Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin raced to his fourth consecutive podium in round eight of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Kegums in Latvia.
The French teenager nosed in front down the long drag to turn one in the first moto, only to be pushed wide in the corner as a rider from the inside gate turned late, forcing the Kawasaki rider to lose momentum and emerge eighth. He immediately set about revising the situation, making decisive passes almost every lap to reach fourth before half-distance but still with an eight-second gap to third. Slashing the deficit at nore than a second per lap he was ready to pounce with four laps remaining, making a decisive inside pass on the current champion for third and moving into second a lap later to break clear of the chasers with the fastest laps on track through the closing stages.
A fourth-placed start in race two was a good basis for another visit to the podium as the leaderboard held station for most of the race in a high-speed train; a tense lap mid-moto proved costly for Valin as he surrendered two positions in a handful of corners but it did not cost him the overall podium, his fourth in-a-row. The forty-four points championship haul over the weekend has taken him to within six points of fifth in the standings.
«I gave everything in the first moto to come back strongly for second from a poor start but I paid the penalty and was a little tired in the second. But that’s four podiums in-a-row and I’m getting better every weekend. I always give my best and I’m taking it race-by-race so we will see in the second half of the season where we stand in the championship.»
Mathis Valin podiums this season:
| Round | Venue | 🌍 | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Trentino | 🇮🇹 | 3rd |
| 6 | Lacapelle-Marival | 🇫🇷 | 3rd |
| 7 | Teutschenthal | 🇩🇪 | 1st |
| 8 | Latvia | 🇱🇻 | 3rd |
