Image: Octopi Media.

Red Bull KTM team manager Ian Harrison suggested that Tom Vialle was ‘lacking confidence in his set-up’ at Budds Creek’s final round of Pro Motocross 2025, which shockingly led to the two-time MX2 world champion sitting out moto two altogether.

Vialle posted the 13th fastest qualifying time before powering to the holeshot in moto one, but an early red flag saw riders behind the gates a second time, with the 24-year-old again starting up front on his 250 SX-F Factory Edition.

A crash while leading – under pressure from 250MX newcomer Cole Davies (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – saw the Frenchman remount to an 11th-place finish after laboring throughout the moto’s remainder.

“Tom pulled two fantastic starts to moto one after the first race was red-flagged, and was running out front before he made a mistake and fell down,” Harrison recalled. “From there, as the moto went on, he seemed to lose pace. He then decided he would sit out race two after lacking confidence in his setup, so he called it a day.”

Vialle finished fifth in the final 250MX standings, currently seeded fourth in the combined SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) rankings entering zMAX Dragway’s opening playoff on September 6.

It’s widely expected that Vialle will depart KTM and US competition at the conclusion of the SMX post-season, heavily rumored to be returning to Europe from 2026 in a lucrative multi-year contract with Honda HRC’s MXGP World Championship team.