Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle picked up his first moto win of the season in the second moto at Hangtown after Haiden Deegan crashed out of the lead late in the race. However, the ride for Vialle was a much-improved turnaround from the first moto to the second regardless as he charged from P8 on lap one to within a few seconds of Deegan when the crash occurred.

Following a distant fourth place finish in the opening moto of the day, Vialle credited a shock adjustment between the two motos as a key reason he was much more comfortable throughout the duration of moto two.

“I was pretty pissed off after the first moto to be honest,” said Vialle. “I was struggling with the bike to be honest. Something with the shock, and I was feeling a little bit the same at Pala and the first moto was the same. I couldn’t keep my rhythm. We changed the shock a little bit for the second moto, and I felt great. I was really happy. That’s the first moto where I could really push to my full level I would say. I could attack on the bike, and it was good. I’m really excited for my next races with that setup on the bike.”

Image: Octopi Media.

The first moto from Vialle was trending in the right direction as he charged from 10^th to fourth by the sixth lap and was following Haiden Deegan through the field. But when they got to those positions, Deegan continued his ascent while Vialle seemed to begin struggling as he drifted the other direction. He was even passed by Deegan’s Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith for fourth with five laps to go, but Smith’s bike had an issue a few laps later that caused him not to finish.

When the track was perhaps a bit smoother in the first moto, Vialle’s best lap was a 2:01.164 on the seventh lap, but it was also just the third 2:01 he put down in the moto, and the last time he would run a lap time in that range. In the second moto, Vialle laid in a 1:59.946 on the sixth lap and ran nine consecutive lap times of 2:01 or better. Once he saw Deegan crash out of the lead in front of him, his pace settled back a bit as he worked to manage the gap in the closing stages.

“When Haiden crashed, I was pretty close, and I didn’t really see but it was a huge crash. I passed his bike, and he was already running back to the bike, so I was like, “Oh he’s already up!” It’s good for him that he was okay of course. My second moto, I felt way better than the one before and it’s pretty good for the rest of the championship.”

Image: Octopi Media.

Though he was gifted the lead when Deegan crashed, he had closed the lead down considerably and it seemed there was the potential of a battle for the win regardless. Vialle’s second moto triumph was also the first moto win from someone other than Deegan in the first four motos as the Yamaha man was potentially en route to back-to-back sweeps to start the season.

Deegan still won the overall, but the win from Vialle broke up a clear championship gap that was beginning to be established before we even left California. On top of that, Vialle appears confident that these bike changes will positively affect his performance moving forward.

“We still have nine races left, so we still have many races,” said Vialle. “We’re going to move to the East Coast and the tracks will be different. Not as hard packed as Pala and here. I’m pretty happy to be honest that I found that shock [change] for the second moto. That’s going to be good for the next races.”

Image: Octopi Media.

Hangtown was also the second race in a row that Deegan, Vialle, and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen locked out the podium in the 250 class. Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas hasn’t finished worse than fourth in a moto yet this year though as he’s hanging tight with the lead trio to kickoff this championship.

If this change for Vialle really is the key he needed, the next round at Thunder Valley will be a good test with a mix between hard pack soil in places, loamy in others, and long ruts throughout the track. Either way, Vialle certainly appeared to be a lot closer to the lead pace at Hangtown than he was at Fox Raceway, and that could set us up for quite a championship as we head out of California for the first time next weekend.