Supermoto Smets

BMW Motorrad's Joel Smets has been in action on the G 450 X, as a privateer in the prestigious Proximus Superbiker supermoto race that recently took place at the Circuit Jules Tacheny in Mettet, in the Belgian province of Namur.

Joel Smets in action on the Circuit Jules Tacheny in Mettet, Belgium

This was the 22nd running of the annual race at the famed Supermoto course. The three-day spectacular attracted more than 30,000 race fans from all over Europe and for good reason – its unique format pits many of the world's best motorcyclists from different disciplines against each other to battle it out during the various elimination rounds to be the best of the best in this truly international race.

Among 370 riders from all over the world were many famous riders and the starting line-up included household names such as Jeff Ward, Stefan Everts, Stephane Chambon, Troy Corser, Mickael Pichon, Fred Bolley, Yves Demaria, Sven Breugelmans, Tyla Rattray, Josh Coppins, Cedric Melotte, Broc Parkes, Garry McCoy, Karl Muggeridge, Stefan Nebel, Micky Dymond, Sebastien Le Grelle, Andrea Bartolini, Regis Laconi, Darryl Atkins, Frederic Fiorentino, Gilles Dejong, Eric Delannoy, Cassidy Anderson, Juergen Kuenzel, Benny Carlson and BMW Motorrad's Joel Smets, to name just a few!

In the popular annual race meeting that started in 1987, there were two categories that made up the finals; the 'Stars' category was made up of riders from all backgrounds, such as Stefan Everts, Mickael Pichon, Frederick Bolley, Josh Coppins, Joel Smets and Jeff Ward; and the 'Supermoto' category was filled with specialist Supermoto riders. Having not ridden a supermoto machine for more than five years, Joel Smets was not riding for the win, but was more interested in having fun and showing the capability and versatility of the BMW G 450 X to the thousands of spectators that came along to watch the action.

Joel 'showboating' on the supermoto-inspired privateer BMW G 450 X

"After five years without any supermoto riding, I wasn't expecting to qualify in the front half of the grid, but that was no problem for me because after having been retired from full-time racing I have accepted the Olympic idea that taking part is more important than winning," joked Joel, a former five-times motocross world champion. "For the first heat the riders were split up in two different classes – one for regular supermoto riders and another for 'occasional' SM riders like myself!

'Occasional' was in Joel's case, a bit of an understatement since he hadn't thrown a leg over a supermotard bike for such a long time, but despite limited testing and training possibilities, the likeable Belgian was determined to give it a go, especially as his technician Jean-Pierre had spent so much time preparing the BMW G 450 X to supermoto specification.

For the first heat, Joel qualified 11th (out of 20) and finished a solid ninth after a nice battle with Josh Coppins, Cedric Melotte and Regis Laconi. This heat was won by the in-form Frenchman Mickael Pichon, who blitzed the field and left no chance to his countryman Frederic Bolley or even 10-times motocross world champion Stefan Everts, who finished in third.

Joel's ninth place finish meant that he would be 18th on the grid for the second heat where the supermoto specialists were mixed with the 'occasionals'. The BMW 'ambassador' made a good start and was holding his own in the middle of the pack until a technical problem unfortunately forced him to withdraw from the final, which was won by American supermoto champion Cassidy Anderson by a five-second margin over Finnish rider Mauno Hermunen and third-placed Mickael Pichon.

"Despite the breakdown, I felt like we did a great job by proving again the wide potential of our G 450 X," said Joel after the race. "A big crowd turned up to enjoy the spectacle and I believe we did a splendid job on, as well on off the track."

Joel will next be in action on the BMW G 450 X at the Red Bull Knock Out beach race in Scheveningen (Holland) on 15-16 November, where he'll be taking on the best motocross riders at the world's wildest beach race.