Tom Vialle returned to the podium in the Czech Republic with a strong second-place finish at Loket, confirming the progress he has been making since returning from the injury he suffered at the French Grand Prix in Lacapelle-Marival.
Beyond the result itself, it was arguably one of his most complete weekends of the 2026 season so far. While Vialle claimed victory at the Swiss Grand Prix back in March, his maiden MXGP overall win came with 1-6 moto finishes under unusual circumstances, and without scoring any points in Saturday’s qualifying race. He left Frauenfeld having added 40 points to his championship tally.
At Loket, however, the Honda HRC rider delivered remarkable consistency – three strong starts, laps led, three top-three finishes and a full haul of 50 championship points.
“It was a good day for me. In fact, the whole weekend went really well at Loket, starting with the qualifying race on Saturday and then continuing into both motos on Sunday,” explained the Frenchman. “The track was demanding. As everyone knows, I hadn’t raced a GP’s for three years, and coming back here to race against riders who are incredibly fast and have several years of MXGP experience isn’t always easy.”
After being caught up in an incident at the start of the second moto in France, Vialle missed the German and Latvian Grands Prix while recovering from injury. He returned in Italy and, after a run of difficult weekends (7th at Montevarchi, 12th at Agueda, 12th at Johannesburg and 10th at Foxhill), the factory Honda rider found his rhythm again in the Czech Republic.
“I had a really good feeling throughout the whole weekend. The last two or three GP’s had been quite difficult for me. I had the pace, but a few crashes stopped me from getting the results I was capable of. So yes, I’m really happy with today and with the whole weekend at Loket. I’ve been working really hard lately. People don’t always see it, but during the week I work extremely hard every single day. Today all that hard work paid off, so I’m very happy.”
In his rookie MXGP campaign, Vialle knows every weekend is another opportunity to gain valuable experience. At Loket, the two-time MX2 World Champion also benefited from racing alongside Jeffrey Herlings, using those battles to continue refining his riding against one of the very best in the class.
“I usually get good starts, and once again this weekend I managed three excellent starts, which helped me a lot. I was able to lead Jeffrey for a few laps in both motos before he passed me. I’m still learning. It’s my first year on a 450, so riding behind Jeffrey and trying to learn something every time he passes me is really important. Some riders get passed and immediately move on, but I try to analyse everything he does – his lines, when he chooses the inside or the outside – and learn from it to improve. That’s something that’s very important to me and it’s just great to be back. The bike is continuing to improve little by little, so we’re heading in the right direction.”
With one overall victory and now two podium finishes, Tom Vialle continues to write the opening chapter of his MXGP career. Having returned to Europe after three seasons racing in the United States, the Frenchman has quickly shown he belongs among the elite of the premier class. Sitting eighth in the championship heading into the final part of the season, a place on the overall podium is now out of reach, but his focus lies elsewhere: continuing to develop in MXGP and building towards the future. This year is about learning, the next could be about challenging at the very front. Already, 2027 is beginning to come into view.