MX2, MXGP OF LATVIA - Kegums, LATVIA, 8 June 2025

A moto fourth for Mathis Valin in Latvia

Kawasaki Racing Team MX2's Mathis Valin raced to his best moto result since the opening round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship with fourth in race one at Kegums in Latvia.

The French teenager showed superb reflexes and speed at the start of moto one to launch out of the gate and down the ninety-five metre drive to turn one, emerging fourth. Despite the exceptional efforts of the track crew the racing surface was extremely demanding after heavy overnight rain but the youngster showed great maturity to avoid mistakes and maintain fourth throughout the race, finishing comfortably ahead of any chasers. A less spectacular getaway in race two saw him closed down halfway to turn one and he was down in thirteenth at the first timing split. His speed in traffic was impressive as he battled with the 2023 world champion and his efforts were rewarded as he moved forward to claim his eventual tenth three laps from the finish. He was seventh overall on the day and remains sixteenth in the series standings as he bounces back from injury absences earlier in the season.
 
Mathis Valin: "My start in the first moto was really good; that is so important nowadays. I found a good rhythm behind Everts and kept pushing for fourth. The second start was more difficult and I had to push even more but I was even able to pass Adamo at one stage and he is normally fighting for the win. For sure I still miss some riding and race experience because of my injury earlier in the season but I am improving each week and the speed is coming back. I learnt a lot this weekend and now we will continue to work for the next two weeks to be ready for Matterley."
 
Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki's Francisco Garcia narrowly missed the podium in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship to retain third place in the series points-standings. Overnight storms left extremely heavy track conditions for the EMX riders in their second moto on Sunday morning; the Spanish youngster, a strong second in the dry on Saturday, made an excellent third-placed start but had been pushed back to fifth at the completion of the first lap. Further mistakes saw him relegated to seventh on lap two but he regrouped in the later stages, adapting to the difficult conditions to run sixth for most of the moto before a hard-charging local sand expert pushed him back to seventh on the final lap. Missing the podium by just two points, he retains third in the points standings after eight of thirteen rounds.
 
Francisco Garcia: "Track conditions were so difficult this morning after the rain; it was the same for everyone but I never had a good feeling on the track and there were unpredictable ruts on the jumps. I crashed once and then I had a really big moment on the finish jump and scared myself; but the most important thing is that I am leaving here in one piece and have kept my third place in the championship."
 
Chaos at the first turn again left Bud teammate Jake Cannon outside the top-twenty but the Australian teenager showed great resolve to advance to eleventh with two laps to go; he had a top-ten result in sight before a mistake on the final lap put him back to fourteenth. He is now fifteenth in the points standings.
 
Jake Cannon: "My riding's OK and I had two good comebacks through the field, but the starts are killing me at the moment; it all begins with Qualifying and I need to sort that out. I got two good jumps but particularly here it's a really big detour at the first turn from the outside. Let's hope I can sort out my Qualifying before the next round in England."