Mathis Valin took his Bud Racing Kawasaki to a massive double-victory at Afyon in Turkey in the penultimate round of the FIM European EMX250 Championship; the maximum scoreline sees the red plate holder take a twenty-one point series-lead to the final round of the championship.
Although a newcomer to the track more than thousand metres above sea-level in western Anatolia, Mathis already stamped his authority on proceedings during Timed Practice as he established pole position with a lap-time eight-tenths of a second faster than his closest rival in the points-chase. In the first race of the weekend he confirmed his pace with a smart move at turn three on the opening lap to move from third to first and he immediately sprinted clear to establish a lead of more than two seconds on the opening lap, and then built a ten-second advantage for his seventh moto-victory of the campaign. Full of confidence after his first moto victory Mathis ran a little wide in turn one at the start of the second moto but already before the completion of the first lap he was through to second and rapidly built a comfortable advantage over the chasers. He showed his maturity to stalk the leader for twenty minutes before building the pressure to inherit the lead two-and-a-half laps from the end for his eighth moto win and third overall victory of the season. He now leads the series standings by twenty-one points heading to the final round in Spain on the weekend of September 28/29.
Benjamin Garib continued to show his progress with fifth-fastest time during Timed Practice but the Chilean faced a frustrating race in the first moto. A slight off-track excursion to avoid a fallen rider saw him complete the opening lap eighth and that was where he stayed in a leaderboard train until a small slip on lap eight of fourteen as he tried for a pass ended up costing two positions to finish tenth. On Sunday he made sixth his own already on the opening laps and a consistent ride saw him maintain that position until he surrendered to a hard-charging title-candidate on lap seven. The Chilean was eighth overall over the weekend and has made his eighth place in the series points-standings even more secure.
Mathis Valin: “It was a great weekend; it’s been a long time since I won the overall with two moto victories. We have been working a lot with Thierry (Van Den Bosch) on the start and my position on the bike recently, and we saw that all this work is paying off. I had a great speed all weekend long, even though today the track was different, very slippery with many ruts. Van Erp was riding really well today; I tried to pass him several times but I was making little mistakes as I looked for a way past him. Finally it was he who made a mistake for me to pass for the lead. We will keep on working before the final round in Spain; I want to fight for the wins there, not just ride safely to secure the points!”
Benjamin Garib: “Both practice session went really well but I just never had a good feeling in the motos. I took a good start in the first one but another guy crashed in front of me on the first lap; I was forced off-track and that cost me several placings. On Sunday I had a better result but I still didn’t feel comfortable on this track after they watered so much last night; this just wasn’t my weekend in the racing. On the positive side I am now eighth in the championship and close to seventh. I just need to figure a few things out and we will see what is possible at the last round. I’d just like to thank everyone in the team and my family for their continued support.”
Photocredits – Mediacross
