The MX2 World Championship moved into the second half of the season at the weekend as the series headed to Kegums, Latvia for round eleven. Despite rain being in the forecast, Saturday served up prime track conditions — and Cas Valk made the most of it on his Van Venrooy KTM machine.
The Dutch talent impressed during qualifying, showing strong pace to secure an excellent fourth position. It was a promising sign of what could come during Sunday’s motos.
However, overnight rain drastically changed the track conditions. By the time the gate dropped for race one, the circuit had become deep and rutted, with a single main line developing. That made starts even more crucial — and unfortunately for Valk, his didn’t go to plan. Despite his great gate pick, he was buried in fifteenth at the end of the opening lap. With passing at a premium, he was unable to make any progress and had to settle for fifteenth by the chequered flag, a frustrating result considering his Saturday form.
Valk came into race two determined to turn things around. Once again, though, a poor start saw him outside the top ten early on. While the conditions remained challenging, Valk dug deep to climb a few spots and finish in twelfth — a slight improvement on the opening moto.
The MX2 series now takes a break before resuming at the iconic Matterley Basin in the UK for round twelve, where Valk will be hoping to bounce back and show the speed he demonstrated in qualifying once again.
Cas Valk (13th overall): Saturday was good for me but on Sunday I had a completely off day. I just wasn’t feeling it out there. We will be back strong in Matterley basin in England!
Photocredits – Juan Pablo Acevedo
