One person that knows more than most when it comes to Motocross is former five times world champion, Joel Smets. Since retiring from the top of the sport, the Belgian has stayed involved in the sport with KTM. The Belgian is renowned as one of the best coaches in the paddock.
For the 2025 season, he has a new title as he’s been appointed the Factory KTM team manager. We called Smets who took time out of his very busy schedule to speak to us about a range of topics which you can read below…
GateDrop: Joel, let’s touch on the 2024 season. No world title and KTM have very high expectations and standards so there’s probably a bit of disappointment there… but in MX2 even though Husqvarna dominated, Sacha won two GP’s and in MXGP, Herlings won plenty of GP’s but probably lost too many points at the start of the season… How would you reflect on 2024 for KTM?
Smets: To answer that question you have to start with defining what you understand under KTM.
GateDrop: So, to focus on the KTM team in 2024 that saw Herlings, Adamo, Everts and Coenen under the awning?
Smets: Yes, if you consider it like that, of course then we haven’t won a championship, but that’s not the way you should consider it. We had three factory teams, being Husky, GasGas and KTM, and whoever wins on whatever colour, he’s always going to be paid from the same account. Okay, at least as long as there is money, but that’s on the side note.
For us as a group, until last year, that’s what I was trying to say, it didn’t matter. For me personally, Jorge Prado and Kay de Wolf, white and red KTM riders. You know, that’s what I’m saying. As a group, we did really well. Okay, there is a difference, I should say. The philosophy or the vision of KTM as a group, I’ve not always agreed with, but that’s another story. The path they wandered was for me not always the best, and I think the way we’re heading into 2025, for me, it will be better, more back-to-base, more orange. KTM is our backbone and the main emphasis should be on KTM. I like much more for next year having six KTM riders which is already a lot again and then the Husky riders.
So yeah, okay, you can say pure KTM Austria didn’t win, but in my eyes, that was good for the group, because it proves actually that we do not only focus on the KTM, let’s say on the Austrian factory team, but that we also are fully committed to support the other teams. So, and if only KTM would be winning, or let’s say, only if the Austrian factory team would win all the titles, for me, honestly, that would be less logical. So that’s a bit my view on 2024.
GateDrop: Andrea Adamo came into the season as defending champion. What a year he had in 2023, did you expect him to win the title that year? I think he surprised everybody… Winning that title probably meant he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders this year…
Smets: I never expected him to win the championship in 2023, I have to be very honest. I was more hoping, let’s say, that we could eventually make the progress like what we did when Tom Vialle came in, like in the first year, eventually score some podiums, and then finish like three or four in the championship. But that he was going to showcase that much, let’s say, consistency, honestly, I didn’t expect.
He won only two GP’s, but he was always there. He always took the points when the others made mistakes. So yeah, I think he deserved the championship, but I didn’t expect it for 2024.
It is for sure, winning a championship and then coming into the season as the defending champion puts pressure on you, whether you like it or not, and whether you try to camouflage it or to hide it, and to pretend it’s not. It’s not true. It always does.
I think I’m in the right position to talk about experience. But that wasn’t really… how should I say? That was not really the main reason of his season… Let’s call it an off season, pretty much. So he had the consistency, that is what made him win in 2023 but he was completely lacking that this year.
Of course, there was a bit of a technical reason when we went to our new bikes for 2024. So on the first day, he felt super comfortable always on his 2023 bike. Then when he went to the 2024, for some reason, he never felt comfortable with it, while most of the others did. So yeah, and of course, maybe the fact that he was a defending champion and wanted to show that he deserved the championship the year before, he probably was not patient enough, or was too… How should I say it? Or was too focused on having the perfect bike, you know? Instead of like the year before, he was happy to come in the factory team, and he was happy with whichever bike we gave him. He was focused on racing and he just raced.
For 2024, he kind of had to set up a few new components on the bike, especially shock and fork. And yes, somehow, he was probably looking for the perfect, for the golden perfect setup for the chicken with the golden eggs, but that doesn’t exist. So maybe that came a little bit, or that got worse because of the fact that he wanted to defend that championship, you know? That he was, maybe not patient enough, and maybe looking for too much instead of focusing on riding. But okay, that’s human, he is only human. So, the result is what it is.
