Antonio Cairoli interview

Antonio Cairoli of the Red Bull KTM Factory team is only weeks away from being crowned FIM Motocross World Champion for the 8^th time in his career. In Lommel, Belgium last weekend the Italian rider went 1-1 and picked up his 72^nd Grand Prix victory.

Despite the Lommel circuit being difficult, and a thunder storm causing all sorts of drama in the second moto of the MXGP class, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider still managed to hold his nerve and head into Brazil in a few weeks with an 81 point lead over his closest rival, Jeremy Van Horebeek.

We sat down and talked to the MXGP series leader. As usual he was modest and relaxed.

Q: Antonio, how did it feel to win the Grand Prix of Belgium?

Cairoli: This Grand Prix is like a home GP for me, so it was nice. It was also nice to win my 72^nd GP in the land of Stefan Everts, who always rode with the number 72 on his bike.

Q: How did you find the two races?

Cairoli: It was two difficult heats. The first one I had a good start and pushed for three laps, but then I got arm pump. The track was kind of strange, maybe because there were so many classes run over the weekend. I eventually found my speed and passed Kevin Strijbos, and in the end it was enough to win the moto. The second race I had a good start and the feeling was better, and I was pushing at the start and had some good laps and took a big gap. Then the storm started and at one point you couldn’t see the track because it was raining so hard. You had to slow down a lot and try and survive.

Q: Another good weekend in the next round in Brazil and you are World Champion again. Are you thinking about that at all?

Cairoli: I usually don’t look at the points. I always want to be on the podium at every Grand Prix, but of course it is time to look because the championship is nearly there.

Q: Now a long break before Brazil, how do you feel about that and what will you do in the break?

Cairoli: The long break is not good for the condition, but it is nice to have some free weekends in August. I will probably just go back to Italy and enjoy summer a little bit. For many years this period is spent at the track, so this is really good for a change.

Q: You have won a world title in Brazil before, are you excited to be going back there to win again?

Cairoli: It will be amazing. It is nice to win in Brazil, and we have a lot of fans in Brazil. They are excited I might win my title there, I get a lot of message from Brazilian fans looking forward to us coming. They are so warm and passionate and they want to be a part of the championship celebrations.