TOM VIALLE - GRIT 258 250SX

GRIT-258 | 250 SX

July 15th, 2024 3:00 pm

KTM's Tom Vialle would accelerate to the top of the leaderboard as the second session of practice concluded on Saturday, and the French athlete appeared to remain relevant within the 250MX championship as he exited the raceway. His confidence was palpable, and his positive outlook for the moto's ahead, translated to a position of third on the opening circuit of race one. He was doing his best to sprint away from the pack of riders who trailed, while attempting to obtain a bit of time on Levi Kitchen, who was second. Both athletes would then inherit position as Haiden Deegan crashed before the ten-minute mark. Now second, Vialle would steadily chip away at the gap that the Washington native had made. Yet for brief while, not only would Jo Shimoda come into the equation...but he would pass the French rider! Though the number sixteen would counter, with less than two laps to go - and surpass the Honda athlete amid the finish line section...claiming second, once and for all. He began the race in third, and was able to avoid the chaos of turn number one...with championship rival Haiden Deegan, being forced to the latter portions(s) of the back. It was Casey Cochran and Daxton Bennick who were in front of him, and just as the five-minute mark of the moto would come to pass, a bit of miscalculation (with what appeared to be uneven balance) seemed to cause Vialle's crash to the left side of the raceway! It was before the latter whoop section upon entering into the mogul area, and he would try to resume action as quickly as possible. However, he then would have to pull into the mechanic's area...losing a substantial amount of time, before embarking on the raceway once more! After doing his best to continue moving forward (advancing to what appeared to be thirteenth), the French rider would have to divert to the mechanic's area once more - with what unfortunately appeared, to be a bent shift lever. Once more, he returned to the track to make as many passes as possible...and ultimately acquired seventeenth at the checkered flag. Vialle's assembly of moto scores (via second and the aforementioned finish just inside the top-twenty), were enough to garner seventh overall. It was a championship salvaging effort, and kept him within the fight, though Haiden Deegan was undoubtedly looking to break away from the field even more, in the coming rounds of the series.

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