Italian Motocross GP Favors Swanepoel

South African MX2 world championship protagonist, Gareth Swanepoel, has ridden to strong result and a second moto podium at round 4 of the FIM MX World championships in Mantova, Italy. 

The Molson Kawasaki star ran a fierce Saturday qualifying race with second place to show for his efforts. ‘Swanie’ was determined to carry through the positive result for Sunday’s 2 x 35 minute motos however a bad start in moto 1 left the 22-year-old with lots of work to do as he had to fight from outside the top ten. 6th place was the reward at the end of the race.

A better start and a clever first turn manoeuvre saw ‘Swanie’ rocket his KX250F into third position behind championship rivals Antonio Cairoli and Christophe Pourcel. The Frenchman went missing on lap four with fellow South African, Tyla Rattray managing to edge past Swanepoel. Consistent lap times and a good fitness level saw Swanepoel finish 3 seconds adrift of his compatriot to claim his second moto podium of the season and fourth overall for the GP.

“I lost the overall podium in the first moto” admitted Swanepoel.  “I had a  bad start but came through the pack pretty well.  In the second moto start I managed to sneak up the inside and was able to run up front and was pumped about finishing third.  My highlight of the weekend was actually the qualifying race on Saturday. I was close to winning it and I think this needs to be my next goal and then work on that to try and win GP’s.”

Being a former  125 and Open German champion, Swanepoel will look forward to the 5th round of the FIM MX World championship which will take place in Teutschenthal, Germany, in two weeks time.

www.swanie.co.za

Race results:

MX2 Race 1

1        Cairoli, Antonio         ITA     Yamaha

2        Rattray, Tyla  RSA    KTM

3        Searle, Tommy         GBR     KTM

4        Pourcel, Christophe   FRA     Kawasaki

5        Gundersen, Kenneth NOR    Yamaha

6          Swanepoel, Gareth  RSA     Kawasaki

7        Leuret, Pascal FRA     Honda

8        Hamblin, Sean USA    Suzuki

9        Church, Tom  GBR     Kawasaki

10      Schiffer, Marcus       GER     KTM

11      Aubin, Nicolas FRA     Yamaha

12      Barr, Martin    GBR     Yamaha

13      Verbruggen, Dennis   BEL     Yamaha

14      Frossard, Steven      FRA     Kawasaki

15      Goncalves, Rui          POR    KTM

 

MX2 Race 2

1        Cairoli, Antonio         ITA     Yamaha

2        Rattray, Tyla  RSA    KTM

3          Swanepoel, Gareth  RSA     Kawasaki

4        Searle, Tommy         GBR     KTM

5        Pourcel, Christophe   FRA     Kawasaki

6        Aubin, Nicolas FRA     Yamaha

7        Seistola, Matti          FIN     Honda

8        Goncalves, Rui          POR    KTM

9        Hamblin, Sean USA    Suzuki

10      Schiffer, Marcus       GER     KTM

11      Simpson, Shaun        GBR     Kawasaki

12      Leuret, Pascal FRA     Honda

13      Guarneri, Davide       ITA     Yamaha

14      Avis, Wyatt    RSA    KTM

15      Barr, Martin    GBR     Yamaha

MX2 Championship standings:

1        Cairoli, A.       ITA     197

2        Rattray, Tyla  RSA    142

3        Pourcel, C.     FRA     137

4        Searle, Tommy         GBR     117

5        Leuret, Pascal FRA     110

6          Swanepoel, G.          RSA     107

7        Aubin, Nicolas FRA     94

8        Gundersen, K. NOR    91

9        Seistola, M.    FIN     78

10      Schiffer, M.    GER     71

11      Frossard, S.   FRA     58

12      Boissiere, A.   FRA     57

13      Eggens, Erik   NED    54

14      Boog, Xavier   FRA     46

15      Monni, Manuel ITA     45