Gareth Swanepoel won the third round of the 2007 Maxxis British Motocross Championship – his second success of the campaign – by comprehensively owning both MX2 motos at a sunny Cadders Hill circuit in Lyng, Norfolk. The South African, who gained his first World Championship podium last week at Valkenswaard, Holland for the Grand Prix of Benelux and the FIM curtain-raiser on the international calendar, continued his impressive and resolute streak of form and speed. The 21 year old is now second in the series, nine points behind Tommy Searle, with five rounds remaining.
The Molson Kawasaki representative launched out of the gate brightly in both 30 minute and 2 lap motos, using the grunt of the KX250F to pull through to the lead. Backmarkers proved to be a tricky negotiation for Swanepoel who set the pace from works KTM rider Searle and, in the first moto, his team-mate Tom Church but he remained in control of each race despite the odd fluctuation in his winning margin.
Church narrowly missed out on another podium appearance and instead took fourth position overall with finishes of 3rd and 5th. The 25 year old pushed hard to try and pass Searle for a Molson 1-2 in the first moto but was foiled by several lappers in the final moments. Moto2 was quite eventful. Church crashed twice and also ran off the track in a fraught outing. He fought back from 12th spot to reach 5th and was gunning for further promotion past reigning Champion Carl Nunn when he collided with a slower rider and had to accept his ranking of fifth.
The third member of the squad, Ray Rowson, was suffering with Flu which affected his race condition. The teenager still managed a creditable finish of 7th in the first moto before collecting 12th in the second. Rowson now holds 10th spot in the standings.
Team Wulfsport’s Shaun Simpson conceded first place in the Championship after 8th and 7th positions for 7th spot overall.
“It was a good day,” Swanie commented. “I got out the gate well in both motos. The backmarkers made things tricky but I felt comfortable and could stay ahead once I got into the lead.”
“The last three weeks have been good and I feel like things are finally stringing together now,” he added. “That’s two wins in the British and obviously having a decent ride at the first GP was good for my confidence. We go to Bellpuig next and this is a track that I like. It won’t be easy but if I can get the starts then I’m optimistic that I can be right up there again.”
“The first moto was pretty good for me and I ran quite close with Gareth and Tommy but could not reach second because we caught up to some backmarkers and I lost the chance to overtake,” recounted Church. “The next race was a bit of a nightmare. I ran off the track and then slid out so I had to come back from outside of the top ten. I wanted to pass Carl near the end but ended up hitting another backmarker so fifth was all I could manage.”
The next British round will take place at Langrish in Hampshire on June 3rd. The second round of the FIM World Championship is set to occur this weekend at the Bellpuig circuit in Catalunya for the Grand Prix of Spain.
MX2 Moto1:1. Gareth Swanpoel,
2. Tommy Searle,
3. Tom Church,
4. Mike Brown,
5. Martin Barr,
6. Jason Dougan,
7. Ray Rowson,
8. Shaun Simpson
MX2 Moto2:1. Gareth Swanpoel,
2. Tommy Searle,
3. Mike Brown,
4. Carl Nunn,
5. Tom Church,
6. Lewis Gregory,
7. Shaun Simpson,
8. Martin Barr,
9. Jamie Law,
10. Wayne Smith,
12. Ray Rowson
MX2 Overall:1. Gareth Swanpoel,
2. Tommy Searle,
3. Mike Brown,
4. Tom Church,
5. Martin Barr,
6. Carl Nunn,
7. Shaun Simpson,
8. Lewis Gregory,
9. Ray Rowson
MX2 Championship after 3 from 8 rounds:1. Tommy Searle 148,
2. Gareth Swanpoel 139,
3. Mike Brown 136,
4. Shaun Simpson 133,
5. Tom Church 120,
6. Sean Hamblin 109,
7. Martin Barr 100,
8. Lewis Gregory 87,
9. Jason Dougan 87,
10. Ray Rowson 63
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