Five-time World Champion Joel Smets has been at the heart of the Red Bull KTM structure for many years, guiding some of the best talents in the sport. After a standout weekend where KTM went 1-1 in both MX2 and MXGP, Smets shared his thoughts on the team’s progress, Andrea Adamo’s development, Jeffrey Herlings’ long-awaited return to winning form, and the impressive rise of Lucas Coenen. He also gave updates on Marc-Antoine Rossi and KTM’s future amid recent ownership developments.
GateDrop: That’s the first time all season I think the team has gone 1-1 in both classes, just how does it feel to do that again? You used to be able to do that all the time but it’s getting more difficult…
Smets: Exactly. Maybe back in the days let’s say when we had Tony in MX1 and we had Jeffrey in MX2 or when we had Jorge in MX2… it was more common that we were dominating even both series but I should say almost luckily the sport has evolved in a way that more brands and more manufacturers are involved. It’s not that easy anymore because honestly at some stage it almost looked too easy winning. That’s definitely not the case anymore and that’s why also when it happens a weekend like this, why we really like to take the moment and we try to enjoy it.
GateDrop: Andrea Adamo two years ago, he only won two GPs and it was enough to win the title this year he’s already got double that, but mentally he seems to be in a lot of stronger place this year and he looks to be probably faster and better than ever, would you agree?
Smets: For sure Andrea has become a better rider, a stronger rider. He has physically become stronger, he has mentally become stronger. Okay, that comes with the years also of course but yeah some guys will never get it, some guys will have it quick. We also see that with Lucas Coenen, that at the age of 18, what he does is just extraordinary. I think if you talk about the mental strength and stuff like, Andrea I think in 2023 there were no expectations. Everything was good, he was really relaxed but he learned a lot and even more from the difficulties when we had the rough times last year. We were going through some things with not finding the right setup for him, not getting it all dialled in. That was not easy but often the saying is a bit like a cliché but we come back stronger. In the case of Andrea, I think that’s really reality. We have learned from the tough days and it looks like now really on the track so far that those difficult times have made him stronger.
GateDrop: The KTM MX2 guys last year, they didn’t look quite comfortable as they do this year in my opinion… Did you work hard on the bike over winter and I’m sure you had a big role to play on that as well?
Smets: As everybody knows, we didn’t have new bikes and most likely also for next year we will not have new bikes, let’s say or a new evolution. Our bikes will be most likely based on this year’s and this year’s is based mostly on the one from last year. With how the modern bikes have developed, the changes you make are small, it’s really fine tuning and I think that’s what we focused on during the winter – on the fine tuning, just more dialling in the bike and more to the needs of the rider. It seems like it has worked well in general across the whole group.
GateDrop: Jeffrey Herlings is back to winning ways again at last, just what’s it like to see him win again first and foremost, it’s been a while!
Smets: It’s been a while and I told him also very honestly that I was expecting him to be at that level and to be winning a bit earlier in the season. When he started riding and I saw him doing the practice and national races, I thought by the time we went to Portugal and Spain, I was really expecting there to fight for podiums and eventually even for the win. Okay, he has the history with all his injuries and stuff like that so at the end maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic, I was maybe trusting too much in his skills, his raw speed and stuff like that. But it was maybe not realistic enough considering everything he has gone through but as I told him after the race, I said okay Jeffrey, I was honestly expecting it a bit earlier but it has come now, it has come slower but for sure things that come slower last longer so I’m really looking forward to the coming races.
GateDrop: The thing is though most riders have to be close to 100% to win a GP, now Jeffrey’s just won today, how close do you think he is to 100%?
Smets: You know, Jeffrey is good. Physically and also in regards of raw speed he was already quite good earlier but it was a matter of confidence. Building the confidence, the trust, the package with the bike and to bring it to race circumstances, let’s say. So with Jeffrey it is difficult to say, maybe not 100% but he’s not far off it. He’s on a good level – to do what he did this weekend you cannot do it if you’re only 70%.
