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SMETS AIMS TO CLOSE IN ON EVERTS Smets has taken five overall podium results and two moto wins from the opening eight Grands Prix and currently trails Yamaha''s Stefan Everts by 63 points. The future of Honda''s Mickael Pichon has been the cause of much rumour-mongering and speculation after his withdrawal from the Italian round almost two weeks ago. If the Frenchman does intend to have a knee operation and eventually hang up his goggles after his home event this weekend then this will mean the onus falls heavily onto Smets to catch and challenge his countryman and reigning number one Everts. The five-time World Champion competed last weekend at an international race in Tongeren, Belgium and took second overall, winning the last moto. Aside from this outing, he has been resting and keeping his light training schedule ticking over after the heavy three-GP-slog from Japan to Britain and then Italy inside three weeks. Kevin Strijbos was also riding at Tongeren and went 6-11-6 in the three motos. The 19 year old was testing some new chassis parts for 2006 although it is not confirmed if these modifications will make the transition to the Grand Prix machinery at this stage. His physical condition continues to improve and he is hoping that the French Grand Prix will mark another step forward in his recovery from left arm thrombosis. The club at St Jean d''Angely are renowned for staging a well-organised and popular event: The prestigious Motocross of Nations was held at the facility north of Bordeaux in 2000. The track has received criticism in recent years as the worn terrain normally unveils a hard stony surface underneath that does not lend itself to entertaining or safe racing. The club have taken massive steps over the winter and during the first part of 2005 to transform almost 60% of the course, importing some 3000 cubic metres of earth and sand to bring the dirt up to scratch. ''For several years we''ve worked really hard to build nice facilities and we now have a good infrastructure including a decent paddock,'' said club president Jean Marie Boissonnot. ''As we are all volunteers here, it''s true that we have just done some maintenance on the track every occasion since the 2000, but this time we knew that an improvement had to be made. Unfortunately the soil is chalky and it''s really difficult to do much; after a GP the track is so hard on some places that the chalk is black! Bringing in the earth and sand has allowed us to remove the ground and it will be easier to offer better racing conditions to the riders. With the members of the club we have also decided to change the design of the track and will include several new technical sections. We''ve reduced the length from 1750 to 1550m, the starting straight is longer, the design of the first corner has been altered and for the spectators as well as for the riders, it will be totally different.'' St Jean entertained the World Championships last season and marked the first event that Joel Smets was forced to sit out due to a knee injury and an impending bacterial blood infection. Kevin Strijbos had one of his worst meetings of the year and could only score 18th in the second moto after crashes in both races. Needless to say the Belgian squad will be looking for a far more positive French GP this time around. The weather forecast for the weekend predicts high temperatures and patchy sunshine but with the chance of storms on Sunday. Joel Smets: ''I have just been doing the usual stuff since Italy and it has been really hectic with the GPs recently so it was nice to slow down a little bit. At this time of the season it is not really necessary to be riding every day so I have just been cycling and doing some physical stuff. I rode at Tongeren last weekend and it was ok even if the organiser was trying to keep the track dust-free because the weather was so good; hard to believe in Belgium! Steve Ramon was riding well but I did not want to take any risks. ''To holeshot and win the last moto was satisfying. It was a strange feeling to leave Italy being second in the World Championship. It seems like a long time since I have been that high in the standing. St Jean has a really motivated group of people at their club and the GP there is one of the better events of the season. The track has been really stony recently and with the watering this hasn''t been too good. But I hear they have made massive changes and I look forward to seeing them.'' Kevin Strijbos: ''I was racing last weekend but the track was pretty dangerous with all the dust so I was not going crazy. My condition is getting better and I can feel a small improvement every week. I went practicing a few days ago and Ben Townley and the Leok brothers were at the same circuit and my best times were not far away from them. I know it is only training but it gave me confidence to see some progression. I can now push for longer in the motos even though I am nowhere near my best. I had my worst GP of the season last year at St Jean although even in the state I am in now, I want a better result. I have heard some good things about the new layout but I have also been told that the lap-times are really low which could make it hard with the backmarkers. I only hope they have put enough sand down to create some more lines.''
Manufacturer Standings: 1 Yamaha 181. 2 Honda 167. 3 KTM 155. 4 Suzuki 149. 5 Kawasaki 67.
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