Top ten for Swanepoel |
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| Monday, 29 June 2009 10:38 | |
 Gareth Swanepoel scored a tenth position this weekend in Latvia, and he is currently tenth in thestandings, just a week prior to the Swedish Grand Prix. A few weeks before the Belgian (Lommel, August 2nd) and Dutch (Lierop, August 30th) rounds of the series, the riders had again a good opportunity to ride again on a sandy track. A brand new venue for the series, Latvia was a successful event with nice facilities, a huge crowd and a perfect track located 50 kilometers from Riga, the capital of the country. Clouds and showers were part of the program on Saturday, but the weather conditions were ideal for the races. Happy to be back on a sandy track, Gareth Swanepoel had a crash during the first practice sessions but recovered to post the seventh fastest lap in the pre-qualifying practice, two places ahead of Gregory Aranda. The qualifying race was tougher for both. They scored a ninth and a thirteenth respectively; although the pair improved their speed during the warm-up on Sunday, with a second position for Gregory and a fifth for ‘Swanie’. Both riders started the opening race mid-pack, as Greg was eleventh and Gareth sixteenth after one lap. Circulating tenth and twelfth at mid race distance, they earned some positions during the last ten minutes to finish eighth and ninth. The first part of the second heat looked similar to the previous one with the Frenchman thirteenth and the South African eighteenth, on a demanding track. Aranda again twisted his sore ankle and retired during the fourth circulation, while Swanie scored a twelfth position for another overall top ten. Neither David Vuillemin nor Florent Richier were able to finish a race in Latvia; David struggled with the track and retired during the qualifying Heat, while Florent finished twenty second for his first ever GP outing on a sandy course. On Sunday both pulled in early; Florent had a great start and was briefly fifth in the first race when another rider hurt his sore ankle and forced him to retire three laps earlier than David. The former US contender, disappointed with his performance, didn’t enter the second heat.  Gregory Aranda: ‘I had to rest this week with my sore ankle, so I was surprised with my lap-times duringthe sessions as I didn’t feel so fast on the bike. The qualifying race was more difficult. I only got a good rhythm in the last part of the race to finish thirteenth. I had the same problem during the first heat, I had good lines only in the second part of the race and I came back to eighth. I was happy with this result, as I don’t really like sandy tracks! In the second race I was battling with Swanepoel when I twisted my ankle again, it was painful and I stopped. But I’m happy with my first heat; I was not expecting such a good result on this kind of track. Now I will have daily treatment to my ankle and after Sweden I will take a short break before the final round of the French series.’ Gareth Swanepoel: ‘I was really impressed when I arrived here, the track was awesome and all week-end I was fast with top ten results in all the sessions. I finished ninth in the qualifying race as well as the opening race today; that’s the goal now to be always in the top ten. The second race wasn’t as good, I had a really bad start and I had some pain in my lower back as I over-jumped a jump during the first race. Physically it was a difficult weekend, the track was demanding and yesterday I had a huge crash where I hit my head; I’m learning at every race, learning in a hard way but still learning and I’m back in the top ten of the championship. This week I will take it a little easy to keep some energy for next weekend in Sweden.’ Florent Richier: ‘I never rode on the sand before this weekend as there are no sandy tracks in Germany where I’m used to competing. I didn’t feel comfortable on Saturday, the qualifying race was tough but today I rode better during the warm-up. I was more comfortable and got a great start from the outside gate; I came to fifth position but when he passed me Philippaerts was aggressive and hurt my ankle. I had already pain as I twisted this ankle on Saturday so I retired. Then I tried to ride the second heat but it was too much to bear. I will be back in GPs for Loket. I’m not ready to race in Lommel or Lierop as you need to practice hard in winter time to be competitive on these tracks.’ Martin Van Genderen (Team manager KRT): ‘It’s a new track, nobody had information but we found a good course and very good organization. Swanie enjoyed this sandy track and felt comfortable but he had some bad starts. He came back successfully in the top ten of the first heat and then to twelfth. He did a good job, maybe he could have some more points with better starts but that’s motocross. He is now in the top ten of the championship and we worked all for this. Florent had a very good start in the first race, but he had trouble with a sore ankle after a crash during the practice sessions.’ Article source: Kawasaki Racing Team Photos: Sarah Gutierrez
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