Mathis Valin has committed his long-term future to Kawasaki after signing a new multi-year contract with the Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 squad.
The new deal keeps one of motocross’ brightest young talents with the Japanese manufacturer after an impressive start to his MX2 World Championship career.
The 19-year-old Frenchman, who won the 2024 EMX250 title, has already claimed his first MX2 Grand Prix victory this season despite missing part of the campaign through injury. Currently sixth in the championship standings, Valin has quickly established himself as one of the sport’s rising stars.
The agreement secures the future of both rider and team as they continue their pursuit of MX2 World Championship success.
The official PR from Kawasaki said:
Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. and the Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 are delighted to confirm that Mathis Valin will continue their successful relationship in Green. The French teenager has signed a multi-year deal to continue the KRT assault on the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship.
During his first learning season in the MX2 World Championship Mathis gained a huge amount of experience and, together with the staff of the Kawasaki Racing Team, confirmed his potential as they entered this new KX250 project with a high motivation together. Tenth in the final classification, with a first career podium at Loket in the Czech Republic, the 2024 European champion has made further huge steps this season and confirmed that he is, at just nineteen years of age (he will turn twenty on August 18), one of the most promising prospects in the sport.
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The 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship reaches mid-season next weekend in Portugal; Mathis has already won one Grand Prix overall, two Qualifying races and one GP moto this year after shrugging off an early season shoulder injury. Signing the new contract so early in the season is undeniable proof of his confidence in the KX250 project and his determination to continue this successful association with Kawasaki. With his future secure, there can be no doubt that it will further invigorate his approach to the remainder of the championship and allow him to focus fully on racing. After nine GPs he is currently sixth in the standings, just twenty-one points shy of the bronze medal.
Mathis Valin: “I’m very happy to sign again with Kawasaki; now we will continue to move forward together as everyone involved is doing a great job. We will keep working hard for the second part of the season, and of course for next year; hopefully it will be an even better one! The beginning of the season was quite hard with my injury, but now we are on a good way, and everyone is happy, so I’m very pleased to stay in the same environment.”
Antti Pyrhonen (KRT Team Manager): “ It has been two strong years to enter the MX2 class with Kawasaki and with Mathis we have already achieved a lot with many podiums and our first GP win in this category. Of course we want to push even more, to attain more, and to march on together for the ultimate goal for the team and the factory; namely the world title. It’s never easy, but we have made giant steps each season with the development of the team and the bike, and now securing a talent such as Mathis into the future is a further boost which confirms our ambitions. I want to thank the master-mind behind Mathis, his coach Thierry Van Den Bosch, who has done an important job behind the scenes to guide Mathis, and we are grateful to him for his input.”
Shigemi Tanaka (Managing Director, Kawasaki Motors Europe): “There are so many things about Mathis that align with Kawasaki’s approach to racing. His passion for competing is self-evident as is his evolving skill-set in terms of race strategy, He is a perfect example for aspiring young riders who dream to emulate their MX2 hero. With the KX250 – and the support of KRT plus our Team Green philosophy – Mathis is ready to achieve the next level of his formidable potential.”
Steve Guttridge (KME Race Planning Manager): “It’s fantastic that we will continue with Mathis in MX2. The Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 project has aligned perfectly with his Team Green career on Kawasaki KX250 bikes since graduating from the EMX250 category. He is now a regular podium visitor in MX2 and we are confident this is just the start and he will rise to even greater heights in the coming years.”
