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F IM Worl d Championship 500ee MX S erie s R o u n d 1 1 : C ircuit R und U m Den M u h lber g thoug h the re is not much excitement left in this year's series , one still has to be imp ressed b y the wa y Smets ha s dominated his riva ls. Smets has won nine of th e 11 rounds a nd broken sev eral long -stand ing GP rec o rd s along the wa y, incl udi ng most moto wins in a year and most c onsecutive GP wins in a yea r. Without a doubt Smets is the man in th e 500cc class this yea r. "I have had little trouble this ye a r," Smets said. "I don 't keep a re co rd of my wins, but I th ink I've won th e last nine motos. I o n ly lo s t in Sw eden a bout two months ago , so that's very rew ard ing for KTM a nd m ys e lf." Tru e to his word, Smets ha s wo n 1 1 of th e last 12 motos , a nd his 92p oint lea d is th e frui t of his labor. Sme ts a nd KTM hav e don e a brilliant job. Be rvo ets tho ug h is not giving up . "I am a little sick of finis hing sec ond," Bervoets said. "S till, with 200 p o in t s available for t h e la st fi ve roun ds , I have a slim cha nce. I hav e to ke ep that in m ind or the sea son is only getti ng longer. " In the fi rs t moto in Germany, Smets collided with Yamaha -mounte d Andrea Barto lin i on the first la p , but for S mets it was not a problem, as he rode off into the lead. For Bartolini it was the sta rt of a nother disappointing day in his c hampionship defense . (Left) Joel Smets continues to dominate the AM Wortd Championship SOOcc MX Series, leaving numerous broken records in his wake to keep his competitors company. (Below) Smets' teammate Peter Johansson fin ished third overall and sits a respectable t h i rd in p o int s as well, although 125 behind Smets. S mets, bu t for a ll inte nts an d pu rposes , th is o ne is ove r. Man y expect Smets to wrap up the champ io ns h ip at round 13 in Na m u r, Be lg ium , on Augu st 6. Smets wa s s o dom inan t in Ger many that his riva ls, once a gai n, had no answer. Bervo e ts , t he rid e r wh o ha s finishe d second pla ce thr e e times in the 250c c class s e ries, looks s ur e to agai n clai m a runn e r -up pla c e . Be rvo et s claim ed 2 -2 results in Ge rm an y , w ith Swed ish rid e r Pet er Joha nsson picking up a 3- 3 for third overa ll. For a nyone th at has fo llow ed th e 200 0 se rie s, t he Ger m a n GP wa s p retty m uc h th e sa me a s a ll o f th e rest : S mets winning a nd eve ryo ne e lse battling for sec o nd pla c e . Eve n S T O RY AN D P HOTOS BY G EO FF M EYER FURSTUCH DREHNA, GERMANY, JULY 16 he J oel Smets fre ight tra in continues to roll thr ough Euro pe , as t h e KTM fa c tory ri der coll ect ed an oth e r two -m oto win and anoth e r ov er a ll vict or y at th e Germ an 500cc GP. An d a lon g with these a c c om plishm en ts , he now ha s a n eve n la rger p o int s le ad in t he Op en cla ss s e ri e s . Sm et s sco re d 1 -1 r es u lt s under cloudy s kies in German y, and his s eries po ints lead is now 92. With a p o s s ibl e 2 0 0 p o ints still a vai la ble in th e next five rounds , sec ond -p la ced Marn icq Bervoets - sec ond in th e serie s - still has a cha nce o f w in n ing t h is yea r ' s ti tle ove r T 44 AUGUST 2 , 2000' .. U .. I e n e 'IV S