Gareth Swanepoel rode strong in the Scottish mud

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August has been a busy month for Swanepoel, who just ended one of the toughest races of the season this weekend in Scotland, during the seventh and penultimate round of the British series.

The weather was not good as heavy rain fell on Sunday morning. It was a disaster both for the riders and the organizers, as the track had been perfect on Saturday. But in UK as well as in the US the National series is focused on one day, so none of the participants could practice on the dry layout. In any case Gareth proved just how fast he really is even in the mud, posting the second fastest time behind Billy Mackenzie.

The first start wasn’t too good for Swanie, as he avoided the traditional first corner pile-up but lost some positions in the incident. Riding carefully on the wet and muddy track, he regularly overtook some rivals to finally come back from his twelfth position in the first corner and collect sixteen points as he crossed the finish line in fifth position. Winner of the event British series leader Brad Andersson secured the title, while Gareth consolidated his second position in the standings as his two main rivals didn’t score any point this weekend. Gareth now moves to the Netherlands. There, near the small southern village Lierop, the fourteenth round of the World Championship is scheduled next weekend.

Swanepoel: ”The track was really nice this weekend. It’s just a shame it rained so much, otherwise it could have been a great day’s racing. In the race I came out the first corner in around 12th or so and just had to try to fight myself through the field. It was just hard going getting through, and I did not make the progress I wanted. I felt better than I could have hoped for before the race, since, I expected to just be slipping about but I felt in control, so it is all just adding to my experience on the 450 machine.”

Results:1.Anderson (GBR, Honda); 2.Rowson (GBR, CCM); 3.Billy MacKenzie (GBR, Honda); 4.Tom Church (GBR, CCM); 5.Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki); 6.Crockard (GBR, Honda); 7.Whatley (GBR, Kawasaki); 8.Lewis (GBR, KTM); 9.Dougan (GBR, CCM); 10.Rose (GBR, Honda); etc…

Championship Standings: 1.Anderson, 289; 2.Swanepoel, 231; 3.Nunn, 203; 4.Noble, 201; 5.Church, 178; 6.Columb, 152; 7.Dougan, 150; 8.Billy MacKenzie, 147; 9.Bryan MacKenzie, 113; 10.Snow, 97; etc…