Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128627
FIM W o r ld C h a m p io n s h ip 250 / 5 OOc c MX S erie s Round 13: La Citadelle STOR Y A N D PH OTOS By ALEX HODGK IN SO N NAJIIUR, BELGIUM, AUGUST 6 oel S mets clinc hed his fourth , a nd KTM' s s e c on d, 500c c MX Worl d title with three rou nds remaining , as h e co ntin u ed to rewri te th e re c ord boo ks with yet another double win , this time at the infamous Citadelle track in Namur. Having won all four GPs in Bel gium , as well as just about e ve rything else this ye a r, Smets admitted , "Th e other three were just GPs wh ich were held in Belgium. Th is is the real Bel gian GP and I am so proud to have wo n it at la st as we ll as my fou rt h tit le." O ne of the first people to congratulate the new cha mp was Roger De Coster; seven times a winner a t the Cita de lle in his long and illustrious career. Smets now needs Just two more wins to equal DeCoster's career record of 36 5 00c c GP wins. "Fi rst we hav e to ce le bra te, bu t then I hope I c a n foc us m yself aga in n e xt week and t ry to e q ua l o r pa ss Roger's re co rd du ring the remain ing rounds ," Sm ets s a id . S m et s was overwhe lme d by t he 24 ,00 0 s tro n g c ro wd th a t cheered him home. "It wa s e ve n more incredi ble here this ye a r," Smets sa id. "The no ise fro m the bells , th e horns and J 34 AUGUST 23, 2000 cue. e the cheers was so loud that I could hardly hear t he engine all th e way around ." KTM's joy wa s made even mo re com p lete a s Pe t er Jo ha nsso n took . second on the da y to move into secon d in the standing s ahead of the unfortu nate Marnicq Be rvo e t s . The n e _ s Joel Smets g ets a hug from his wife after clin ching his f ourth 500cc W o rld title at t he Citadelle trac k at Namur, Bel g iu m . S we de , who ha d wo n a t Namu r last year , explained a fter sharing 3 -2 moto finishes with Andrea Ba rtolini. " Pe r h a p s I could have beaten Andrea in both races, but the rear tire started to bre a k up a fte r 2 5 m inutes in the first heat," Joha nsson s a id . "My m e ch a nic sig naled me tha t Be rvoets was o ut of the po ints, so I kn e w that it wa s im portant to m a ke s ure of a safe 15 p oints , and I settled for a s afe th ird ." Smets ' clos es t riv al all ye a r, Bervoets cou ld not be lie ve h is bad luck at the sta rt of race on e. . "I always kill the motor at th e gate a s we wa it for the othe r rid e rs t o c o m e fr o m t he p re- p arc , bu t it wou ldn't re s t a rt ," he sai d . "I kicked a nd kicked, but noth ing ." Eventu a lly the Ya ma ha fired , 3 0 sec onds after the p a ck h a d d is ap p eared fro m th e Espla na de. Fo r five la ps , Be rvoets saw no other riva l, a nd by th e finish was 14 th. Eve n in the even t o f a Bervo ets w in , Sme ts now needed just n inth place, and the title battle was effec - . t ive ly decided , but Bervoets was desperate for a win to restore his p ride . " I t o ok th e lead from Ba rtolini before we went into the woods ," he said . "I felt good , but as I accel erate d o nto the Esplanade a t the end of th e second lap my front whe e l m us t have caught som e s oft d ir t. It wr en ch ed th e b ar s fro m my hand a n d I w a s thr o wn har d t o th e g ro und. " Medica l staff ru shed to Bervo ets , but a fter a worrying two m inutes, he wa s a ble to rega in h is feet and hobble off to the paddock with mild co nc us s ion , a tw is t ed ankle and a pa inful fing e r. The title a lready be longed to Smets. Bartoli ni had he a d e d Jo hansson for second in mot o one, but the effort had ex hausted him after he na rrow ly The h o m e crowd c h e e red Smets on.