On Track Off Road No.184

MXGP
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REMEMBERING THE FIRST ONE...
Almost twelve months ago MXGP World Champion Tony
Cairoli was stood on the first podium of the 2018 season,
breathing heavily, slightly bewildered and a little p***ed off.
At the back of the Italian’s mind,
somewhere and somehow, there
was also a flicker of calm. Nine
world championships, eight-three
grand prix wins, fifteen years and
two of the last three spent dealing
with the annoyance of injury all
carried a deep reserve of experience.
The first Grand Prix on a calendar
can mean a hell of a lot. It is
also the initial thrust of many in
the fight. It is fascinating to watch
how professional racers tackle and
then cope with the aftermath of a
championship opener. In Cairoli’s
case the defending No.1 came to
the Neuquen circuit in Argentina
after strong pre-season, another
Italian domestic crown, the incentive
of a tenth world title and the
knowledge that Red Bull KTM
teammate Jeffrey Herlings would
represent his hardest ever challenge.
He earned the first Pole
Position of 2018 and then won the
first moto by a second from the
Dutchman.
Cairoli was a lap away from making
it 1-1 before Herlings’ emphatic
assault and victory, thus earning
the overall triumph and putting
Cairoli – who’d erred several occasions
while leading – on the
second step.
It was clear the defeat stung. Some
of Tony’s post-race comments carried
the tone of frustration but he
was also swift to (at least publicly)
default to the position of acknowledging
a strong result to begin the
campaign.
The nerves and excitement of the
first race (and on a circuit that
almost all the riders like to attack)
means that Grand Prix #1 carries
special significance…but depending
on the classification on Sunday
afternoon a rider may then dismiss
or harness the overall emotion and
feeling from that unique twentyfour
hours. Cairoli was fast, mostly-consistent
and represented the
sole affront to the Herlings threat.
He could have soaked-up a win
that could have been a big statement
against his foe and the rest
of MXGP - and those that were
perhaps questioning his age and
ability to tussle with younger opponents
- instead he was having
to equate the day as 47 points
banked.
In a different place emotionally,
try telling Herlings the day at
Neuquen only signified points. For
the Dutchman it was a risky and
thrilling repost to Cairoli’s A-game.
He rallied from the arm-pump that
affected his Saturday Heat race to
pound an exhilarating stamp on
the series. You could argue that
(while there were still hundreds of
miles of racing laps to run) he laid
the first slab of a dominant championship
in that Argentina volcanic
ash. The belief and confidence
flowed from that moment. Herlings
is also wise to the tremendous
highs and lows of this sport so
would not have sailed too far on
that one-day achievement but