Preview - Grand Prix of Belgium.

Round eight of the Motocross World Championships visits one of it's oldest and most treasured venues this weekend: Namur. The circuit was part of the first ever 50cc Motocross Championship back in 1957 and coupled with the unique nature of the track make the Grand Prix of Belgium a special event.

Located in the heart of the city an hour south of Brussels the Namur circuit lies sprawled on the vast mount overlooking the town-centre and within the historic grounds of the 'Citadelle'.

The course itself is a rare prospect, weaving its way across the park and through the old castle ruins, passing a pub and dipping under a footbridge. It swoops through woodland, a very narrow path, containing hardly any jumps and plummets up and down the sides of the hill.

The track is an interesting to see as it is challenging for the riders. The start-finish and Pits is located on the open parade ground atop the mount whereas the paddock stretches into the park using the public roads.

A Grand Prix at Namur oozes character and atmosphere and it popular with a large majority of the paddock. The last time the town entertained the MX circus was during 2001 for a GP and at the end of the same year for the Motocross des Nations.

The Motocross GP category now clearly has three riders battling for title glory with only five races to run. Factory 250cc two-stroke Suzuki rider Mickael Pichon has been leading the standings all season after winning the opening three Grand Prix of the year.

The most successful Frenchman ever in the history of the sport is closely chased by the rider who has taken the last four consecutive races in the series and is the only other victor to-date, Yamaha's Stefan Everts.

The six times World Champion is starting to form a powerful synergy with the 450cc four-stroke and has been unbeatable since contesting two races in the same day (125cc), recording two 'double' wins so far.

Everts sat a hefty 25 points away from Pichon prior to round four in Italy but has narrowed the gap to just three. The highlight of the season so far was the GP of Austria when the pair fought out an intense struggle around the Karntenring; Everts went on to take the chequered flag by only 0.3 of a second.

Joel Smets on the works 450 KTM forms the third part of the triangle and thanks to six podiums from seven GPs remains in contention and only trailing Pichon by seven points.

Namur represents a home Grand Prix for both Everts and Smets, with the Yamaha man set to ride at his favourite circuit and therefore easily the 'man most likely' this Sunday. The 30-year-old won his last two races at the track back in 2001 that included a moto in the 2001 Motocross des Nations and the 500cc GP of Namur.

Regular top five riders Brian Jorgensen, Claudio Federici and Gordon Crockard will also be looking to break onto the podium. Crockard in particular is a huge fan of the Citadelle and is also included on the entry list for the 650 race.

Even though his results have been less than desirable this season, although now he is adjusting to the power of the 450 in his third race, Britain's Jamie Dobb notched a fine victory at Namur back in 2001 for the 125cc Grand Prix and stood on top of the podium with Mickael Pichon (250cc) and Everts that day.

Meanwhile, the 125cc class will be feeling the absence of Marc De Reuver, the Dutchman crashed during a National Championship event last weekend and dislocated his hip and broke his collarbone.

The factory KTM rider will be lucky to return before the end of the season and his Championship hopes are all but wrecked. He currently lies only 2 points behind team-mate and leader Steve Ramon. De Reuver also briefly fronted the last 125cc race at Namur two years ago.

Steve Ramon scored a second position in 2001 and approaches his home GP now looking at Andrea Bartolini on the Yamaha 250cc four-stroke ten points adrift in third as his nearest threat. Ramon's third KTM compatriot Erik Eggens is likely to be strong come Sunday. The Dutchman won his 125cc qualifying heat race 24 months ago, likes his enduro and is known to enjoy the course.

However, despite the efforts of Ramon, Bartolini and defending number one Mickael Maschio, Stefan Everts could well be looking at another double win at Namur. The Belgian has already scored three victories on the Yamaha 250 from four races and lies sixth in the standings 45 points away from Ramon even though he missed the first three 125cc GPs of the season.

The 650 competition has been one way traffic this year with Joel Smets placing the 450 to one side and dominating every single round of the Championship on his larger machine. His KTM team-mate Javier Garcia Vico, along with Honda's Cedric Melotte, have been the other podium regulars.

Smets is the natural choice for success again in Namur but he might face slightly tougher opposition on Sunday from Melotte who is competing in his local town.

World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen will feel very at ease on the Namur curves this weekend while Gordon Crockard will be hoping to crash the party on the Honda.

The weather forecast for the weekend is warm but cloudy.