Let's face it. Matiss Karro likes to keep busy as far as his racing is
concerned. In Mark Chamberlain, MVR-D team manager, he has found a
perfect partner for his near insatiable urge to race. The likeable
Latvian has been in action virtually non-stop since the season
started, and two weeks ago at the GP or Turkey, he collected his first
world championship points after a series of misfortunes kept him off
the scoreboard during the first to GP's. In the lull between GP's
Matiss relaxed by ... going racing. He matter-of-factly collected some
silverware at the inaugural round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals series
in England before heading to Holland for the fourth GP of the 2004
world series at Valkenswaard.
Matiss has increasingly found his feet as the GP season has
progressed, and again featured strongly in the timed qualifying
session with the 13th fastest time. With a good gate to start from, he
launched into the qualifying race with his usual enthusiasm, but some
first corner mayhem put the damper on that rather quickly. A
multi-rider pile-up caught him out as well , and the teenager was now
all but last in the 40 man field.
The first corner mishap provided Matiss' supporters with the
opportunity to watch him at his electrifying best, as he cut and
thrust his way to the front. The MVR-D Suzuki, sans rear mudguard,
looked for all the world like a lizard without a tail, and a very fast
one at that. The lack of a rear mudguard did however reveal a new
hazard, hitherto unknown to the young rider. With no protective layer
between his tender rear and the rather abrasive knobbly rear tire,
there were one or two fairly memorable moments as the aforementioned
two components met when the bike's suspension bottomed out on the
rough track.
Despite the impediment, Matiss knows only one way, which is forward.
To the delight of his team and plentiful supporters, he was turning up
the wick with enthusiasm, and left no passing opportunity unused as he
made his way forward. At the end of the fairly short 25 minute
qualifying race, he had worked his way up all the way from nearly last
to 14th, a satisfying performance on a track where only a year ago, he
did not qualify for the GP.
By now, Matiss has developed a well-deserved reputation as a bit of a
SportsKarr (TM) in the starts department. Come what may, he always
wants to be in the first corner with the leading group, regardless of
who is next to him on the start line. There was no earthly reason why
this GP should be an exception, so true to form, the MVRD Suzuki stuck
its head into battle in seventh position. Getting away with the
leaders means that you had better be up to the pace or suffer the
consequences, and again Matiss proved that he was up to the task by
matching the riders in his group blow for blow. In a to-and fro
battle, he moved as high as fifth, and sometimes dropped a position or
two again as a mistake here or an overenthusiastic move there allowed
some riders to pass. In the end, it was the experience of GP stalwarts
such as Nicholas Aubin, Davide Guarneri and Zack Osborne that got the
upper hand, but even s o, Matiss and his team had plenty to smile
about with his ninth-place finish, his third top 10 GP race result in
his career.
An even better launch in race two pitched the bright yellow bike
straight into fifth position. Two distinct groups of three riders each
developed at the front of the pack, with Matiss sitting in fifth
position in the second group. For a large part of the race, he matched
world championship leader Gautier Paulin blow for blow, and even
probed here and there to pass the Frenchman, whilst doing all he can
to keep Jeremy Van Horebeek behind him. The seventeen year old's
gigantic efforts did not go unnoticed, and the television director
devoted significant time to his progress. His early race efforts had
shot the bolt a bit, though, and in the last quarter of the race Van
Horebeek found a way past.
With the last lap board out, all Matiss had to do was to keep a
charging Joel Roelants behind him to finish in sixth place, which
would be his best GP finish ever. It was then, with the end of the
race ever so close, that disaster struck. On the rough back section of
the track, the bike got kicked, and the hapless rider was flung over
the bars. It took him a seeming eternity to restart the bike, and with
the broken peak on his helmet all askew, he finished the race in 20th
position, whereas just a lap before he was still in sixth.
The disappointment in the team tent was palpable. Matiss was 16th
overall for the day, which, but for his stroke of misfortune, would
have been closer to seventh. Nevertheless, he had proven to himself
and the world at large that he has the ability to mix it up with the
world's top riders, and with a bit more experience under his belt, the
opposition had better watch out. Despite the second race setback, he
had accumulated enough points on the day to move him up to 20th
position in the world standing. Considering that he came out of the
first two GP's with no points on the score sheet, it appears that the
Latvian is now truly building up some serious points scoring momentum.
Next weekend, the MVR-D team will be in action at the third round of
the British Championships at Brampton. Matiss will be motivated to
defend - and if possible improve on - his fifth place standing in the
championship series.
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RESULTS
All GP results are available on the official website of the motocross
world championships.
(Pic - Stefan Paetow)
Mark Chamberlain willing his rider to the finish
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