GateDrop: After Lugo, I think he did his first test with the team – he looks a lot more comfortable on the bike… Did he make that many changes? It seems to be the most of the changes were just to get him out of the gate…
Smets: Yeah, like I said before, not a lot of changes but of course we had compared to last year we had a few small little updates which I can’t explain in detail but a few little updates. He wasn’t riding all winter so we couldn’t bring the updates yet so Jeffrey was basically starting his training program after the injury with his bike from last year. That was the bike he rode last year and we wanted to start with that to just build up, get a bit of confidence there and then see where we were. Eventually when the time was there to bring the updates and that’s exactly how we did it. I think it was the right way to do it and from there the confidence has grown. He found the updates immediately positive which created an extra boost for his confidence. We’ve taken good steps from there.
GateDrop: We have to talk about Lucas Coenen, he’s still representing KTM even though it’s a different team. How impressed have you been with him and as a fellow Belgian you must be happy to see a Belgian at the front, I mean he’s so smooth as well, last year there were a lot of crashes…
Smets: Yes, being a Belgian like you say, I’m really proud to see a Belgian doing that well and he’s on the KTM so he’s on the same colour as us. He’s from the same family and I think we are not realizing enough how exceptional it is what he does. Like you mentioned yourself in MX2 he was still showing a lot of aggressivity in his riding and stuff like that which resulted every now and then in mistakes or crashes. But anyway that resulted also already in many GP wins last year and if you see how quick he has adapted to the power of the 450cc with how nice he rides it, I would almost call it old school – with little clutch, with how he has the throttle control. How he uses the power of the bike at the right rpm and honestly I’m really enjoying seeing him ride at the front.
GateDrop: Marc-Antoine Rossi, have you got an update on him? I believe he might be back on the bike this week?
Smets: Maybe not. Marc-Antoine will have his check up at the hospital this coming Wednesday then the x-rays scans will be made to see how far the shoulder is healed. Then we will make a decision but he will not for example be racing in Latvia or England. We have his gear set ready for Finland but I think honestly it’s also too early because please remember that he got hurt here one year ago. Actually since then he almost hasn’t been on the bike – just a little bit before Argentina. After Argentina he got hurt again so he has been out of competition for pretty much one year. This is going to be a long road back, he’s only 19 so we should not make any mistakes there and we won’t want to rush it. We will take the time to build that up…
GateDrop: He’s going to be under a bit of pressure when he comes back to get results… Are you open to keeping him for next year or do you want to see what he performs like when he makes his return?
Smets: This is definitely on the table internally because we still do believe in the potential he has. He has that raw talent, raw speed that in the past more French riders have had. Okay, he’s also a little bit more that southern type laid back style, so we need to see. We do believe if we can get that package together, if we can create a good structure around him that there is still a lot of potential. So it’s for sure not decided yet that he’s not in the team anymore – we consider him as part of the team and as part of the discussions absolutely for next year even if the results… as I said, he has been one year out. I do not expect him to come back and go for podiums, this is not realistic. So we’re going to see how we build some confidence – like we’ve talked about Jeffrey already. This can sometimes take time and we need to take the time to avoid that he gets eventually injured again or something. With him, we need to keep him in mind regardless of the results because if we keep him, it needs to be for next year. I do not expect miracles when he comes back this year.
GateDrop: There was good news on the KTM front recently, obviously there’s been a lot of doubt about the future but they’ve got an investor now. Just how has that made things behind the scenes, less stressful?
Smets: Of course, that has created a kind of relief, that’s true. We’ve always kept believing but honestly it has been at some stage difficult with the uncertainty. The uncertainty has put weight on your shoulders and of course sometimes at the breakfast or dinner table, we’ve been talking about it, that’s clear. Luckily the salaries always have been paid of the mechanics and stuff like that so we’ve never given up working. We said we need to go through this together even if it’s difficult and even if we don’t know what the future brings. But also sitting back and doing nothing is not going to make the future more easy but the fact that now more or less let’s say there is a new foundation and to start building again gives us all new motivation. Who knows what happened today maybe is even a nice sign of it.
