Tom Vialle is heading into his second year of Monster Energy AMA Supercross more confident than his first. Admittedly the two-time MX2 World Champion had a pretty steep learning curve in 2023, racing supercross for the first time, but he says he has learned a lot, including staying out of his own way as far as making too many bike changes.
Our Kellen Brauer caught up with him at the Red Bull KTM team intro and spoke to him about his off-season, supercross prep and more.
Racer X: Tom Vialle, first of all, congratulations on a pretty successful off season. Not many people can say Motocross of Nations champion. You did really well in Paris as well, just kind of take me through actually racing the off season and keeping the ball rolling.
Tom Vialle: Yeah, so after the MX [season] we went to the nations, obviously, it was, it was a good weekend for me. From Saturday, I had a great day and Sunday even, even better. So, it was a nice race. I mean, I always liked the track back in GP’s. So, it was nice to be back and, wasn't crazy but with the fans, I mean, it was, I think it was one of the biggest race I've rode in my life. So, it was nice to win with the team. I also won as a 250 rider. So, it was just the best I could opt for. So, I had some fun, was pretty good and then I went a little bit on holiday to France, staying there being back in my place for about a month or so. It was pretty cool. It was sick to see some friends, family and having some fun time and it's about a month that I have trained again and starting to be ready for next year.
Obviously, the time between the last round and the first round in the US is shorter than in GP’s. Does it feel like things are coming out too fast and we are ready to race again already?
Yeah, a little bit. We have for sure like about two months, maybe three maximum. And then, yeah, it's coming fast. But we are riding about three times a week or maybe four times sometimes. So, we can have a lot of riding. The bike is pretty good right now. So just maybe a few things on the suspension to test, but just trying to be way better, like physically and trying to improve for next year, and that’s our goal.
Reflecting on your year this year in supercross and motocross and SMX. What do you feel is maybe the biggest thing you learned your first-year racing in the US, that you are trying to build on for next year.
I've learned a lot that for sure, especially in supercross. I've learned so much. I think it's kind of my first winter where, I mean, I'm pretty ok, you know, last winter sometimes I couldn't go through the whoops on some tracks. It was too big and then I'm pretty ok right now. I feel like I can go just training like a normal day of training and that's pretty nice. I can do way more laps and that's helping me, I hope. So, it's gonna help me a lot for next year just being way more confident on the bike. I've been to some supercross and didn't know what to expect and kind of for next year for ’24, I know what to expect. You know, just from the practice, the first session is 10 minutes. It goes so quick and just being prepared for that is going to help me a lot, I think for next year.
Do you almost train them for that? Like, the idea that you have to learn a track quickly. So, when you maybe have a new track that you ride on here and you do the same thing.
Exactly. We try to learn quick. So, it's pretty nice, sometimes to move [change] the track but then we cannot ride. I mean, all the guys, we are all in the same situation. We train a lot on the same track. We maybe have like two or three tracks different. But once you did one day on the track, it's always the same. Then, you know, you can change some rhythm, having some fun, but it's just doing laps often. It's pretty nice, I like to change the track. So that's why sometimes at the race I have a lot of fun.
So, what sort of expectations are you putting on yourself in 2024? You just missed the podium a couple of times in supercross. Is it to get on the box now?
For sure. You know, I've been on the podium and winning outdoor and then also on the podium in SMX, so I missed only supercross. So, for next year, that's really the goal, being on the podium of course. And I really want to be more stable during my season. I mean, I had some good races but a lot of up and downs like some race good and bad and then some crushes. So, I want to be more stable during the season. So that's really my goal and of course, I want to be up there fighting for podiums and win and hopefully every weekend, that's really my goal and fighting up in front.
How is your mentality a little bit? Because coming from GP’s, the total season is shorter as well. This was a 31-race championship a little less because of 250 supercross, but does the mentality change a little bit when you're in that week-to-week grind where you're trying to get into the flow things?
Yeah, I think so, especially in supercross, the training is different than outdoors. It was new for me like I actually couldn't say if it was good or not so much because I didn't have any experience. So, I kind of know a little bit better now, my training in Supercross. You know, last, last year I was not that good, in my first race, I almost been on the podium my first ever race. So that's why I've been learning a lot last year, so I'm trying to not help me a lot for, for this winter, for my preparation bike set up also. Last year I was trying some stuff on the bike, and I didn't know if it was good or not because I never rode that stiff fork, or it was so new for me. I was just trying stuff and I was like, “I don't know if it's good or not” you know. So, I'm a little bit better on that stuff for the winter and know a little bit of the bike should be. So, we are trying some stuff on the bike and getting better for next year.
And then lastly, East or West, do you have a preference, and then do you know which one you're going to be racing?
I mean, right now, we can't really say at 100 percent we're going to race West or East. But we will see in a few weeks, I think I should ride East, but it's not sure yet.
If you end up having to race West, is it a little bit of a worry for you that you haven't raced some of these stadiums and some of these tracks before, or are you ok with that?
I mean, I think the stadium is, it doesn't really matter. I think, in ways the dirt is a little bit different, more hard pack. The truck is new every weekend, so I don't think that's a big problem. But, no, I don't see any problem.We will see but, that's not a problem, you know, like changing the stadium we get used to it quickly, I think.
