SMETS CLOCKS 4TH BEST TIME IN BELGIUM
30 July 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki riders were within the top seven fastest riders this afternoon at a boggy Nismes circuit for the Grand Prix of Wallonie, round 12 of seventeen in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

Joel Smets guided the works RM-Z450 to the fourth quickest lap-time during the 30 minute Timed Practice while Kevin Strijbos set an encouraging pace by ending the session in seventh.

Heavy rainfall during Friday evening forced the organisers and FIM to cut the timetable to help preserve some of the circuit from excessive wear. The MX1 competitors were granted a free practice before going straight into qualification. The situation was not helped by a period of further torrential downpours in the afternoon that turned a lot of the viewing space to mush and transformed the terrain into an even trickier test.

Both riders softened the suspension slightly for a little more traction in the ooze that was almost Enduro conditions in the narrow sections carved by a single line.

In the afternoon press conference, Team Manager Jens Johansson confirmed that the team will again run two riders in 2006 after speculation that the line-up might be extended to three. Kevin Strijbos is already confirmed to fill one of those saddles for next season with an announcement on his team-mate expected in the next two weeks.

Motovision Suzuki Racing''s Yoshitaka Atsuta was 17th over five seconds away from the pole time set by Mickael Pichon. ''Yoshi'' was happy in the conditions and made little changes to his machine.

Although Saturday settled into dusk with a fierce hour of sunshine, further rain is predicted tomorrow over the small town adjacent to the French border.

Joel Smets:

''It is a little bit of a pity that the track has been changed and has become shorter. There are a few good technical sections. I am feeling a bit more relaxed about this weekend. I was a little disappointed a week or two ago to learn that there is a good chance I will not be riding with Suzuki next year but I understand Jens and Sylvain''s decision. I am definitely going to try and offer Suzuki some good results in the last remaining races.''

Kevin Strijbos:

''My riding was good today and I was happy with a top-10 position; it is my best qualifying of the year! The track is pretty slippery with a lot of ruts so you can''t push too much. It is easy to make mistakes so to get that lap-time was good. If I can take the holeshot tomorrow then I should be able to score a decent result. I want to have at least one really strong race.''

MX1 Timed Practice: 1 Mickael Pichon, (FRA) Honda 1:57.859. 2 Stefan Everts, (BEL) Yamaha 1:57.949. 3 Joshua Coppins, (NZL) Honda 1:58.722. 4 Joel Smets, (BEL) Suzuki 1:59.252. 5 Brian Jorgensen, (DEN) Yamaha 1:59.396. 6 Steve Ramon, (BEL) KTM 1:59.502. 7 Kevin Strijbos, (BEL) Suzuki 1:59.919. 8 Tanel Leok, (EST) Kawasaki 2:00.163. 9 Jonathan Barragan, (SPA) KTM 2:00.802. 10 Ben Townley, (NZL) KTM 2:00.960.

www.suzuki-racing.com

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