The fourth round of the EMX250 Championship Presented by FMF Racing went to St Jean D’Angely during the Monster Energy MXGP of France. As we are now used to witness, the French fans show so much passion and enthusiasm for motocross and came in numbers, braving the changing weather conditions over the weekend which made this round another exceptional event.
Report by Infront Moto Racing – Feature Image courtesy of Kawasaki Racing EU – Other Images by Infront Moto Racing
The French round went perfectly for Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin in EMX250 with a 1-1 and grabing the Red Plate for the first time this season, giving the the home fans a lot to cheer on in the incredible atmosphere.
In Race 1, several riders got involved in a crash on the first corner, including JM Honda Racing’s Maximilian Werner and VRT Yamaha Racing’s Ivano Van Erp. They eventually fought back up to 20th and 15th respectively.
However, the one that came out on top after the first turn was Luca Ruffini from MAXBARTMOTOSPORT. On the opening lap, Beddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Mads Fredsoe followed in 2nd but not for long as he made a mistake with his feet slipping off the peg and allowed home rider Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin to pass him for 2nd.
Meanwhile, two of the strongest challengers in the title, Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Cas Valk and Beddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata both had a terrible start. Valk managed an exceptional comeback from 25th on the opening lap to 7th while Lata had issues and could only finished 24th.
Young Frenchie Valin, surely pushed by the home fans, rode to the occasion and kept charging to take the inside of Ruffini on lap 4 and take the lead. Ruffini had another local rider going after him on the same lap with WZ Racing Team’s Maxime Grau who perfectly executed his move outside-inside to go 2nd.
Saad Soulimani from Ghidinelli Racing was another great performer as he took a good start and moved up to 4th by the lap 8. Soulimani kept attacking and passed Ruffini for 3rd on lap 13 of 15 to get a good option for the final podium with Ruffini settling or 4th in the end.
Still on lap 8, Alexis Fueri from Fantic Factory Racing MX2 who had a good start and was 6th crashed and finished 13th. Notably, local rider Toni Giorgessi rode very strongly to finish 6th!
In the end it was a French 1-2 with Valin comfortably winning in front of Grau giving the him passionate fans something to hope for in the second race.
In Race 2, Ruffini made the holeshot once again, and Valin passed him for the lead once again but this time in the opening lap. Valk was also on it from the start and moved up to 2nd.
A multi-rider crash in the first turn included Grau who made a herculean effort to move up to 9th on lap 4. Meanwhile VRT Yamaha Racing’s Karlis Reisulis made his way up to 3rd showing some good speed and the fastest lap on lap 2.
Behind the top 3, Fredsoe and Van Erp managed to pass Ruffini who faded in the race. The outstanding Grau found himself in 6th place on lap 6 which showed the hunger of the local rider to perform in front of his fans, putting him also on the second stop of the podium at that time. Grau started to push behind Van Erp for 5th.
While a battle for position happened behind, the immaculate leader, Valin pulled away at the lead increasing the gap with Valk to 5.2 seconds.
Fredsoe moved down to 6th on lap 9 as Van Erp and Grau made clever passes with better lines while the 2n place was under threat, as Valk made a couple of nervous mistakes with an aggressive Reisulis closing on him with 5min + 2 to go.
On lap 11, a fiery Reisulis committed on his line with a better drive to pass Valk for 2nd and the clocking the fastest lap in the same time. Reisulis kept going and began the close the gap with Valin but it was time for the French rider to pick up the pace and keep a comfortable cushion showing that he was very much in control over the weekend.
It wasn’t the red plate’s day as Lata had trouble at the start again which made it difficult to get good results. He managed to finish in 13th position but lost the red plate to Valin and got passed in the standings by Valk too.
It was the perfect home weekend for Valin who grabbed the maximum point to win his first overall of the season and the red plate at the same time, and what better than on home soil to do it! Grau was the other incredible rider in France after coming back from the last positin in race 2 to finish 4th and 2nd overall! Valk closed the podium with 7-3 that leaves him in the 2nd place of the Championship, 23 points behind Valin.
Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Billy Askew confirmed that he is settling down admirably in his rookie season as he claimed eighth overall with another excellent performance. The English teenager moved forward tenaciously from an initial eleventh to take over eighth in the moto four laps from the end before slipping off in the last sector of the final lap to surrender two positions. He has now advanced to thirteenth in the series standings.
Mathis Valin: “It was amazing! I started very good and passed first after few corners. What an amazing weekend to win on my home GP and doing it with two race wins is perfect! I’m so happy!”
EMX250 – Race 1
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EMX250 – Race 2
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EMX250 Overall
EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 171 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 148 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 147 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 114 p.; 5. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 107 p.; 6. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 100 p.; 7. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), 97 p.; 8. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 78 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 71 p.; 10. Magnus Smith (DEN, YAM), 60 p.
EMX250 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kawasaki, 171 points; 2. GASGAS, 170 p.; 3. KTM, 170 p.; 4. Yamaha, 150 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 92 p.; 6. Fantic, 57 p.; 7. Honda, 46