GateDrop: And just on Liam Everts, obviously he was coming into the 2024 season with really high expectations as well, but then the injury hit, and he missed a lot of the in the first round. That must have been a very big blow for the team coming into the season…
Smets: Yeah, of course, getting injured is quite a big, but yeah, especially in the case of Liam, I think he, everybody agreed that he’s going to be one of the championship contenders again. And the starting with zero points does not really help your chances.
But yeah, afterwards, what can you do? As a team, there is nothing you can do. It was a really a silly crash. There’s nothing you can do. As a team you can only support the boys as good as you can and that’s what we did.
I think later on the season, Liam has shown what he’s capable of. That’s it in our sport, not only in our sport. But look at Football, Kevin De Bruyne has been injured and Manchester City hasn’t won for seven games… then Kevin De Bruyne comes back and they straight away win the first game. But what can you do as a team? It’s very comparable, you know, so we had to move on.
GateDrop: The news has dropped for 2025 that you are going to be the Factory KTM team manager, how did all this come around and what’s your feeling on taking the role for the year ahead?
Smets: Well, when I came back to KTM 10 years ago, my ambition or my goal was never to take a certain position. My ambition was only to try to make the team better, put my knowledge and experience in or make my knowledge and experience available for a better team. This would be in whichever team member role or where it was needed, let’s say, to make the team better and to win. My goal was to win and I knew with KTM, they have the same mentality and the will to win.
I always said like, let’s say more or less, what condition it takes to make it and to win. Okay, it was clear but I’m saying whichever role I have, within that role, I always meant, of course, working on the sport, you know, to make the right course. That has never changed.
How the question came up… well, Tony (Cairoli) disappeared. And then unfortunately, Harry (Norton), we had some struggles over the last two years. Then that question came up.
I didn’t have to think too long about it. I said: Hey guys, I think also in that role, it’s not going to change on the practical side a lot. Okay, I’ll have a bit more responsibilities. On the technical side, I’ll have a bit more like end responsibilities. But my main focus, my main job will still be on the side of the rider for their physical preparation, especially being their rider coach, tactical coaching, race analysis, and stuff like that. So my main job hasn’t changed, or, you know, the main tasks of my work hasn’t changed.
But it’s clear that I’m in this role now, I’m not only, let’s say, taking control of the rider on the sport side, but I’m also the end responsible for the mechanics and everything. I’m feeling comfortable and I’m feeling confident. Okay, Motocross is an individual sport, but I’m a really, really big fan of team sports, because I’m a social guy. I like the aspect, let’s say, or I like the challenge to make a team stronger than the sum of the individuals.
I really do believe in it, that you can do that, with putting the right people in the right place and creating the right mindset, that you can make a team stronger than the sum of the individuals. That’s in my role now. I’m going to be able more to chase that challenge, let’s say, to chase that goal, than when I was only working with the riders, you know. I’m looking forward.
GateDrop: The last two people to have this role, you slightly touched on there, was Antonio Cairoli and Harry Norton. They obviously only had the role for one year each… I’m guessing you’re hoping to remain in this role for the foreseeable. It might be good for the team, for the continuity of the team…
Smets: I think so too but there again, I do not expect it. Okay, I’m 55 now but I’m still motivated. I’m still hungry, I still like this and I still like this sport a lot. I still get goosebumps when the 15 second board goes up. So I’m motivated and I’m ready to do it for more years. But let’s say, in case, for whatever reason, and especially now with the financial restructure which we are facing, in case at the end of the year, for some reason, it is better that somebody else takes up the role.
So for me, again, that job title, as long as I can keep on working with the riders and as long as, let’s say, in case we put a new structure in line, as long as I’m convinced that that’s the way to go and that makes the team better, I’m happy to do it because my goal is to win. My goal is not to put myself on the top step. The rider needs to be on the top step and the rider needs to have a good team and the right team spirit, the right team atmosphere to perform at his best level. Whichever positions in the team we need to put the cards, let’s say, for me, that’s fine. As long as that makes the team better and improves our chances of winning.
With Antonio (Cairoli), I think, yeah, it’s quite clear. The reason is quite clear why that didn’t last long (note: Cairoli went to Ducati). With Harry (Norton), I really feel sorry for him because, as you mentioned in your question, I’ve been working with Harry for six years. He came in from Australia with zero experience in the World Championship. I kind of managed to make him grow together with Tom.
