Cairoli Wins The Second Round in Holland

Cairoli Wins The Second Round in Holland

It has been an interesting start to the MX1 season for Tony Cairoli. After a difficult first round at the Sevlievo circuit in Bulgaria the World Champion managed to finish in ninth position after sustaining a knee injury which prevented him from racing too hard. This is what Cairoli had to say:

“The start is very important here in Bulgaria because it is difficult to pass on this track. It was not so bad for me yesterday but today I had a very bad start in the first moto. I tried to pass as many as possible and I was up to about fifth then I hit my knee trying to pass Goncalves. It’s the same knee that I broke so I was quite worried. It was hurting a lot and I gave up a bit and finished seventh. Then I made an appointment to see the doctor and it started to feel better so I was able to race again in the second moto. My start was better and I almost got the holeshot, I think I was third in the first corner. Then Philippaerts crashed in front of me and I couldn’t avoid him and found I was back at 20 or 21 in the field. I scrambled back to tenth and tried to move up to ninth in the last lap. But I didn’t manage it.”

Despite the Bulgarian circuit being very difficult to pass on and having an injured knee Cairoli still managed to gain some points. The motocross season is long and there will be many chances for the 2010 Champion to work his way back to the top.

The second round of the MX1 season was held in Holland on the traditional sandy circuit of Valkenswaard. Understandably there were some concerns leading up to the race after the first round in Bulgaria but Cairoli put out a fantastic performance, culminating in an important win and walking away with maximum points.

During the first race the Champion had quite a slow start but in typical fashion he made a charge through the pack and finished in first place. What followed in the second heat was a battle for overall first place with his KTM teammate Max Nagl. With Nagl leading out front Cairoli managed to work his way up to second place to seal his overall victory beating Nagl 1-2 to 3-1 in the two heats.

In the press conference Tony admitted that he was still having some problems with his knee in certain situations and walked with a slight limp. Fortunately there is about three weeks before the next stage in Glen Helen for the much needed physiotherapy and rest that he will need to get back to full fitness. So with a long season ahead the future looks very good for Cairoli and if he can get his knee healed it could be a third year as MX1 Chamion.

After two of fifteen stages the MX1 Point Standings are: