Date: 17 August 2008

Molson Kawasaki’s Gareth Swanepoel, has enjoyed an exciting return to racing with two separate events held over the weekend.

First on the South African’s schedule was the 4th round of the United Telecom Belgian champs, held at the former GP circuit, the ‘Keiheuvel’, in Balen on Friday the 15th August (Bank Holiday). The demanding and treacherous sand circuit was the perfect test for Swanepoel after a long recovery from an injured wrist which was operated on at the start of the 2008 MX season.

‘Swanie’ posted 4th qualification time for a decent pick on the gate but was taken down in the first turn by a rider and found himself at the bottom of a pileup in moto 1. He remounted last and fought his way through to 17th spot.

A better start in Moto 2 would see the South African ride a consistent race to claim a podium spot when he crossed the finish line 3rd behind Belgian MX2 favorites, Jeremy Van Horebeek and Joel Roelands.

“ I was so excited about this race” admitted Swanepoel. “I felt like a kid on Christmas eve and couldn’t sleep a wink. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced and it’s great to get the adrenalin pumping again. My wrist felt great and that’s really positive especially on a demanding track like this. I now need to work on getting my race pace back to where it should be”.

Swanepoel’s second event two days later was the 7th and penultimate round of the Maxxis British championship held in Brampton. A disappointing start in moto1 placed Swanepoel at the back of the pack with loads of work ahead of him on a muddy circuit. He diligently plugged away, taking every position he could to finish 11th as time ran out.

Moto 2 saw Swanepoel grab a better start as he got going in 10th spot. Within two laps he had gained 3 positions and settled in 7th where he finished to claim 7th overall for the day.

“I struggled with the bike in the first moto and had a terrible start which didn’t help matters. I came from way back to 11th but was not happy with the result. We changed some settings for the second moto which really helped. I got a better start and came from 10th through to 7th spot and managed to run a much faster pace. I’m obviously lacking in race pace but it will only be a matter of time before I’ll be up to speed.” vowed the South African.

Swanepoel and the Molson Kawasaki are set to confirm his participation in the Irish MX GP later this week.

MX2 Race results:

Balen Keiheuvel – Belgian championship
Overall MX2:
1 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 47
2 ROELANTS Joel 47
3 BOOT Mark 31
4 VAN HASTENBERG Jan 29
5 BRAKKE Herjan 29
6 VAN DEN BERG Heikki 26
7 HUYSMANS Jimmy 26
8 SWANEPOEL Gareth 24 Molson Kawasaki
9 DECKX Dennis 24
10 PICOTO Victor 23

Brampton – British championship
Overall MX2:
1 Shaun Simpson 47
2 Zac Osbourne 43
3 Neville Bradshaw 38
4 Martin Barr 37
5 Stephen Sword 35
6 Carl Nunn 32
7 Gareth Swanepoel 24 Molson Kawasaki
8 Elliot Banks-Browne 24
9 Mel Pocock 21
10 Lewis Gregory 19