On Track Off Road No.183

tony cairoli & mxgp 2019
In a recent entry on KTM’s official Blog
page (www.ktm.blog.com) VP of offroad,
Robert Jonas, said “never, ever
underestimate Tony: that’s my opinion”.
KTM know the nine times world champion
sufficiently well by now. 2019 will
represent the tenth season that Tony
Cairoli and KTM have occupied the top
of the premier class standings in Grand
Prix and while names like Dungey, Roczen
and Herlings have caused hearts to
flutter in Mattighofen it is the #222 that
has delivered results, prestige and been
a major part of the company’s lift as the
premium and leading manufacturer of
dirtbikes.
At Assen for the penultimate round of
2018 and at the triumphant homecoming
coronation for Herlings, Cairoli was
full of plaudits for his younger teammate
and admitted that he lacked the same
speed all the way through the moto
to effectively compete with his rival.
The pair clashed on two occasions but
largely existed in a tolerable and powerful
vacuum of performance, results and
pressure under the KTM awning. Cairoli
routinely made the best starts and was
in race-winning positions a number of
times only to be foiled in the style that
he himself had enacted on peers since
he moved into the premier class in 2009.
“The message is that I don’t start each year going
for second or third place. I go to win, and that is
always my goal. I do what is possible to push my
limits. I always try to ride safe but if I am able to
ride happy and comfortable then for sure the fans
will see a really nice season...”
The Sicilian will turn 34 in September,
less than two weeks after Red Bull KTM
teammate Jeffrey Herlings will toasts his
25th birthday. He still has another two
terms on his factory contract and has
been a protégé, friend and collaborator
with Claudio De Carli since his second
grand prix year in 2004. His duel with
Herlings in 2018 prevented the championship
story from being horribly onesided
even if it was the best (in terms of
riding) and the worst (the first time he
had really faced insurmountable opposition
and dealt with at least two small
niggly injuries) time of his career.
In short 2018 was chastening and educational,
and forced Cairoli to look a bit
longer into the mirror if he wanted to
better his 85 career GP wins (one more
than Herlings) and nine titles.
Last year was very much about the
Cairoli-Herlings axis. Without the other
then the 2018 contest could have been
very bland indeed (for all his dominance
Herlings had to keep plugging away until
round 19 of 20 before he sealed the
deal). It means that one of the biggest
questions about the forthcoming 2019
campaign revolves around TC222.