Cas Valk and the Gabriel SS24 KTM team were in Madrid at the weekend for the first round of the EMX250 championship.
Cas showed great speed all weekend with P1 in free practice and P2 in timed practice, just 0.012th of a second off. A good start in race one allowed Cas to start in third and he got to work on chasing down the lead. By lap 4 he got into second and on lap 6 was trying to make the pass for the lead. Unfortunately when doing this he cross rutted and went down. He re mounted in 6th and fought hard for the remaining part of the moto to finish in 4th place.
Race two was the first session on track on Sunday morning which meant the EMX250 riders had to contend with a flat and slick track, where a lot of riders confront mudguards coming off and helmets weighing them down. Cas didn’t get the best of starts – starting outside the top 20, he knew he had to get to work to clinch as many points as possible, but a few small crashes hindered a better result and he crossed the finish line in 19th place for 9th overall.
Cas Said: “Spain for me was a bit disappointing. I felt like my speed was good and I could fight for the win, a crash in race one didn’t help me but I still managed an okay 4th place. Race 2 was a bit different, they watered the track so much for us and they made it flat so it was a mud race. I didn’t get a good start so I was fighting in the back and made some mistakes that were easy to make but anyway I’m healthy and already looking forward to the next round!”
Team manager Shaun Simpson said: “Not the weekend we’d hoped for but lots to work with! Cas showed great speed on Saturday and although Sunday’s results weren’t what we hoped, I think we can agree track conditions played a big part. Josh is still very motivated despite still struggling with his elbow. As a team we’re working together to ensure he comes back strong. I’m looking forward to Arco where we are confident that Cas will make up points at round two of the EMX250 championship and meanwhile we are excited for his MX2 wildcard debut in Sardinia in 2 weeks time.”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images by Ray Archer
