Injured Smets to miss pre-season races.

New Suzuki rider Joel Smets has been ruled out of action for at least two weeks and is likely to miss most of his pre-world championship commitments after an MRI scan in Belgium today revealed damage to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee due to a crash last weekend in Italy.

The 2003 650cc champ fell on Sunday during a one lap shootout at the high profile Mantova International meeting and was taken to hospital initially suffering with chest pains. After being given the all-clear the 34 year old then had a swollen knee examined, another consequence of the fall, and the breakage of the ligament was confirmed.

It means that Smets will lose valuable testing and racing time ahead of the first World Championship campaign for the new RM-Z 450 (lower pic). While the Belgian is confident of making the first Grand Prix of the season at Zolder on March 21st and even possibly a racing return at the Hawkstone Park International on March 7th the team are currently coming to terms with the heavy blow to their pre-season planning.

"We still have a lot to do and this is basically our worst case scenario," commented team manager Jens Johansson. "There were plenty of pre-season races planned with Joel and now this more or less out the window. There is some good news in that he does not need an operation and will be fit for Zolder and hopefully before.

"It would be simple just to get a replacement to test but Joel is one of the top three or four riders in the world. He has lots of four-stroke experience, is a hard and keen worker and now we will not be able to take advantage of this. We will continue our programme as planned and hope he can make a return to the bike as soon as he is ready."

The news is not all bad for Smets whose posterior ligament was undamaged, negating the need for surgery, and the five-times world champion can even begin cycling within a week.

"I was worried about some internal damage with my chest and kidneys while in the hospital but this passed over 24 hours and I felt much better I then started to notice other parts of me that had been knocked in the crash," reflected Smets.

"My knee was painful and started to swell so that it was almost twice the size. I was allowed to leave Italy on Monday and went straight to my doctor in Belgium. After X-rays and an MRI scan I saw that the anterior ligament had been completely ripped away and I had also damaged some of the meniscus. Luckily the posterior was OK, this meant that an operation was not immediately necessary and I had a chance of being able to start the season.

"I've never had this type of injury so I am not sure what to expect. My physical condition should be fine. I can start cycling and swimming in the next week. The big problem is not being able to test. We wanted to use the pre-season races to get the bike into race shape and this has set me back quite a bit. After Saturday I was feeling pretty positive about the direction we are taking with the bike and the ingredients we have are good. It just needed more mixing and refining. Now it seems as though the start of the season is going to be twice as difficult but I have always been a guy who likes the odds against me, I seem to ride better when the job is a tough one.

"I will start my rehabilitation tomorrow with some physio and I will have to learn about my knee again and its limits which will take me about two weeks. I want to do at least one race before Zolder and would like to go to Hawkstone as I like the circuit. My first priority though is the rehab and the second goal is to get as ready as I can be for the first GP," the Belgian concluded.

On another note Kevin Strijbos scored moto results of 6th and 5th at Mantova with a result of 7th overall. Both Team Suzuki riders took victories in the two qualifying heats on Saturday.