After missing out on the win last year, Tom Vialle was able to make it happen at the weekend winning the SX2 class to become the Prince of Paris. The French talent looked a lot more comfortable than he did last year in Paris which shows just how far he has came with his SX titles – he is a Supercross champion of course.
We caught up with Vialle to discuss his weekend and much more which you can read, listen to or watch below…
GateDrop: Tom, you missed out last year, how does it feel to win at home here in Paris?
Vialle: Pretty good, yeah, I didn’t win last year obviously and I had a great weekend. A little crash in the first moto but no, we ended up pretty good. We won both days in the qualification and won almost every race so it was pretty nice.
GateDrop: Can you just talk me through your crash in the whoops, pretty big one. But we’ve just seen a safety net, really good, otherwise god knows what would have happened…
Vialle: Yeah I know, I actually felt really good in the whoops, I was going pretty fast in them and then I was a little too fast and I missed a few and then got a bad kick and luckily the net was there.
GateDrop: Compared to this time last year you look a lot more comfortable, especially in the whoops. What would you put that down to, experience? To me the bike looks a lot better too, you look a lot more comfortable, it’s maybe more stable?
Vialle: Yeah, the bike is a lot better, we did some testing all weekend and it was actually pretty good to see how the bike works and we obviously have more to try but overall it was good.
GateDrop: Tast year, an amazing supercross season for you, you were able to win your first SX title. Just how did it feel to win your first supercross title, hopefully the first of many?
Vialle: Yeah, it was nice this year to win early in the season the championship. I had fun all year, I enjoy riding supercross now and hopefully it’s going to be a good winter and we’re going to fight for another one next year.
GateDrop: I mean this year was only your second season racing supercross, have you surprised yourself with how quickly you’ve improved? Because even when you were in Europe you didn’t really do any supercross, it was all motocross…
Vialle: Yeah, it’s only the last two years. I improved a lot last year and obviously we can see it on the bike right now and I had fun riding supercross.
GateDrop: Just on the nationals, what was it like battling with Haiden Deegan, a very very talented rider and he’s very fast outdoors, what’s it like battling with him?
Vialle: It was nice, we battled a lot for the outdoor and SMX too, he got me in those two but next year I’m going to train hard for the titles next year.
GateDrop: Do you know yet what Coast you’re going to be doing in Supercross?
Vialle: No, I don’t know yet.
GateDrop: Just to go back a few weeks, Matterley Basin, back racing a European track outside France, what was that like? The track was pretty rough as well.
Vialle: Yeah, the track was rough. On Saturday the weather was nice and got some rain on Sunday so it was actually pretty hard and yeah, it was another good race.
GateDrop: What was it like racing against Lucas Coenen before he got injured and Kay de Wolf, obviously they were very young when you were in GP’s… What was it like racing with them, they were fast…
Vialle: Yeah, they were fast, it was nice. We never had the chance to ride against them and it was nice to ride both days with them and it was cool, yeah.
GateDrop: Just how’s life in America, it’s your second year, it probably takes you a while to adapt, are you enjoying it and loving it? Chase Sexton is one of your good buddies now…
Vialle: Yeah, yeah, I have a few good friends now and I really enjoy living there, I live in Florida and yeah, I have a lot of fun right now.
GateDrop: Do you miss anything about Europe or France? You know what they say, there’s no place like home, so it must be nice for you to be here this weekend…
Vialle: Yeah, I miss it a little bit of course all my friends but I have fun now in Florida.
GateDrop: Perfect, thanks for your time and good luck next year.
