Date: 27 July 2009

Gareth Swanepoel headed to the UK once again this past weekend to take part in Round 6 of the British Motocross Championship, in which yet another solid performance enabled the Factory Kawasaki rider to move up to 2nd position in the overall championship standings.

The weekend started better than ever for ‘Swanie’ as his consistently increasing speed on the 450cc machine paid off with a pole position in timed qualification.

As the gate dropped for moto 1 the charged South African powered his Kawasaki out the gate and through the first corner inside the top 5. Being the fastest rider on track, Swanepoel was able to make the passes he needed lap after lap as he raced his way to the front of the MX1 pack. Taking the lead away from Anderson on lap 6, ‘Swanie’ was able to ride his own pace as he kept control of the field, crossing the line to take a well deserved win.

The start of moto 2 was very similar to that of the opening race of the day. Once again Swanepoel was top 5 out the gate, and as he settled in he was soon up behind Anderson challenging for the lead. A flustered Anderson looked to be riding beyond himself not to let ‘Swanie’ past, as Swanepoel had to make a number of moves to avoid a collision with the Honda rider. Unfortunately on lap 12 ‘Swanie’ slid out on a corner, dropping down to 4th place. With only a handful of laps remaining in the Kawasaki rider was not able to regain any positions, however crossing the line in 4th awarded Swanepoel enough points to move into 2nd place overall in the MX1 British Championship, and place him on the podium for the day.

‘ Swanie’ had this to say: “That was a good weekends racing, I felt very comfortable on the bike and my lap times reflected that. Qualifying first was a good feeling and I knew then that I had the upper hand on the field. The 2nd moto was a little frustrating, I had the ability to get to the front and win, I should have just been a little more aggressive in getting through the field.”

This coming weekend Gareth Swanepoel is due to take part in Round 12 of the MX1 Motocross World Championship, taking place in Lommel, Belgium.

Results
Moto 1
1 Gareth Swanepoel
2 Brad Anderson
3 Jason Dougan
4 Carl Nunn
5 Tom Church

Moto 2
1 Carl Nunn
2 Brad Anderson
3 Tom Church
4 Gareth Swanepoel
5 Jason Dougan

Overall
1 Brad Anderson 44 22 22
2 Carl Nunn 43 18 25
3 Gareth Swanepoel 43 25 18
4 Tom Church 36 16 20
5 Jason Dougan 36 20 16

Championship Standings
1 Brad Anderson 264
2 Gareth Swanepoel 215
3 Carl Nunn 203
4 James Noble 201
5 Tom Church 160