STRIJBOS SET FOR GRAND PRIX RETURN
28 July 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki will once again be back to full strength this weekend as Kevin Strijbos lines up alongside Joel Smets for the 12th round of 17 in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship; the Grand Prix of Wallonie at the Nismes circuit in southern Belgium.

The team and both riders will be enjoying the third round this season on home turf and a familiar track. The duo completed a local event on Wednesday evening in which Smets tested some new parts on the RM-Z450 and holeshotted to win the second moto. Strijbos boosted his confidence by beating his team-mate and KTM''s Steve Ramon in the first race.

36 year old Smets currently lies fourth in the World Championship standings and only 19 points away from Ben Townley in third. He had accumulated five podiums this season and two moto victories but is still searching for his first overall success since 2003.

Strijbos will be looking to re-establish some of the credibility and status he gained in 2004 as the hottest young MX1 talent. The former European 125cc Champion has endured an unfortunate run of injuries this year: He damaged ankle ligaments during the winter, dislocated his shoulder at round three in Portugal and then suffered with thrombosis in his left arm that plagued his limb and overall strength long after the condition had faded. After an unsuccessful return at the end of June in France, Strijbos has taken a month to recuperate and build up his speed. Now he feels confident to tackle the World Championships once more.

Nismes has not been used as a Grand Prix venue since the 1999 250cc World Championship. In 1997 Smets was part of the Belgian team that clinched the Motocross of Nations at the circuit. Inside the province of Namur, and very close to the French border, Nismes has undergone some renovations to the old layout and a capacity 30,000 crowd can witness 22 jumps per lap and daunting technical sections with names like ''Quarry'' and the ''Wall of Nismes''.

Joel Smets:

''I don''t remember having been to Nismes since the Motocross of Nations so it obviously is a place that holds some good memories for me. I liked the track a lot back then but I am sure it has changed a little bit now. I recall it being a difficult and technical place with a good mixture of fast and slow turns and some serious off-camber corners! They have been adding a lot of sand to tracks recently and angled corners are becoming a rare thing. I don''t know what to expect at Nismes now but I think overall there should be less of this tendency to mix the natural dirt with a lot of imported stuff. I had a nice weekend off and spent some time with the family after South Africa and now we go to five Grands Prix in six weeks.''

Kevin Strijbos:

''I think it was a good decision to miss a few GPs and concentrate on practicing and getting my speed up. France was a nightmare for me but I feel stronger and faster and for sure it will be easier for me this weekend. I reckon that I should be able to get a good top-10 result for at least one of the motos.

''I won the first heat in warm conditions yesterday evening and it was good to see that for 25 minutes I could keep a small gap over Joel and Steve Ramon. I last went to Nismes to watch the Motocross of Nations and it looks like a difficult track, fast and hard-pack. It might be different now, but we will have to wait and see.''

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 Strijbos, (BEL) 55.

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