Red Bull KTM, perfect to a fault

Let us begin at the beginning with our two reigning champions and one all conquering manufacturer.

Jeffrey Herlings, thwarted by injury at the tail end of 2013 and energised to the extreme to make it the perfect season in 2014.

Antonio Cairoli, carrying the remnants of an ankle injury into the opening round of the year and a sense of riding himself into his usual energetic and dominant form.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing dream team that has nurtured and dominated MXGP and MX2 for the last 5 years began 2014 with the same single minded purpose: to put their two World Champions on the top step of the championship come seasons end.

Fast-forwarding past the first 15 rounds brings us to the ones that really matter, the title deciders. This year, for the first time since 2010 in Campo Grande, Brazil, we were going to have World Champions crowned away from European soil as the title chases in both classes came down to the wire at the year ending fly away races.

MXGP has consistently given us the closest battles for the lead this year, be it Clement Desalle, Gautier Paulin or Max Nagl, there has always been a thorn in the side of the Cairoli charge, and yet with 100 points still up for grabs at the start of race 1 at the MXGP of the State of Goias there was little doubt that the 7 time world champion would make it 8 by the chequered flag.

It is remarkably true that he actually doesn’t look at the overall championship positions during the season, that’s not to say that he is surprised every time that he gets the red plate handed to him on the podium, more that he knows that if he can go and do what he loves, which is winning races, then the championship will come to him at the end.

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