Antonio Cairoli interview

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Antonio Cairoli isn’t about to give up his chase for that elusive 10^th world motocross championship. A qualification race win in Loket and second overall might be great for most, but for Cairoli, it was a step back as he watched his championship rival, Jeffrey Herlings go 1-1 on the Sunday.

Cairoli though is a wise old fox and knows that the next half a dozen rounds will be important for him to put pressure on the young dutchman, and maybe get some GP victories and close the 30-point gap to Herlings.

MXlarge: How was the GP for you Antonio?

Cairoli: It was a difficult week after we found out about my thumb, but Qualification was good on a dry track and it was easier to ride. Today it rained, and I couldn't really find a good rhythm; the track was very bumpy with a lot of ruts and I had a lot of pain, especially in the second moto and after the first fifteen minutes I could barely ride. I was fast behind Jeffrey but when he dropped the times I could not really follow him. Hopefully now we have more time to heal again and be in Lommel with less problems and pain and be able to fight for the win.

MXlarge: How is the hand doing?

Cairoli: It happened of course in Indonesia and my hand was feeling bad and I thought something was wrong. We did an x-ray and we saw the problem. I tried to ride on the Wednesday after Indonesia, but I couldn’t ride, so I rested and did physical training and then we went riding and it was a bad day, because I could hardly ride for 20 minutes. I went to my doctor and he said maybe we can do another scan, and he said let’s check. It wasn’t possible I had nothing, as I had so much pain and the scan took a long time, but we saw from the scan that I had two small fractures from my thumb, and that the capsular is open on my thumb, because I dislocated it. We were not happy in the week, because the hard pack of Loket made it tough. We did some laser for 24 hours, connected to this machine. I felt better on Saturday in Loket, and I took pain killers and I could ride and it wasn’t so bad.

MXLarge: As you mentioned, the track didn’t help your situation and you had to battle with some guys you would rather not battle with?

Cairoli: For sure this track is tough and its better when you are free and riding your own lines, than following somebody and having to change you lines because of other riders. With this pain, coming through the pack is difficult. My goal was to stay in front and be on the podium again. We have a week before Lommel, 10 or 12 days and Lommel isn’t easy, but it is like this.

MXlarge: We are ¾ of the way through the season, and the really important rounds coming up. Are you looking forward to that challenge?

Cairoli: I am really excited for the next rounds. We have ridden a lot of races and the points are close, so anything can happen, and I want to do my best and survive Loket and then in 10 or 15 days the thumb will be better, and I will attack more.

MXLarge: I know it is a long way off, but the final round is in Italy. To win the championship there would be something else?

Cairoli: It would be amazing, I have won a lot of titles, and I won in a championship in Faenza in 2012, but it is always special to win in Italy and I think about this, but my main goal is just race by race and try and be as competitive as before and not ride conservative.