Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin maintained his thirteen-point lead in the FIM European EMX250 Championship after recording his sixth podium of the season in the Swedish round of the series at Uddevalla.
On Saturday Mathis did a strong race as he spun at the gate and had to come from outside the top-ten to reach his eventual third place on the eighth of fifteen laps in the first points-scoring moto of the weekend. In the second moto on Sunday he made an excellent start to hold down an immediate third place and already on lap two he made a decisive pass to move into second. He was then the sandwich in a three-rider breakaway at the head of the pack; time-and-again he would close down the leader but the hard-pack track had become very one-line and attempts to pass were becoming ever more frustrating. The action became increasingly hectic as they got caught up with lappers during the closing stages and at the final corner of the penultimate lap he left an opening for his chaser to slip past and he again finished third. Mathis did not lose the overall podium and, more significantly, he leaves Sweden with his thirteen-point series advantage intact.
Teammate Benjamin Garib posted his best Qualifying of the season to earn eighth gate-pick and used that choice effectively for a top-six start in the first championship moto of the weekend. After surrendering two positions through the hectic opening laps the Chilean responded admirably to slice his way back up the leaderboard with a series of impressive passes to secure his eventual fifth three laps from the finish. On Sunday he made it two Bud Kawasaki’s in the first six on the opening lap and the Chilean rode another solid race, advancing to fifth on lap three and maintaining his leaderboard position to the chequered flag to earn fifth overall – his best result of the campaign – over the weekend and advance to eleventh in the points-standings.
Mathis Valin: “On Saturday I missed a good jump at the gate so my start was not so good but I rode a strong first lap even if it’s not easy to pass on this track. I was quickly into the top-ten and I knew that my championship rivals were in front so I had to push but I didn’t want to do anything stupid. I made some good passes to come back to third but I was not really happy with my performance as I was fighting the track. On Sunday the feeling was much better. I got the same result – a third position – but it was really close throughout the entire moto with Lata and Van Erp; it was very intense! Perhaps I could have scored a couple more points this weekend, but we kept the red plate and I only lost one point to Lata. I knew in advance that this track is not really my favourite and in two weeks it will be different as I really like Frauenfeld!”
Benjamin Garib: “I was solid all weekend long with fifth in Free Practice, eighth in Timed Practice and fifth in both races. I had a good start in both races and could maintain the speed at the top with some good passes at the end of the first race. I felt great all weekend on the track; when we arrived on Friday I thought it would be a mud race after all the rain but conditions were perfect even if the track was a little muddy in places on Sunday; I stayed focused and put all the pieces together for my best-ever EMX result. I want to thank all of the team for their help and confidence in me; now we keep training and focused to produce more good results in the races to come.”
