MILLVILLE, Minn. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger raced his way to fourth overall in the 450MX Class at Round 7 of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship in Millville, with 250MX pairing Tom Vialle and Maximus Vohland claiming consistent sixth and eighth-place results.
In the morning’s qualifying sessions, Plessinger powered his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to the seventh-fastest time at the Spring Creek National, setting up a strong foundation for the afternoon’s two-moto format.
Engaged in tight, intense battles throughout both motos, Plessinger charged all day long to finish with dual fourth-place finishes, further solidifying his third place position in this year’s 450MX Championship with four rounds remaining in the 2023 series.
Aaron Plessinger: “4-4 today in Millville, similar on paper to the last few weeks, although we’re making good progress. Closed the gap to the lead riders this weekend, so I’m happy with the small gains we’ve made! We were better throughout the week too, so we’ll just keep our heads down and work hard. I need to work on my opening lap pace, because later in the moto I’m strong, but just need to improve on a bit of that sprint speed to get into position quicker early on.”
In 250MX, previous round winner Vialle entered with strong momentum as he finished with the fourth-fastest lap time in qualifying. A consistent day of racing hampered only by poor starts would see the two-time world champion race his 250 SX-F to a 6-5 moto scorecard, which resulted in sixth overall for the day, and he’s seventh in the standings.
Tom Vialle: “I started the day well with qualifying P4 in the class – this track was really cool. In moto one, I battled hard with [Haiden] Deegan all moto, though made a small mistake and went down, then finished in sixth. Second moto, I didn’t start great, so I charged my way up to fifth place there. The speed was good today, just the starts made it really challenging as you need to pull good starts in this class for a chance at the podium. Washougal is up next, the track looks really nice also, so I can’t wait to be there.”
Fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 250MX racer Vohland shadowed his teammate in qualifying with the fifth fastest time, before being caught in a first turn pile-up in the opening moto and that saw him put on an impressive charge back to 10th place. A poor start in the second moto resulted in another come-from-behind ride with a P7, which capped off his Millville race day in eighth overall, and sees him maintain eighth in the series.
Maximus Vohland: “We were competitive today and my pace was good, but bad starts and that first turn pile-up were costly for us. The weekend was better for us though, we are making steps forward, and it is a matter of putting it all together now – I’m confident that we can get some strong results in these final four rounds of the outdoor season.”
Next Race: July 22 – Washougal, Washington
Words: KTM
Image: Align