The tough sand of Lommel during the MXGP of Flanders saw the 7th round of EMX250. Riders had to keep their focus sharp at every give moment as the sand track is known to be one of the most challenging in the world.
Race Report and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The EMX250 Championship racing was intense, and riders couldn’t afford to make any mistakes on the demanding Belgian track, making for an entertaining weekend. With the sun coming out on Sunday, everything was aligned to deliver an amazing round of motocross. The demanding conditions at Lommel tested the riders’ skills and determination, setting the stage for a weekend of entertaining action and great racing. And this was Bedddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata with a solid 2-2 who came out on top to win in Belgium his 3rd overall win of the season.
In the first race on Saturday, it was Mathis Valin from Bud Racing Kawasaki who took the holeshot, but it didn’t take long for Bedddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata to seize control after a couple of corners. Ghidinelli Racing Team’s Saad Soulimani quickly moved into 2nd place with Francisco Garcia from RFME GASGAS MXJunior Team hot on his heels, capitalising on a poorly negotiated turn by Valin. Soulimani was relentless, staying right on Lata’s back wheel.
The race took an early turn when VRT Yamaha Racing’s Gavin Towers crashed in the first corner and had to retire. Another championship contender, Cas Valk from Gabriel SS24 KTM faced an uphill battle after a tough start, completing the first lap in 17th position. Meanwhile, Valin had to regroup and managed to overtake Garcia.
On lap 2, Soulimani didn’t waste any time launching an attack on Lata and succeeded in taking the lead. Behind them, Valin’s Kawasaki was already smoking, likely due to heavy clutch use, but this didn’t deter the red plate holder. Valin found his rhythm and cleverly passed Lata for 2nd on lap 4 of 13. Garcia, showing impressive pace, put pressure on Lata and moved up to 3rd on the same lap.
Lata and Garcia engaged in a fierce battle on laps 4 and 5, exchanging positions several times. However, Garcia’s challenge felled flat when he buried his front wheel on lap 6, dropping from 4th to eventually finish 7th. KTM Kosak Team’s Bradley Mesters and JM Honda Racing’s Max Werner took advantage of Garcia’s mistake, moving up to 4th and 5th respectively. Valk, riding superbly, climbed up to 10th place.
After a few laps, Lata found his way and attacked Soulimani to reclaim 2nd place, which he held firmly till the end. However, he was too far from the leader Valin, who maintained a 6-second lead. Valin demonstrated excellent maturity and confidence, staying cool and meticulously working his way back to win the race. VRT Yamaha Racing’s Ivano Van Erp stayed consistent, finishing 6th, where he had been in the opening lap.
The performance of the race was undoubtedly from Valk, who never stopped believing in his potential for a top finish. His relentless determination paid off as he astonishingly finished 4th, giving himself a strong chance for an eventual podium. The other impressive run was Mesters who finished strongly in 3rd position.
The start in race 2 was controlled by Lata who made blistering run off the gate. He led the pack ahead of Joel Rizzi. Meanwhile Valin was behind in 3rd but pressured by Valk right from the start and lost the 3rd place as Valk dived in to pass Valin and Rizzi for 2nd.
Still in the opening lap Van Erp started well and found himself 5th in front of Werner. Van Erp showed a confident style as he launched a couple of passes on Valin and Rizzi to move up to 3rd while Valk was pulling away with the lead already in lap 2. Valin started to get back to the rhythm we saw in the first race and passed Rizzi on a long jump on the outside to go 4th.
The gaps between the front 4 were getting around 4 seconds each in lap 4. At that time Lata was winning the overall by 1 point in front of Valk and Valin.
While the front 4 never changed again, Valk was immaculate as he pulled away and never seemed to be looking back and winning the race by 14 seconds on Lata and more than 20 seconds on Van Erp 3rd. Lata had a couple of scares towards the end which reminded him that this track can be merciless if you’re not always 100% focused.
Meanwhile Mesters showed up again with an excellent 6th place to go 5th overall and his best finish of the season. Rizzi who started great faded during the race and had to finish 7th seeing Mertens and another good performer, Nicolai Skobjerg from Wozniak MX Racing Team passing him. Skovbjerg finished 5th and Mertens 6th in the end.
This was a solid round for the Van Erp who finished 4th overall with an excellent second race where he battled at the top. In the end the podium was filled by the front three riders in the championship, although in different order. However, with Valk finishing 2nd overall and Lata winning the round, they both reduced the gap with red plate Valin who ended on the 3rd step of the podium.
With now four rounds to go, the EMX250 is getting more and more exciting as the top 3 riders in the championship are getting closer but the advantage still remains with Mathis Valin at the moment with 13 points ahead of Cas Valk and 18 points on Valerio Lata.
The top British racer was Joel Rizzi who showed so good speed on the way to 9th overall with a 14th and 1 7th in the motos. There was also a good result from Ollie Colmer who 15-15 for 13th overall.
Valerio Lata: “To be honest I didn’t feel like it was my best weekend. Yesterday I felt good on the track in the Qualifying with the pole position but yesterday not my best riding and today I tried to push for a while to get closer to Valk but he was faster. I finished 2-2 and win the GP so I’m happy about that and thanks to my team and mechanics and see you at the next race!”
EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
MEC_EMX250_R1_RaceClassification-3914_6_46_351_1_D50926A9E8CAADE3E9190AFB93DDCB4A
EMX250 – Race 2 Classification:
MEC_EMX250_R2_RaceClassification-3914_6_46_352_1_748CDEAD16404CDE702B8D84557653F4
EMX250 Overall:
EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 287 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 274 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 269 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 205 p.; 5. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 171 p.; 6. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 150 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 149 p.; 8. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), 144 p.; 9. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 125 p.; 10. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 104 p
EMX250 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. KTM, 302 points; 2. GASGAS, 292 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 287 p.; 4. Yamaha, 272 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 161 p.; 6. Honda, 104 p.; 7. Fantic, 87 p
