Tom Vialle on SMX Playoffs 1: “I was struggling a little bit with getting comfortable on the track”
After today's opening round of the SMX Playoffs, the post-race press conference was cancelled and members of the media were restricted from going through the pits for post-race interviews due to continued lightning strikes in the area. However, we did get some quotes via the team post-race press releases. Here are some from the Red Bull KTM team.
After battling inside the top five early on, Tom Vialle came through seventh in the first moto. When the second motos were cancelled following a two-hour severe weather delay and ongoing lightning strikes in the area, Vialle’s seventh in the moto became his official finishing position for the day. At the end of the day, Vialle sits fourth in the 250SMX standings.
Here was what Vialle said on his day:
“We couldn’t ride the second moto here in Charlotte because of the weather, which is unfortunate. I had a great start in Moto 1, and I think I was in fourth, but I was struggling a little bit with getting comfortable on the track – it was really deep all weekend on both Friday and Saturday. I finished seventh and that was the result for today, as they canceled the second moto. We’ll get back to training and be ready for next weekend and then the Final, which will be very important with all the points on the line.”
Related: Julien Beaumer Update After SMX Playoffs 1 Qualifying Crash
The release also had a quote from Chase Sexton on his day. The #4 machine was running third behind Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac until the #3 machine went down, handing second place to Sexton. He would finish 3.865 seconds back of Lawrence.
Sexton’s post-race quote read:
"Round one of the Playoffs here in Charlotte was a good day. I qualified first, then finished second in Moto 1 after getting a really good start – I just went too wide and had to come back from fifth or so. I had a good flow, even if the track was really sketchy today, so I’m happy to be leaving healthy. We go into the next race nine points down, and we have double and triple points upcoming. It’s time to shine and have some good upcoming weekends.”
