It was a successful weekend for Cas Valk and the Gabriel SS24 KTM team as they took the overall win in the EM250 class at the MXGP of Latvia, where Cas pulled back some crucial points in his championship chase.
He put the fastest lap down in timed qualification taking pole position on the grid, this helped as the start favoured the inside gates. He secured two good starts in both races. In race one Cas got into the lead on lap 3 and started to find his rhythm, however for the entire race he had Latvian Kārlis Reisulis hot on his tail. Cas stayed calm and collected and took the win. Race two on Sunday was an intense race from start to finish with Cas getting himself in second behind Reisulis and trying to find ways to pass him on a track that was hard to pass on. Whilst contending with trying to find a way to pass the #47, he had Valerio Lata breathing down his neck, so he was having to defend his lines at the same time, a difficult position to be in! With the front three breaking away from the pack, it was a captivating race to watch. Cas finished third and the overall along with it. He remains second in the championship, only 13 points down!
Cas: “Happy to win again this weekend, it was almost a perfect weekend with p1 in time practice and p1 in race1, in race 2 I was close to the win but couldn’t make it happen in the last laps, but it was enough for the overall win! This weekend MX2 again in Maggiora park!”
For Josh in the MXGP class he had 19th in timed qualification which put him to the outside gates and was pushed wide on the start. In the RAM qualifying race, having to coming from behind he worked up to remain 19th on the starting grid for Sundays races. He came out well from the start and made good passes to finish race one in 15th. In race two he had another solid start from the outside and was attacking the track well to work his way through the field but unfortunately a freak mechanical issue occurred out of the hands of Josh and the team, and he had to withdraw from the race. Despite the DNF Josh is certainly showing his improvements week to week and we will continue to work hard together for consistent top 15 results.
Josh: “Another week of building. Felt like this weekend we was going to come away with two solid results but unfortunately a freak issue in moto 2 cost us two solid results. Happy with the progress we’re making each week, onto Italy!”
Team Manager Shaun Simpson: “A bitter sweet weekend in Latvia. Cas showed that he is back in contention for the EMX250 championship with the overall win for the weekend. He was disappointed not to win the second Moto but we came to Latvia with the goal to win the overall and we did that.
“With Josh it was another tricky weekend with the conditions for the MXGP guys being very wet once again. The technical in race two was something we couldn’t have done anything about. Having said that we are never happy with any DNF on a race weekend. Josh needs to catch a break, improve slightly in timed practice to give us a good opportunity to start the weekend strong in the qualifying race and build from there within the weekend. It will come, we just need to keep forging ahead.
“It will be an exciting weekend in Maggiora with Josh in MXGP and Cas wildcarding in MX2. Bring it on!”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images by Ray Archer
