24.07.2022
MXGP 2022 Round 14 of 18, Lommel, Belgium
Tom Vialle secured 3rd place through the brutal sand of Lommel for the Grand Prix of Belgium and for the fourteenth round of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider banked 7th and 4th in the motos and remains a close 2nd in the MX2 standings.
- Vialle recovers from a lowly gate position to take two top-seven finishes in a warm and demanding Belgian GP
- The 21-year-old’s second moto result allows him to scale the podium for the 11th time this season
- Vialle is 2nd in the series and 23 points adrift with the postponement of the Grand Prix of Oman meaning there are only four rounds of the 2022 series to go
MXGP made the customary and extreme switch from the hard-packed hill of Loket in the Czech Republic to the deep, flat sand of Lommel in Belgium in the space of one week. During the interim the series had been trimmed to eighteen rounds after the Grand Prix of Oman had been postponed and only trips to Belgium, Sweden, Finland, France and Turkey remain on the slate.
Lommel, a popular circuit for training and a town that gathers a large amount of riders and GP teams for its proximity to other venues around the region in central Europe, welcomed MXGP once more and a sizeable crowd in sunny and warm conditions.
Vialle was one of the last racers to enter the MX2 gate on Sunday after becoming entangled in a first corner crash during Saturday’s qualification heat. His bike was too damaged to continue, and the incident left him at a disadvantage for the GP motos. Despite the restriction the Frenchman raced hard on Sunday and his rapid start with the KTM 250 SX-F in the second moto particularly when he launched into the leading group was impressive. Vialle suffered a small tumble in the first moto and couldn’t rise higher than 7th. His charge to 4th in the second race was the clincher as Simon Laengenfelder ran into problems and he was able to collect his eleventh trophy of the campaign. Tom trails Jago Geerts by 23 points – almost one moto with eight still left on the slate in 2022.
DIGA Procross KTM’s Liam Everts again neared the rostrum in his rookie term. The Belgian classified 7th overall with a 5-7. MXGP next ventures to Uddevalla for the first Grand Prix of Sweden since 2019 and will take place on August 7th.
Tom Vialle, 7th and 4th for 3rd overall in MX2: “A tough GP and the weekend didn’t start so well with the crash in the qualification race but today ended pretty good and I was surprised to make the podium with a 7-4. My rhythm was not great in the first moto – too many mistakes – but I improved for the second race. It was not the Grand Prix I was hoping for…but we have two weeks now to reset a little bit. The last four GPs will be intense but I will go into it with a free mind and I’m looking forward to Sweden after taking my first win there in 2019.”
Results MX2 Belgium 2022
1. Jago Geerts (BEL), Yamaha, 2-1
2. Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna, 1-2
3. Tom Vialle (FRA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 10-2
4. Simon Laegenfelder (GER), GASGAS, 3-9
5. Roan van de Moosdijk (NED), Husqvarna, 6-5
7. Liam Everts (BEL), KTM, 5-7
Standings MX2 2022 after 14 of 18 rounds
1. Jago Geerts, 590 points
2. Tom Vialle, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 567
3. Simon Laengenfelder, 469
4. Kevin Horgmo, 410
5. Thibault Benistant, 378