Together they won two championships. I think there I really had a big part with my experience in kind of guiding the both of them together. I think Harry has a lot of technical potential but yeah, I’m afraid that maybe it was a bit too much too soon. But that’s not his fault, actually. Because on the KTM Austria side, we actually kind of got in trouble when the German Diga Procross team decided to stop with the team just before the 2023 season, because they were supposed to host Lucas and Sacha Coenen.
When they decided to stop, we had to find a solution for the two kids. Suddenly we ended up with four riders. Then in this case, in 2024, with the new technical components on the bike, which took quite a lot of work to get everything right.
We touched on the topic already with Andrea, but also Sascha was struggling with it. Liam had the injury and also Jeffrey started the season with an injury. It was just, I think, whoever would have been the team manager, it would have always been a really, really hard job. So I really feel sorry for Harry. I still have a good relationship with him. He will remain with the company, normally. He’s with the Enduro team now and putting his experience there on the table. I think he has a mixed history, motocross and enduro, so for sure he’ll be enjoying that as well.
GateDrop: Just on Andrea Adamo, we’ve touched on him slightly, but this year it wasn’t all that bad. He still won a few motos and had some good days, but the consistency just wasn’t there. What’s your plans to get him back to his best? Do you think he can challenge for the world title again next year?
Smets: Yes, I do believe so. The way to do it is to make him feel comfortable again with the bike because that will boost his confidence. We’ve been now, we started our 25 prep one month ago, and I have a pretty good feeling that we’re on the right way so far.
I really need to explain to him that you can’t look for the 100% perfect setup for each track, because that setup doesn’t exist. Or maybe it might exist for one track, but then the next track, it might be only your setup, that same setup might only work for 70%. So you need to look for a compromise in setup.
You always, if there’s 20 sections, corners, whatever on the track, and your bike works really nice and cool in 15 sections, then there’s five sections that it’s a little bit less. Maybe three sections are still okay, but two sections are sh*t. But that’s still a pretty good average.
If you can reach that average of your setup and feeling with the bike, that’s good. But if you are constantly looking on every practice day and on every race day for that 90, 100% setup, yeah, you get lost. That’s what happened to Andrea. We try to keep him from doing that. So I really try to explain to him that, hey Andrea, those two, three, four sections that you’re struggling a little bit, it’s up to the rider. You’re a champion, It’s up to you to compensate. On the other parts, the bike helps you in three quarters of the track. You should help the bike in that one quarter. That’s the approach more or less. So yeah, I feel like it’s working. Of course, also on the technical side, we also try to develop a bit more the bike towards, let’s say, his riding style and his wishes. So that’s the two things we try to do to make him fight for the championship again.
GateDrop: Marc-Antoine Rossi, he is moving over to the Factory KTM team. I have to say, this kid is really talented and I love watching him. I’ll never forget his MX2 GP debut in France. He can throw the bike around like crazy and it is amazing to watch. You must be really excited to work closely with him and guide him to the top, hopefully…
Smets: Yeah, exactly. He reminds me a lot of Tom (Vialle). I think there is more pure talent. Tom at the age of 18 when he came to me, he was the same age as Marc-Antoine now. Tom was already a bit more calculated, let’s say.
He had a little bit more maturity, while Marc-Antoine still has that as an aspect, which I love a lot also, which I like a lot, is that he’s more, I should say, on the bike. Off the bike they are very similar, but on the bike Marc-Antoine is still more like a kid, you know, like playing with the bike, throwing whips, pulling wheelies, you know. But I like it because I can see that kid, when he’s on the bike, he’s really enjoying it.
Because with Tom, when he was riding, he was always like smooth and sometimes you were wondering if he was enjoying it, okay. If then he stopped the session and he took the helmet off and he had a smile, okay. Then you had the confirmation that he enjoyed it. But with Marc-Antoine, you can see it on the bike. You can see when he’s riding, you know, like even with the helmet on, you can almost see him smile. The body language tells you that he’s enjoying it, but that makes him also a little bit nonchalant. So that’s a little point where I need to work on with him a little bit.
He has that raw speed. He has just the full package, I think, to become a good rider. I don’t want to use the word world champion because you never know what comes your way and what happens and stuff. So with him, the approach also when Tom came, we never talked about Tom being a potential world champion, no. Especially with Marc-Antoine, also missing half the 2024 season with a serious injury. There’s a long road back and we just want to take it step by step.
