SMETS SCORES FIFTH AT SUN CITY
17 July 2005 - Suzuki Racing

A disconsolate Joel Smets finished fifth this afternoon at warm and blue-skied Sun City for the Grand Prix of South Africa, the 11th round of seventeen in the 2005 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championships.

Wearing his new UFO pink colour scheme and specially painted helmet in honour of his one week old daughter Aileen, the Belgian scored a solid fifth place in the first moto after being hit by Honda''s Ken de Dijcker on the first lap and falling down the order to 15th as a result. Smets maintained a consistently high speed and benefited from the mistakes of others in front of him to break into the top five.

More than 18,000 sun-soaked spectators witnessed the 36 year old endure a difficult second moto as he started the first lap seventh and could only improve his ranking by one position, struggling with his speed and confidence: He has scored a ninth and a 10th in the last two Grands Prix and hasn''t walked the podium since Italy in June so the South African outing was a significant improvement in terms of results even if the rider was not enthused with his second race performance. The former five-time World Champion remains fourth in the MX1 standings 19 points behind Ben Townley.

Yoshitaka Atsuta took 13th and ninth position for 13th spot overall. The Motovision Suzuki Racing representative was involved in a frantic scrap for positions in the first moto with Brian Jorgensen, Marvin Van Daele and Tanel Leok. Despite a small crash that caused him to drop down the order by four positions, the Japanese rider rallied and passed two of his race-long rivals on the last lap to grab 13th. He found a better rhythm in the next sprint and confessed to enjoying his trawl through the throng from 19th on the first lap to ninth.

The riders and teams now have a week''s break to travel back to Europe and prepare for round 12 and the Grand Prix of Wallonie at Nismes in Belgium where Kevin Strijbos should be fit to return for his third home race of the season.

Joel Smets:

''I messed up the start of the first moto but came through ok. In the second race I was off the pace. I was not riding very well and it was a strange feeling. I think it has a lot to do with confidence; I am so disappointed. There was no fighting spirit. My motivation dipped and I can''t really explain it but I was not at my maximum. The results may have been slightly better today but I do not feel good with that last race. I want to do well and fight with the front guys and I know I can still do it.''

Yoshitaka Atsuta:

''I love the track here but I had some bad starts today. I struggled to pass riders and when I tried, I missed some lines and I was always trying to catch-up. I had a small crash and the first moto was not so great. In the second race I started better but Cooper crashed in front of me in nearly the same place as Albertyn fell before me last year! I hit him and lost positions. I felt strong in that moto and came back to ninth which was good. I enjoyed being out there in that last race.''

MX1 Moto1: 1 Joshua Coppins, (NZL) Honda 39:35.801. 2 Stefan Everts, (BEL) Yamaha 39:37.024. 3 Steve Ramon, (BEL) KTM 40:07.506. 4 Ben Townley, (NZL) KTM 40:20.840. 5 Joel Smets, (BEL) Suzuki 40:45.745. 6 Paul Cooper, (GBR) Honda 40:50.366. 7 Jonathan Barragan, (SPA) KTM 40:58.823. 8 James Noble, (GBR) Honda 41:00.979. 9 Antti Pyrhonen, (FIN) TM 41:02.716. 10 Danny Theybers, (BEL) Suzuki 41:03.419. 13 Yoshitaka Atsuta, (JPN) Suzuki 41:07.352..

MX1 Moto2: 1 Joshua Coppins, (NZL) Honda 39:59.683. 2 Stefan Everts, (BEL) Yamaha 40:19.592. 3 Steve Ramon, (BEL) KTM 40:37.429. 4 Jonathan Barragan, (SPA) KTM 40:45.498. 5 Pascal Leuret, (FRA) Honda 40:48.127. 6 Joel Smets, (BEL) Suzuki 40:50.002. 7 Tanel Leok, (EST) Kawasaki 41:03.243. 8 Brian Jorgensen, (DEN) Yamaha 41:06.808. 9 Yoshitaka Atsuta, (JPN) Suzuki 41:08.434. 10 Ken de Dijcker, (BEL) Honda 41:21.612.

MX1 Overall result: 1 Joshua Coppins, (NZL) Honda 50. 2 Stefan Everts, (BEL) Yamaha 44. 3 Steve Ramon, (BEL) KTM 40. 4 Jonathan Barragan, (SPA) KTM 32. 5 Joel Smets, (BEL) Suzuki 31. 6 Pascal Leuret, (FRA) Honda 26. 7 Brian Jorgensen, (DEN) Yamaha 22. 8 James Noble, (GBR) Honda 22. 9 Paul Cooper, (GBR) Honda 22. 10 Ben Townley, (NZL) KTM 22. 12 Danny Theybers, (BEL) Suzuki 21. 13 Yoshitaka Atsuta, (JPN) Suzuki 20.

MX1 World Championship Standings (after 11 rounds): 1 Stefan Everts, (BEL) 455. 2 Joshua Coppins, (NZL) 416. 3 Ben Townley, (NZL) 368. 4 Joel Smets, (BEL) 349. 5 Steve Ramon, (BEL) 304. 6 Mickael Pichon, (FRA) 299. 7 Pascal Leuret, (FRA) 211. 8 James Noble, (GBR) 210. 9 Jonathan .Barragan, (SPA) 197. 10 Brian Jorgensen, (DEN) 188. 12 Danny Theybers, (BEL) 182. 14 Yoshitaka Atsuta, (JPN) 155. 23 Kevin Stribos, (BEL) 55.

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