Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin took another podium finish in the third round of the FIM European EMX250 Championship at a rain-hit Agueda in Portugal to retain second place in the series standings.
After his impressive ride up the leaderboard to second in the first moto on Saturday the teenager appeared to be a candidate for the win in race two as he gated third. Excellent trackwork overnight had repaired the rain damage from Saturday but the going was still heavy and unpredictable when light drizzle returned as EMX went to the line. Valin was keen to make an early move but his plans were dealt a blow within half a lap as he cross-rutted and flew over the bars. He remounted quickly in seventh but was clearly shaken by the crash and needed a couple of laps to settle before advancing decisively back to fourth at the finish despite pain in his left leg. His determination was rewarded with his second podium of the campaign and he retains second in the series headed to the next round on home soil in France at St Jean D’Angely on the weekend of May 18-19.
Mathis Valin: “It’s nice to be back on the podium even if the second moto was not what I wanted. This year is a learning year for me in the 250 class so to get podiums is great, but without the crash in the second moto I could have done even better. I knew that the start was important due to the track conditions and I got that today but unfortunately during the first lap I had a huge crash and felt a lot of pain in my left leg. I really don’t know how I could manage to come back to fourth as I couldn’t even put my leg out in the left corners! But a return to the podium is a great reward; we have a weekend off now before the French GP so I will have time to take care of my leg.”
Benjamin Garib joined his Bud teammate in the top-ten off the start in today’s second moto, but his hopes of a good placing were soon negated as a second lap crash pushed him down to twenty-sixth; a difficult race saw the Chilean twenty-second at the finish.
Benjamin Garib: “The weekend started well with good times in practice but the first moto yesterday was so muddy; I had problems with vision so I had to stop for fresh goggles and it was impossible to get back in the points from there. I made a decent start in race two but crashed on the second lap. I’m just feeling disappointed at the moment but we will keep working and I’m looking forward to St Jean; I like that track so much.”
Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Billy Askew made a solid start in twelfth and rode a mistake-free race to work his way methodically to seventh before a bout of arm-pump pushed him back to ninth. Combined with his first moto sixteenth he was classified eleventh over the weekend and is now eighteenth in the series points standings despite missing the previous round.
Billy Askew: “Yesterday was decent until I crashed and bent the bars so I finished sixteenth. Today I got a better start and got up to P7 but then I got a bit of arm-pump. But this is a learning year for me; by next year I should be fighting for podiums.”
