We caught up with Tom Vialle to discuss a strong performance at the British MXGP despite only being back on the bike in the middle of January and his plans for next season:
Tom Vialle a good day for except maybe those couple of crashes in that last moto but good overall, how do you sum it up?
It was okay. A good way to start the season, a little bit disappointed with the crash in the second moto especially the first one when I was leading. The track was difficult to pass, the ruts were so big, it was not easy to change the line. I still tried the last lap but then I had another crash, but I wanted to win. A little bit disappointed but Simon was riding good and didn’t make so many mistakes. I was a little bit faster but couldn’t find a way to pass, so we are going to regroup a little bit this week and train in the sand for Mantova.
Did the postponement help you get more comfortable on the bike?
Yeah, I rode a lot last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and we are still improving the bike, every time we go we find some small things. First moto I wasn’t riding so good, I was struggling a lot, I was actually riding pretty slow! Second moto was way better, I was pushing a lot, I could push the bike. The suspension was better, we did a small thing on the bike that we changed and it was helping a lot.
We will see next weekend, Mantova is a different type of track so we will see.
Was this result better than you expected given your preparation with injury coming in?
Yeah, it’s not such a long time since I rode the bike. I started the middle of January so it’s more or less one month/ one and a half months that I ride with the bike and it’s a new bike, so there is a lot of small things that took a little bit more time than usual. I was happy to fight at the front, have the speed. The two pre-season races were not super good let’s say but now I know I have the speed and for sure I will improve every race.
And next year, are you going 450 or do you have an option to stay 250?
Normally I move to 450, if I win the MX2 title I have to move on. Yeah normally, yeah, I should move to the 450.
Interview: Jonathan McCready
Image: Scott Dunne
Podcast! Jonathan McCready and Andy McKinstry review a brilliant British MXGP that kicked off the 2022 MXGP world championship in style – it had everything!
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