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.”
