It was a trip to the MXGP of Germany for the Gabriel SS24 KTM team at the weekend, with Josh Gilbert looking to push on in MXGP and Cas Valk going all out to close the gap on the series leader in the EMX250 class.
With hard pack being one of Josh’s favourite terrains he was excited for the German track Teutschenthal, with this being a track he had ridden before in previous years. He showed some really good pace throughout the entire weekend, with 13th in the RAM qualifying race!
On Sunday, Josh had two strong starts in the motos, where in race one, he was within the top three, going over the fox holeshot line! As the track developed over the weekend, it made the track physically demanding, but Josh pushed on and finished 17th. He regrouped between the races, and another good start in race two saw him battling and making passes for 11th place. However, a costly mistake 3/4 of a way through the race would see Josh catch one of the ruts wrong and crash. He re-mounted, but a few laps later, the track would catch him out again, and he would finish 18th. Although the result wasn’t what we wanted or showed how well Josh rode, it was another big step in the right direction, showing that he has the pace to be a top 10 rider.
Josh: “A positive weekend and another good step in the right direction even if the results didn’t quite show it. Was happy with 13th in the qualifying race but struggled a little in moto 1 to end 17th. The second moto I was running p11 but unfortunately made two costly mistakes with 5 laps to go. So results wise not amazing but plenty of positives to take away. Onto Latvia!”
In the EMX250 series, Cas found himself on the podium for the fourth consecutive time after Valerio Lata was docked 10 positions in race two for jumping on a waved yellow flag.
In timed practice, Cas was 6th, and despite not having a great feeling with the track throughout the weekend, he would finish both races in 4th. However, as mentioned, due to the rider penalty in race two, he would actually be promoted to 3rd in race two and clinched 3rd overall on the podium! He sits second in the championship, just 26 points down.
Cas: “Happy to take Another podium last weekend in Teutschenthal but not completely satisfied about the weekend, we have new opportunities in Latvia this weekend and i’m looking forward to it!”
Team Manager Shaun Simpson: “A very positive day in Germany but we are keen to keep pushing for more.
“Josh really stepped it up this weekend, his starts and speed were on point but a couple of silly mistakes affected his Moto results. Definitely a step in the right direction.
“Another podium result for Cas which is great with consistency being key in the championship but we need to close the gap and fight for the win again in Latvia.”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images courtesy of Ray Archer
