Brimming with confidence after victory in the Qualifying race on Saturday the French teenager once again got a superb jump out of the gate in the first GP moto and cleverly gave himself room entering the first turn to be narrowly edged for the holeshot. He quickly established himself in third in first-lap traffic and closed down second time-and-again as he maintained his race pace for the full thirty-five minutes but there was little movement on the leaderboard and he had to be satisfied with third at the chequered flag. There were slight drops of moisture in the air as the riders went to the line for race two but the rain held off and Valin streaked out of the gate to claim a first-ever holeshot award for the KX250-SR. The youngster sprinted two-second clear already on the first lap, stayed in front for nearly five laps and only surrendered second to the more experienced championship points-leader ten minutes from the end of the race. Two third-placed motos earnt third overall for a maiden GP podium in his rookie season. His fifty-point weekend haul has lifted him to eleventh in the series points-standings with the top-ten in sight.
 
Mathis Valin: "What a great weekend! My first GP moto win yesterday in Qualifying and two thirds for third overall and my first podium today. I had two good starts again today, especially in the second race when I took the holeshot. It was my first experience to lead a GP moto so it was stressful, but I tried to concentrate on my technique and enjoy it. I was a little tired at the end but I hung in there for my first podium so now on to Lommel next weekend; I like the sand so we will prepare for that this week and look for more success."  
 
Antti Pyrhönen (KRT team manager): "It's a really great feeling to secure our first podium with the 250 project. All of the team has worked so hard on this, building together with precision and professionalism. I am so happy for the entire team, but especially for Mathis; he started the season so well before he had an injury, but he has worked hard on his consistency while we have been working on the bike and this is the result."