Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin raced his KX250-SR confidently to fifth in each moto of the toughest race on the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship schedule in the rugged Flemish sand of Lommel.
The teenager was buried in the pack at the start of the first moto after being closed down on the run-in to turn one but rode a superb opening lap to charge through to eleventh and was already top-ten next time round. Further passes followed at regular intervals as he posted consistent laps, carrying impressive speed through the deep turns and rugged straightaways as he advanced to fifth at the chequered flag. He was seventh at the start of race two after turning tight in turn one and needed less than a lap to take over sixth to set his sights on the top-five. On lap five he surged through but was not content to rest on his laurels and wasted no time setting off after the riders in third and fourth. Regrouping after the physical effort he put in a tremendous effort during the last three laps, showing a front wheel to the championship points-leader on several occasions before again finishing fifth. Despite missing several GPs earlier in the season through injury he has now rebounded to eleventh in the series standings, just five points from the top ten.
Mathis Valin: “I took a really bad start in the first moto but I came from almost last to P5 and was really fast with a good rhythm. There were so many lines in the corners here; you could make the difference so I could make many passes. The second moto was quite similar and I almost caught Simon at the end of the moto; that proves again that I am getting better and better every week. I have made big steps these last two GPs.”
Antti Pyrhönen (KRT team manager): “Mathis was so strong again this weekend; both times he came from outside the top-ten to finish 5-5. He was so close to 2-3-4 in the second moto; that shows his strength, his technical ability and how good a bike the KX250-SR is in challenging conditions.”
Photocredits – Pascal Haudiquert
