Date: 13 August '06

lA muddy penultimate round of he British champs saw Gareth Swanepoel luck out on a podium spot today in Wakes Colne.

An overnight downpour drenched the newly designed circuit which made qualification and the first race somewhat of a lottery. Swanepoel could only a manage fourth spot in moto 1 after having to play catch up to the leading trio of MacKenzie, Nunn and fellow Molson Kawasaki team-mate Searle.

A better start in moto 2 had Swanepoel settling for a podium spot but with one lap to go his chain was dislodged which stranded the South African. Swanepoel managed to force the chain back into place and amazingly salvaged 7th position.

“I had a tough first moto and was way off the pace in the mud. I just didn’t want to risk anything and to ride mud you have to hang it out. The track was a little bit better in the second moto and I improved my speed and posted good lap times until my luck ran out with a lap to go. I have a really tough training schedule in preparation for the GP in Ireland and Lierop. We have been riding a lot in the sand and I think I felt it today,” admitted Swanepoel.

‘Swanie’ will take a weeks break from racing before heading to Desert Martin in Ireland for round 13 of the FIM MX World championship.

Race results:

Race 1 MX 2
1 Carl Nunn
2 Tommy Searle
3 Billy MacKenzie
4 Gareth Swanepoel
5 Shaun Simpson
6 Tom Church
7 Brad Anderson
8 Jake Nicholls
9 Wayne Smith
10 Jussi Vehvilanen
11 Ashley Greedy
12 Martin Barr
13 Kristian Whatley
14 Elliot Banks - Browne
15 Alan Keets

Race 2
1 Billy MacKenzie
2 Carl Nunn
3 Tommy Searle
4 Tom Church
5 Shaun Simpson
6 Brad Anderson
7 Gareth Swanepoel
8 Jussi Vehvilanen
9 Elliot Banks - Browne
10 Martin Kohut
11 Alex Snow
12 Kristian Whatley
13 Jim Murro
14 Martin Barr
15 Ashley Greedy

Championship standings:
1 Tommy Searle 367
2 Carl Nunn 363
3 Billy MacKenzie 341
4 Brad Anderson 274
5 Gareth Swanepoel 260
6 Wayne Smith 221
7 Shaun Simpson 195
8 Jason Dougan 162
9 Martin Kohut 124
10 Scott Probert 115
11 Tom Church 106
12 Ray Rowson 92
13 Elliot Banks-Browne 81
14 David Willett 69
15 Jake Nichols 69