Joël Smets: “Controlling the lead is harder than it looks!”

HWe still have to wait a little while for the MXGP of France, scheduled for May 23 and 24. That doesn't mean the World Championship riders and their entourage are lazily lounging on the beach. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team manager Joël Smets was present at the EMX For All media press event.

It was an excellent opportunity to grill Smets about electric motocross, the Coenen brothers, and the KTM riders under his wing.

Would the young Joël Smets, who came from BMX, have been enthusiastic about racing with an electric motor?
Joel Smets: “Oh yes, I think so. The young guys of today are really into that, so if it had existed back then, I would have been up for it too. Electric motorcycling, just like electric car driving to get from point A to point B, that is one thing. Sporty driving with a car or motorcycle is something else. People involved in car and motorsport usually also have an interest and a passion for technology. My brother was five years older and studied automotive mechanics. When he was 15 or 16, he was always working on an old car, with spark plugs and carburetors. That aspect really appealed to me as well. Combined with the sporty aspect later on, that was actually the perfect match. For a lot of motocross riders and motocross fans, it is indeed a combination of the sporty and the technical aspects, but in my case, the sporty aspect was the deciding factor.”

That sensation is the same as the feeling a tennis player gets when he hits a ball perfectly, or a footballer who shoots the ball into the top corner. We have that when we take a corner perfectly. Those sensations can be experienced with a traditional motorcycle. The non-believers won't like hearing this, but those sensations are the same with an electric motor! Whether gears are necessary or not, I don't know, but I think a traditional five-speed gearbox with a clutch can be perfectly powered by an electric motor. It might be practically difficult in terms of weight and space, but perhaps it isn't necessary. The way Stark has marketed it, it can deliver exactly the same pleasure. (smiles) In summary: yes, I would certainly have been up for that.”

What did you hear about the FIM World Cup for electric motorcycles that ultimately didn't go ahead?
Smets: To be honest, I didn't even know that was on the calendar anywhere. I didn't hear much about it. Presumably, they'll do it when they're ready.

How satisfied are you with Andrea Adamo's start to the season?
Smets: Very satisfied. The results haven't always been an accurate reflection of his potential yet. Especially in Riola Sardo, he made a small mistake himself when he was fighting for the battles in the top five. It was basically the same in Arco, and he also made a stupid mistake in Switzerland. Fortunately, our ambition wasn't to become world champion this year. We made the move to MXGP a year earlier, with the idea of ​​learning and growing in MXGP. I am very satisfied with his adaptation to the bike and with his speed.

Has anything changed within the team due to Jeffrey Herlings' departure? Someone who has been there for so long might leave something behind that makes things different now.
Smets: “Actually, no. I haven't even thought about that, and no one has asked me that question either. All the riders in our team—and I'm talking about the six riders in the group—have the same selection package. It was no different for Jeffrey Herlings. So, our way of working hasn't actually changed at all. Of course, we learn things from every rider, because every rider has his own style and his own preferences. We will undoubtedly have learned things from Jeffrey that we wouldn't have learned from someone else because of his riding style, but it's not like that has changed anything about our way of working.”

The Coenen brothers have started the season very strongly. As has been the case for some time, the discussion about a move to America is resurfacing. What are the deciding factors, and when will that decision be made?
Smets: That final decision rests with the rider themselves. If at some point you see someone with the potential to go to the AMA — as was once the case with Jeffrey Herlings, and with Jorge Prado as well — then the situation is often the same. Jorge Prado did start training a bit in the winter at a young age, when he was 16 or 17. He had the potential, but at that moment the rider himself wasn't ready to take that step yet. We can say that we are interested, that we need to talk about it, and that we can facilitate it. With Jeffrey Herlings, it was exactly the same. Jeffrey ultimately stayed for his entire career, and Jorge took that step at a later point — initially not with us, but later on. Ultimately, it is a choice that rests 100 percent with the rider themselves. You shouldn't try to motivate someone to do something they don't believe in, and if you say just stay here, that isn't going to work either! If they don't want to do it, then we're not going to do it. The reason for going? I think you know that too! I suppose that they can earn more there. Supercross is a discipline they can't do in Europe. If you want to become Supercross World Champion, you have to go to America. If you want to win the Indy 500, you also have to go to America. That isn't necessarily linked to becoming World Champion and then being allowed to go. But no, there are no criteria to tick off on our part. Maybe for themselves, that they have certain expectations for themselves — a sort of bucket list — and that they say it has to be checked off before we go, because otherwise we won't go. Which has happened in the past as well. But not on our part.”

The mystery surrounding Sacha Coenen keeps many motocross enthusiasts occupied: his riding is simultaneously exciting and frustrating. How difficult is it to sense the balance between building in a margin and continuing to push? Kris Meertens (editor: CrossTalk podcast presenter) joked that Sacha wants as much of a lead as possible so that he has a margin if things go wrong.
Smets: That is, of course, also a possible explanation. I don't have an immediate explanation for it, but I can understand a little bit how difficult that can be as a rider. I myself was also someone who wasn't very good at controlling a lead. If I was a second faster than the second-placed rider, I kept riding my lap times. Sylvain Geboers would say to me: if you have six or seven seconds, control it. But how do you control that? I found that difficult. I preferred to keep riding my pace. Why do you have to finish with a 25-second lead then? I don't know either, but I felt safer then. In terms of concentration, I stayed more focused; I was really working on the core of the matter. Whereas a Stefan Everts, for example, was capable of that. I know other people who are very good at that: I have six seconds here, I move up to five, then back to seven, then to six. That drives me crazy. And I don't want to give the man behind me any hope either. Stefan Everts went ten seconds ahead, took it easier on the last laps, and came in two seconds ahead. In such a situation, I would have thought have: 'Boy, you're giving the others hope. You make one small mistake and then you've lost it.' It's very temperament-related, I think. The explanation, in my opinion, is what I mentioned just now: he will in principle be more focused when he goes all out, but in his case, that is not without risks. I don't have an immediate explanation for it, but it is something you can learn. The way he did at the last GP in Arco was actually almost the perfect executionHe made a small mistake, but in my opinion, that small mistake was indeed a result of checking too much. The idea that he was already driving too cautiously.”

Besides Andrea Adamo, you also have Simon Längenfelder under your wing. Do you notice that he is approaching the season differently than last year? Has that MX2 world title brought maturity?
Smets: “Yes, definitely. On the other hand, I get the feeling that he might have started the season almost too overconfident. He really does have that pronounced ambition: I really want to show that I was the deserved champion. Last year he was a bit lucky with the injuries of [someone], and he wants to prove that he is the real champion and that he can win back-to-back titles. It’s not like he thinks: I have a title, it’s just another year and then we’ll see. No, not that. I do think he had a good winter, that he trained well, that he is in good shape. I think the bike is pretty good too. But I still think he was a little bit shocked — whether shocked is the right word, I don’t know — by Sacha’s performance and speed. In itself, that is good: it brings things back down to earth and you know that the title isn’t just handed to you on a silver platter.”

Tekst: Tom Jacobs
Photos: Philip Platzer, Plan-B, Samo Vidic / Red Bull Content Pool