SMETS AND RM-Z450 MOVE INTO SECOND
12 June 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki''s Joel Smets raced to his fifth podium result of the season and into second overall in the World MX1 Championship with third place overall at today''s eighth round at Castilgione del Lago in Italy.

Under bright and mostly sunny conditions - and in front of 20,000 spectators -the Belgian scored fourth and third positions on the Factory four-stroke machine.

The track was typically Italian; a flat, worn and hard challenge but offering plenty of grip. Despite the traction, Smets was caught out by the smooth terrain twice: He had a nasty crash in warm-up when he unwittingly kicked a neutral while cresting a jump and was thrown over the bars on landing. Then he hit the ground at slow speed when holding third position in the first moto after a decent start. But he quickly remounted and held off the closing shadow of Stefan Everts to secure fourth place.

The second race saw the 36 year old again riding at the front with Ben Townley and Everts and he completed a lonely outing in third - closing in on the leading duo in the final laps but unable to bridge a gap of several seconds.

A fifth podium in eight races means that he stands second in the Championship chase after Mickael Pichon registered a double DNF. He trails Stefan Everts by
63 points and is ahead of Josh Coppins by two.

Kevin Strijbos predictably struggled to maintain his pace over the full race distance in both motos. The 19 year old was inside the top 15 in race one but dropped back to 22nd and finished two places out of the points. Later in the afternoon he managed to score two points with 19th.

Motovision Suzuki Racing''s Yoshitaka Atsuta started from a lowly 24th in the gate but took away a healthy score with 12th and 14th-position finishes. The Japanese ace was unable to gel with the track and had a difficult time overtaking other riders. He started well in the second moto but was pushed wide on the first turn and became muddled in the pack. His overall place of 13th is his third best result in eight GPs: His best is still Portugal where he raced to eighth position.

Team Suzuki now encounters a weekend free of obligation but Smets and Strijbos are likely to take part in a Belgian International race.

The next Grand Prix takes place in two weeks at St Jean d''Angely in France.

Joel Smets:

''It is always good to be on the podium, especially when you see how hard the racing was today. The pace was very fast and I put in two consistent rides and if it hadn''t have been for little mistake in the first moto then I might have been in contention for the overall win. The track was perfect; it was not too muddy and it was not too dusty and overtaking and choosing different lines were both possible.

''I''m happy with my two good rides and this shows that I am getting closer to that overall win which will be my goal in the upcoming races. I will start negotiations for 2006 with Suzuki in the next two weeks although at the moment I am undecided about whether I will continue next season.''

Kevin Strijbos:

''The weekend was pretty difficult. On Wednesday I went riding and could do 30 minutes easily and now I see just how different the race actually is. I had a good start in the first heat and was seventh but then everybody passed me. I was too slow and my arm started to pump a little bit after 15 minutes and I had to back off. I was too tired and could not ride anymore.

''I thought the second race would be tougher but I could push for 40 minutes and I was happy with 19th as my start was so bad. I know I have to work hard now but overall I was pleased that I could ride and taking any points was a bonus.''

Yoshitaka Atsuta:

''The first race was ok. My start wasn''t great and I tried hard to catch everybody but it was so hard to pass. Wewere all going the same speed and the track was slippery in places but at least I managed to take some points. I got a very good jump from the gate in the second moto and was fifth or something, but somebody hit me in the first corner and I went outside losing many positions. I pushed hard again but overtaking was the same problem. I was following Ramon and could not find a way past. I was near the top 10 overall today but I am disappointed as it could have been better.''

MX1 Moto1: 1 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 39:57.092. 2 Brian Jorgensen, DEN (Yamaha) 39:59.510. 3 Pascal Leuret, FRA (Honda) 40:04.148. 4 Joel Smets, BEL (Suzuki) 40:05.621. 5 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 40:06.821. 6 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 40:07.925. 7 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 40:15.254. 8 Luigi Seguy, FRA (Yamaha) 40:22.357. 9 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM) 40:23.176. 10 Claudio Federici, ITA (Yamaha) 40:23.929. 12 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 40:24.674. 22 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 40:14.879.

MX1 Moto2: 1 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM) 40:12.350. 2 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha) 40:13.335. 3 Joel Smets, BEL (Suzuki) 40:14.810. 4 Jonathan Barragan, SPA (KTM) 40:26.297. 5 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda) 40:34.613. 6 Brian Jorgensen, DEN (Yamaha) 40:38.857. 7 Pascal Leuret, FRA (Honda) 40:43.367. 8 Luigi Seguy, FRA (Yamaha) 40:49.097. 9 Tanel Leok, EST (Kawasaki) 40:50.793. 10 James Noble, GBR (Honda) 40:56.065. 14 Yoshitaka Atsuta, JPN (Suzuki) 41:06.085. 19 Kevin Strijbos, BEL (Suzuki) 41:42.042.

MX1 Overall Result: 1 Townley 50. 2 Everts 38. 3 Smets 38. 4 Jorgensen 37. 5 Leuret 34. 6 Barragan 32. 7 Coppins 31. 8 Seguy 26. 9 Ramon 20. 10 Noble 19. 13 Atsuta 16. 21 Strijbos 2.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after eight rounds): 1 Everts 339. 2 Smets 276. 3 Coppins 274. 4 Pichon 261, 5 Townley 254. 6 Ramon 203. 7 Noble 160. 8 Jorgensen 158. 9 de Dijcker 143. 10 Leuret 130. 17 Atsuta 91. 21 Strijbos 50.

Manufacturer''s Standings: 1 Yamaha 181. 2 Honda 167. 3 KTM 155. 4 Suzuki 149. 5 Kawasaki 67.

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