Team Bud Racing Kawasaki enjoyed another great weekend in the French championship, with a double win for Mathis Valin and a solid race for Benjamin Garib. The series is at mid-way and Mathis is the new leader while Benjamin consolidates his third position in the standings.
New track and new conditions for our riders! Mathis raced at Romagne in the past, but Benjamin discovered the sunny but cold layout due to heavy wind. During the timed practice sessions Mathis posted the fastest lap in the first group, while Benjamin just lost the pole of the other group in the last minute; however with a second position he did his best qualification so far.
Starting the first race in second position, Mathis only needed three laps to take the lead and go to another moto win while Benjamin came back from sixth to third. The second moto was similar for Mathis who took the lead after two laps, to get another moto win and of course the overall! Benjamin didn’t start so well this moto but came back to fifth, too far to expect a better result as the top four had made a break.
Thanks to this double win Mathis is the new leader of the MX2 Elite, while Benjamin is in third position. There is three more races at the calendar, but our riders will miss the next one (Bitche) who is scheduled the same day as a European Championship round. But both riders keep all their chances, as they will get points credit (average points of all the races they attend) for this round.
No race next weekend, we’ll be back on track on May 4/5 in Portugal for the third round of the European EMX250 Championship.
Mathis Valin: “Everything went well this weekend, I won both motos and got the red plate, a perfect weekend we’ll say! Romagne has always succeeded for me since I was a kid, last year I also got a double win. I feel comfortable in all conditions and on all types of terrain, we try to show that we are there everywhere like this weekend against good riders. The club worked hard, it’s a shame they redid everything before the rounds but we still had some big holes and some good ruts so it was good preparation for the rest of the season.”
Benjamin Garib: “The weekend was not what I wanted, but was not so bad. In the first moto I got a third position which was good, so close to second! In the second moto I didn’t get the best start and it was hard as I was alone during all the moto, the guys in front were ten seconds ahead. It was a boring moto for me, I need to get better at the start and we’ll continue to work before Portugal.”
