Swanepoel finishes strong at swedish MX GP

Round 9 of the FIM Motocross world championship series has seen
Molson Kawasaki racer, Gareth Swanepoel achieve a mixed result
on a re-designed Uddevalla circuit.

Swanepoel placed third in his Saturday qualification race ensuring
a good starting gate for the first MX2 moto on Sunday. The South
African was unable to get a good jump on the gate which had been
laid with gravel and emerged in the top ten before going down
on lap three. He clawed his way back from 16th place however
another error would seal Swanie’s fate as he hit the Swedish dirt
again. With twisted bars he managed to salvage 16th spot.

After re-assessing his first moto mistakes ‘Swanie’ focused on
making no more unforced errors as the gate dropped for the
second moto. He kept a tight line going into the first turn and
completed lap one in 9th place. Fast consistent laps moved the
Molson Kawasaki up the ladder and Swanie set his fastest time of
the race on lap twelve. With five minutes to go, he was catching
fourth place rider Rui Goncalves at a rapid rate and was handed
fourth spot when Goncalves’ engine failed. ‘Swanie’ finished less
than three seconds adrift of fellow South African, Tyla Rattray.

“The first moto was disastrous! I didn’t get a good start and went
off the track in the whoop section and ended up in a deep gully.
I got going pretty well and caught up again but then crashed and
bent my bars and struggled from there. The second start was not
much better but I took my time and got into a good rhythm. I
made great progress through the pack and finished a strong
fourth which I was happy with.” explained Swanepoel.
‘Swanepoel’ will return to the UK next weekend for the 6th round
of the British MX championship before traveling to the re-scheduled
10th round of the GP series in FAENZA, Italy.