After an intense and unpredictable 2025 AMA Supercross season, Tom Vialle clinched the 250SX East title in dramatic fashion. The Frenchman shared his thoughts on the season, the pressure of defending a championship, and what lies ahead as he prepares to step up to the 450 class.
“The whole season has been pretty hard. I had a pretty good off-season and the winter was great. So, I came pretty confident to the first races. I mean, the start of the season wasn’t the best for me and I kind of started a little slowly. By the third round, I started to be more in the rhythm and start to fight up front for the podium and for the win. It was a tough one because there were a lot of good and fast riders all year long. I think we’ve had seven or eight different winners this year. So, it has been pretty insane. Going to the last race tied with two other riders, it’s pretty crazy. It’s actually a 15-minute race and then it’s pretty much winner takes all. It has been a tough season, but I’m pretty glad that we did it.”
Vialle acknowledged that defending a title brought a new level of stress and expectation.
“This title has been tough. I feel like defending a title is really hard. Obviously, you have the pressure. I mean, you won the year before, so you need to be there all year, all season long. Going to the last race, you know that you have a shot for the championship, so it’s only one main event. And I mean, with Supercross, everything can happen. I feel like the racing is really tight and the start was really tight at the last race, so it was a lot. It was really stressful, all day long, a lot of stress. I feel like it was a lot more stressful than the year before but kind of in a different way, though, but it was hard because, I mean, you have the chance to win a title, obviously, with two other guys. We all seen how the main event goes, it was pretty insane. But at the end, I feel like we all had up and downs during the whole season.”
With a field as deep as it’s ever been, Vialle pointed to the parity that defined the series.
“Every weekend there was a different guy winning. It’s not like one guy was winning maybe had six or seven wins. It was only Seth Hammaker who had two wins. Pretty much all the other guys had only one win like me. If someone had won five or six races, that’s a big difference and that guy would have been a lot better, but I feel like we all been so tight during the all season.”
Looking ahead, Vialle confirmed the expected move to the premier class for the outdoors in 2026, something he had been planning regardless of this year’s title.
“I think I was going to move either way if I was winning the title or not to the 450cc. I feel like I’m getting older. Of course. I mean, I’m not that old, but the plan was for sure to be in the 450 next summer for the outdoor and start from there. Obviously, we still didn’t know if I was going to race 250cc or 450cc for Supercross, but I mean, now, otherwise we don’t have any other choice, but I feel like I have to move. If you look like all those 450 guys, they were in 250 like me and they had to move at one point. They were all pretty young, if you look at Chase or Jett. They moved young to the 450cc. I’m really happy to move, I’ve been racing the 250cc for a long time. My first pro year was in 2019 but if you look to Supercross, I am only in my third season so it’s not a lot but if you look at my career it’s been since 2019. So, it’s been quite a few years and I feel like this will a new challenge.”
After adjusting to life in the U.S., Vialle is embracing the next big step in his career.
“I’m really looking forward and really motivated to riding and racing the 450cc. I feel like moving to the US has been a really huge challenge for me and there’s going to be another three years later. I have another challenge of moving up to the 450cc.”
Vialle also reflected on his career path, revealing how a major decision shaped his current trajectory.
“I was going to make the move up to the MXGP World Championship in Europe after winning the two MX2 World titles, but I decided another way. I wanted to really race Supercross and try to win a title. I only raced against Jorge Prado in my first year in 2019. So, I was still really young and Jorge back then was a lot faster than me. It’s going to be exciting next year to race again against him like five or six years later.”
But before the switch to full-time 450 competition, Vialle has one more goal in the 250 class: capturing the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
“Yeah, that’s my goal. That’s my main goal this summer. I really want to fight for the title. I feel like last year I finished second, but I wasn’t really in the fight. Haiden had a gap after three races at like 30 points and he extended to like 40, 50 points. So, I was fighting him, but from a far, far away, I would say. This year the goal is to be a lot closer. My first year in 2023 was tough to learn the tracks, learn everything so quickly. It’s only a couple laps in the morning and then you go straight to the moto. It’s a way different approach than what we had in Europe. I feel like now two years later, I feel way better. I know exactly, for example, this weekend in Pala for the first or second practice, what it’s going to be like and then for the moto, I know what way the track is going to develop. I’m a lot stronger physically and mentally than those last two years. I’m really looking forward to the outdoors.”
And there’s one piece of unfinished business he hopes to take care of before moving up.
“I won two titles in Europe, I won the Supercross title twice and pretty much the only title that I am missing on the 250cc is the outdoors. That would be a dream to achieve that.”
