Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Cas Valk made his wildcard debut in the MX2 class at round three of the FIM world championship at Riola Sardo. With hot temperatures the deep sandy track put the riders to the test throughout the weekend.
Cas showed some great speed and potential throughout the weekend with 6th in free practice and 13th in timed practice. In the RAM qualifying race he had a good start and rode his own finishing just behind current MX2 world champion Adrea Adamo in 13th place.
Onto the races and Cas lined up for the first 30min +2 lap moto and secured a good start. Negotiating his way through the technical sandy track he had some good battles and fought his way to finish a respectful 14th place. Upon recovering from moto one Cas noticed throughout the weekend some discomfort in his back following on from the dutch masters the previous weekend. After highlighting this to the team the decision was made to withdraw Cas from race two to be able to focus on the upcoming EMX250 races next week in Trentino.
Cas Said: “The weekend started off not too bad with a decent time practice and an ok qualifying race, but struggled all weekend with pain in my ribs. I got this from the Dutch masters without even crashing. In the first moto i tweaked it and it got worse again. I just rode it easy to the finish in p14 but we decided as a team to not line up for race 2 recover for next weekend in Arco di Trento!”
Team Manager Shaun Simpson Said: “It was great to see Cas in his wildcard debut in the MX2 class. We were pleasantly surprised with his speed throughout the qualifying sessions on Saturday but unfortunately his back still wasn’t 100% after the Dutch Masters. He was in some discomfort throughout the weekend so we decided to pull him from race 2 on Sunday. Our main focus and goal for Cas this year is to win the EMX250 title. Round two is next weekend in Trentino so it’s a priority that he is fit and healthy in a weeks time.”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images by Ray Archer
