The FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship moved into the rippled and shallow sand of the Tazio Nuvolari Circuit in Mantova, Italy for round two and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle picked up his third top three moto finish of the year.
- Vialle places 2nd in the first MX2 moto in Italy but crashes in moto two and is out of the points
- The Frenchman holds 4th place in the fledgling championship standings
- MXGP ventures to Argentina next and only the second non-European race since the end of ‘19
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing travelled to a sunny Mantova – north of Bologna – and the site of both the final round of the 2021 series as well as the 2021 Motocross of Nations. KTM guarded positive memories of their MXGP world championship success the previous November and maintained a high level of competitiveness in the MX2 class thanks to the skill and capabilities of former world champion Tom Vialle on the KTM 250 SX-F.
The Frenchman, who finished as runner-up in Great Britain last week, took 2nd position in Saturday’s qualification heat and then used the power of his racebike to ace two decent starts on Sunday. Vialle had no answer to Jago Geerts’ speed in the first race but was leading the second until a mistake on a jump take-off pushed him down the order. Tom was lucky to be able to remount and just missed out on a championship point by classifying 21st. He was 11th overall. KTM presence in the premier class came from KTM DIGA Procross’s Thomas Kjer Olsen. The Dane managed a decent 6th overall with the KTM 450 SX-F.
Vialle said: “A strange weekend. It started well with P2 on Saturday so I had a good place in the gate. The first moto was OK. 2nd again was good but I wasn’t that happy with my riding. We changed the bike a bit for the second moto and I felt better. I was leading but the jump take-off had been watered and it was still early in the race. It was a huge crash! I was very lucky. I’m thankful for that. We have Argentina next and a bit of time now to train and to continue to improve.”
Words: KTM
