Tom Vialle had a very rough start to his AMA motocross debut qualifying only 16th, including this crash that hurt his leg to add to his woes!
Vialle just took a tumble trying to join in. pic.twitter.com/Lgzeu4BnQa
— Tanner (@thall767) May 27, 2023
Vialle didn’t look comfortable on the machine at all in practice, but as the day went on he gradually improved the bike set-up and became more fluid, taking seventh in race one and third in race two, to just miss the podium and somehow salvage the day and put himself in title contention despite not being able to show his best level.
Vialle certainly did not look like the rider that left MX2 GPs as world champ in Turkey for most of the day but that final moto was a small glimpse into what the future may hold – and he should get a lot better from here now that the first one is under his belt and he has a lot more info on the bike and schedule. Vialle was still nearly on the podium at 70-80% of his capability, so in some ways that has to give him confidence that he can be a front runner when he’s fully comfortable with the bike and the track, but the field is stacked and Vialle’s starts will be key.
Vialle said: “It was a difficult start to the day with 16th in qualifying, though we made some changes to get more comfortable with the conditions. First moto, I made some more improvements, and could manage a seventh place in that moto. Second moto, we made positive changes and I felt way better, so was able to get third place. I’m pretty happy with the day and my first National, we made great progression throughout the day between myself and the team – I was a bit sick coming into this round, so overall I’m happy to start my season like this.”
Tom talks about his crash at 2 minute 40 below:
