SMETS 4TH IN MATCHAMS MX1 QUALIFYING
06 June 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki''s Joel Smets has taken the RM-Z450 to the fourth fastest lap-time at Matchams Park Saturday afternoon for the British Grand Prix, round seven of 17 in the 2005 FIM World Championship.

The redesigned sandy circuit on England''s south coast saw changeable weather conditions greet the large crowd that turned up for practice and qualification although winds buffeted the riders as they jumped into both sunshine and occasional showers throughout the day.

Smets instantly felt at home on the terrain and enjoyed the track, making minimal changes to his machine. The suspension was tweaked to cope with the sand and the gearing was altered.

The 36 year old will be pushing for his fifth podium from seven races tomorrow and is likely to face a tough battle as the top six riders placed within one second of each other.

Motovision Suzuki Racing''s Yoshi Atsuta was struggling on the loose surface and the injury to his foot sustained at Sugo last week did not help the Japanese ace record a time good enough to breach the top 25.

Joel Smets:

''I am happy with my riding and I was making consistent lap-times today. The track preparation and everything I have seen so far at this GP has been really good. The bike has a decent overall package and compromise for most of the circuits so today we just put on a sand setting.

''The lack of experimentation we have had with the bike is stopping me making two good heats at the moment but the second race in Japan proved that I don''t have to worry about my speed.''

MX1 Timed Practice classification: 1 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 1:56.366. 2 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 1:56.619. 3 Mickael Pichon, FRA (Honda) 1:56.650. 4 Joel Smets, BEL (Suzuki) 1:56.792. 5 Ken de Dijcker, BEL (Honda) 1:56.939. 6 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 1:56.953. 7 Antti Pyrhonen, FIN (TM) 1:57.029. 8 Tanel Leok, EST (Kawasaki) 1:57.237. 9 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM) 1:57.404. 10 Danny Theybers, BEL (Suzuki) 1:57.615. 26 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 2:00.979.

www.suzuki-racing.com

More News
  For June 2005
  From Suzuki Racing
  For British Superbike
  Biker247.com Home Page