with 8th overall for the day.

‘Swanie’ had this to say: “I felt good on the bike today, but made a few little mistakes that cost me some time in the first heat. In the second race I took a few laps to settle in and then I was able to get past the guys pretty quickly. I was over revving the bike a little this weekend so I need to concentrate on my shifting more with the 450.”

Next weekend Swanepoel heads off to Lyng in the UK for Round 5 of the 8 round British Championship. After winning the last round of this championship ‘Swanie’ will be looking for another top result.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
3 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
4 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
7 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
8 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
13 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
14 Terreblanche, Shannon RSA Kawasaki
15 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia

MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
6 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
8 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM
12 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia
13 Church, Tom GBR CCM
14 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda
15 Söderström, Tom SWE Kawasaki

Mx1 GP Overall:
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 47
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 43
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 40
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 36
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 36
6 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 29
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 29
8 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 24
9 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia 19
10 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda 18
11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM 15
12 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia 15
13 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 15
14 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 13
15 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 13

MX1 World Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 428
2 Nagl, M. GER 375
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 363
4 Desalle, C. BEL 345
5 Coppins, J. NZL 343
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 338
7 Leok, Tanel EST 299
8 Barragan, J. ESP 215
9 Swanepoel, G. RSA 175
10 Leok, Aigar EST 167
11 Vuillemin, D. FRA 150
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 132
13 Aranda, G. FRA 117
14 Mackenzie, B. GBR 103
15 Ramon, Steve BEL 100