MX Faenza: Gareth Swanepoel ninth in Faenza heat

Molson Kawasaki had Gareth Swanepoel’s ninth position overall to count as their highest classification this afternoon at scorching and sweaty Grand Prix Citta di Faenza. The tenth round of fifteen in the MX2 World Championship saw the second visit to Italy this year and the Monte Coralli circuit was a quick, tight and hilly prospect.

29,000 spectators applied a high-factor sun cream and watched as the fastest riders in the MX2 series defied strength-sapping conditions at the circuit close to Imola and only 50km east of Bologna. Faenza was hosting a world championship event for the first time this century and despite numerous alterations to bring the track up to Grand Prix standard and impeccable presentation, the layout offered a traditional Italian test with its fast, hard and dusty terrain. The course alternated between rough sections and others that were very smooth, but the speed difference splitting the riders was slight.

Swanepoel took fourth position in his qualification sprint after losing a battle against Pascal Leuret. He started poorly in the first race of 35 minutes and 2 laps duration and then had to pace himself in the harsh heat to work his way back up to tenth; losing the tear-offs on his goggles hardly helped. The second race was like a carbon copy as ’Swanie’ admitted that he had trouble gelling with the track and any chances of the podium evaporated when he could not reach the top five in the first laps. He took eleventh and wasn’t particularly impressed.

“It wasn’t so good today,” he confessed. “In the first race I got a really bad start and then had a problem with my goggles because I went for a tear-off and they all came free in one go on the first lap. I came through from about twentieth to tenth, which was OK considering. I got the start wrong again in the second moto. I pulled through with some good passes but with the heat it was difficult to make progress. I struggled all weekend on this track and I knew that if I got good starts I would be able to make something of it but that did not turn out to be the case.”

Tom Church could only manage one moto after the effects of an illness during the week coupled with the physical demands of the weather conditions caused the 25 year old to pass out at the end of the first race. Church managed to bring his bike home in eighteenth after earlier reaching the top ten but was immediately taken to the medical centre and was ruled out of Moto2.

“I had a pretty bad start, just inside the top twenty, but I worked hard to come through because it was not easy to pass,” he recounted. “I got all the way up to tenth but I don’t know what happened after that. I kind-of blacked out and I don’t remember the last ten minutes of the race at all. I’ve had some flu this week and I think it caught up with me in that race. I made it to the finish but had to go on a drip afterwards and they would not let me out again because I had low blood pressure. That was that. Now I will get a blood test to see what is going on.”

Despite a crash in his qualification heat Stephen Sword came through the Last Chance session with the second fastest lap time to make the gate for his first Grand Prix since April 2006. He took his first points with seventeenth position in the first moto and rode his own race after almost colliding with a stalled Tommy Searle on the opening lap and slipping off the bike. He hit the ground again in the next sprint and retired with some pain to his thumb.

“I got some points in the first moto but it was not easy because I came off on the first lap trying to avoid Tommy,” the Scot in only his second GP attempt said. “I picked away at riders after that and stayed strong right until the end which was encouraging. I wanted to take it easy on the first lap of the second moto because there have already been too many early crashes. I got passed by quite a few people and that cost me really. I settled down but could not really flow and when I grabbed the brake on the downhill I slid off and yanked my thumb when I landed on my hands. I felt the ligaments stretch so I pulled in because it was pretty painful. Still, I got some points so that is another forward step for me.”

The World Championship will now enter its last third and the current standings show that Swanepoel is sixth but facing a 59 point gap to the top five and Church is sixteenth.

After an extremely busy schedule with Grand Prix and British Championship commitments Molson Kawasaki will now finally be able to enjoy a break as the Grand Prix of Czech Republic is set to take place on July 29th at the Loket circuit close to the Spa town of Karlovy Vary. The season run-in will then commence with another period of eight meetings in eight weeks for the squad to mid-September.