Antonio Cairoli (Ducati/12th place) on RedBud: “I was absolutely knackered by the end.”

Nine-time Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli is also revered and highly respected in the USA. His guest appearance at the fifth round of the US Nationals at RedBud over the American Independence Day weekend attracted a great deal of attention. The Ducati factory team therefore lined up with three bikes in Michigan, as Justin Barcia also made his comeback following his back problems. Ducati Corse fielded Dylan Ferrandis, Justin Barcia and Antonio Cairoli.

Qualifying and Race 1

Antonio Cairoli finished 12th in the combined qualifying session, which took place in difficult and, at times, muddy conditions. He was 6.4 seconds off the fastest time set by Jett Lawrence (Honda). After the start of the first race, the 40-year-old Sicilian was in 13th place, but a crash dropped him back to 19th. As the race progressed, he fought his way back up to 11th place, but ultimately lost one position again and finished 12th.

Pushing himself to the limit in the second race

After the start of the second race, Cairoli was in 8th place and eventually dropped back to 13th. “All in all, the day was okay,” said Cairoli after the race. “My aim this weekend was to finish in the top 10. I didn’t achieve that, but we weren’t very far off either. In the first race I had a minor crash which cost me a bit of time and energy, but I fought my way up from 19th to 12th place. The track was physically very demanding. By the end of the second race, I was physically drained. This week we’ll continue to focus on fitness and we’ll try to perform better next weekend at Southwick.”

Topic of the week

Topic of the week: Aprilia comeback? The truth is: Aprilia never went away!

Four weeks ago, Aprilia headed into the summer break from Germany with a badly injured Marco Bezzecchi. The response came from the heart of British motor racing: ‘Together we are strong!’

Thomas Kuttruf

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