Instead of talking about being world champion, we just talk about, let’s try to finish the season. Throughout the season, we will see where we make the progress. We will find out the points to work on and go from there. So we do not have our first goal now, we still need to get him fully recovered and get to his best level from before his injury. Then we will see where we go from there.
GateDrop: Just on the MXGP World Championship, obviously there’s going to be no Jorge Prado next year as he’s off to the USA. Herlings will always go in as one of the main favourites as long as he’s racing, I think. However, there’s been some talk at the last Dutch National at Valkenswaard in the very last lap, even though he beat Kay de Wolf, I think he may have picked up an injury. What can you tell me about that and is it likely he’s going to line up in Argentina?
Smets: Yeah, Jeffrey has an injury but there is still plenty of time before round one. We are confident that he will be behind the start gate in Argentina.
GateDrop: Is there anything you’d like to see change from the organizers and if so, what? To try and help the teams, because it’s not great whenever there’s four teams leaving the paddock. We need all the teams we can get. Maybe prize money, do you think that would help?
Smets: No, prize money is not going to help, just the championship needs to be cheaper. David says there at some stage in his recent interview, if the team’s leaving, it means they are too weak and they need to make room for stronger teams. Sorry, I do understand, that’s the thing. I do understand why he says it and they come away with it and everybody keeps saying yes, yes, yes.
So that’s the weird thing for me, but you don’t have to be smart to understand that what he says there hurts and is not correct. You cannot call the Standing Construct Racing team a weak or a poor team. They have put millions in the sport that you’re promoting, they have filled your pockets and then saying they’re weak. That’s really a big lack of respect, but okay, they come away with it.
GateDrop: Just on KTM, obviously it’s not really a secret that they’re in quite a lot of debt at the minute. In terms of the KTM group, from the outside it doesn’t look great. Should we be worried? Maybe everyone’s calm and everything will be fine… Internally, what’s the feeling like?
Smets: Internally, we as team managers and as riders, they keep on telling us and they keep on confirming us that, okay, we are facing difficult times, but that we keep racing the way we did before. For example, at the moment we are in Rome at the annual training camp so everything is running as planned.
GateDrop: Last year you worked with Cas Valk, who was with the SS24 KTM team. Moving forward, will you continue to work with those riders and Valk who is with Van Venrooy team, or is the full focus just going to be on your factory KTM team?
Smets: The priority is the factory KTM team, but Cas will follow our riding program as well. So Cas will be Monday, his first riding day in Rome, and Cas will be with us. So he enjoyed it really a lot last year, and yeah, his wish was if he could follow our riding program again and so he will do so.
Even though I am team manager, I will still be often at the track with the boys and I will try to be as often at the track as I was in the past. Maybe it will be a little bit less because of the other commitments that I am responsible for but it is going to be like what it was in the past. All of our up and coming riders that are a part of our support program through the satellite teams will join our practice days. Cas will not be there 100% of the time but it will be on a full time basis.
If they are around, we always try to connect and I like that because it is a win-win situation. It gives me the chance to get to know those kids a little bit to see them ride at the practice to see the weak and strong points are. Gyan Doensen and Max Werner will also follow and then there is the 125cc team, Nicoló Alvisi, Áron Katona and these guys. There is also Dean Gregoire but you know who the riders are that our part of the youth program.
Also, we get to how their character is, how they work and with Papa, the structures around them. For them it is pretty cool to ride with the likes of Rossi, Adamo and last year with Prado. For them it is interesting as well so that does not change. They will be on the same riding program as us.
GateDrop: Just the final question, do you know what pre season races the KTM guys will do yet? You guys usually come to Hawkstone International, will we see you there again?
Smets: Unfortunately not this year. Sh*t, I already informed Gary from the club and honestly sh*t. Apart from Namur it is one of my favourite tracks. Namur is number one but Hawkstone is in the top three of my favourite tracks. Because of practical reasons and because of new parts and new electronics, we also have the noise rule coming up so there is still quite a bit to test.
For us to come from Austria or Italy to England is a bit of an effort on the practical side. We will stay in Europe and most likely do the two races of the International Italian Championship at Mantova and Montevarchi.
GateDrop: That was fantastic, thanks for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to talk to us. It is appreciated and good luck with the new role and for the 2025 season.
