Cairoli’s back to retake MXGP title
By Sean Lawless on 1st Mar 17
Any fears that eight-time world champion Tony Cairoli was a spent force were conclusively crushed in Qatar when the Italian raced to a double victory at the opening round of the world championship.
The 31-year-old Red Bull KTM rider led every lap of the opening moto before stalking defending champion Tim Gajser in race two and making a decisive pass in the closing stages.
"It was a great weekend,” said Cairoli. "It is my 14th season here in the world championship and I'm really happy - not many riders have reached this before. I have won at least one GP each year which is amazing.”
Cairoli's previous two world championship campaigns have been hindered by a combination of injuries and the emergence of young talents like Gajser and Romain Febvre but a solid off-season has seen him come out fighting.
"The start of the season we had some good races and no injuries during the winter so I could train a bit better than the years before. We also had the bike set-up much better. So I was looking forward to this first GP.
"I was a bit sick with some intestinal flu coming here and was still taking medicine up until Thursday so I was unsure how my reaction would be for the race but it was pretty good and I really enjoyed the racing - I could push until the end in both motos.
"We are really happy with the result and will be ready for the next GP.”
Cairoli's fortunes were in sharp contrast to his team-mate Jeffrey Herlings who has been groomed by KTM as the Italian's successor.
The three-time world MX2 champ, making his debut in the MXGP class, struggled to 15th overall and was clearly suffering the effects of a broken right hand sustained a fortnight before.
"It was terrible but what can we expect,” asked the 22-year-old Dutchman? "I broke my hand less than two weeks ago, we got it plated the day after and then I was supposed to race 10 days later. Plus before that I had an injury with my wrist so I missed another four weeks.
"I didn't really have the feeling I needed on the bike and I had a lot of pain. In motocross you need your entire body and I wasn't 100 per cent.”
Even with Herlings moving up a class his Red Bull KTM team still dominated MX2 where Pauls Jonass took a double win, despite a question mark hanging over his participation following a recent concussion.
