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By Adam Wheeler<br />
he - and maybe others in MXGP –<br />
knew something that brewing that<br />
Sunday.<br />
It is possible to count the hours<br />
until MXGP 2019 bounces free of<br />
the start devices. <strong>On</strong>ce again Cairoli<br />
is the man of the pre-season<br />
events and he is almost unbeaten<br />
in three rounds and weeks of Italian<br />
competition (teammate Jorge<br />
Prado actually holds that distinction<br />
in MX2 and must be odds-on<br />
to sweep Neuquen). He might<br />
have had to realign his orientation<br />
on Neuquen however. Considering<br />
Herlings’ strength in 2018 an<br />
equal-points finish would represent<br />
a very good day at the races<br />
if the Dutchman was still in commission.<br />
Tony may have said in<br />
these very pages that he is “out to<br />
win” in 2019 but he has all those<br />
FIM medals because he knows the<br />
price of a GP top three and top five<br />
result in the premier class. Now in<br />
Argentina he must be aware that<br />
anything like the performance levels<br />
of 2018 means that extra dose<br />
of elation.<br />
Or does he? Many riders in the<br />
off-season talk of ‘focussing on<br />
themselves, their programmes,<br />
their own potential’. It means when<br />
they all push into the gate for<br />
that very first moto on Sunday in<br />
South America they will be looking<br />
along the line wondering whether<br />
their whole approach and winter<br />
of work has actually hit the mark.<br />
It is hard to imagine they are not<br />
curious about the others. They<br />
will have seen crumbs of speed,<br />
fitness and form in races like the<br />
Italian series and Internationals<br />
at Hawkstone Park and LaCapelle<br />
Marival but that is also a time<br />
when tests are ongoing and experienced<br />
campaigners will not be<br />
rushing to find limits. Riders even<br />
talk about not ‘wanting to peak’ in<br />
the first Grands Prix of a seventh<br />
month trawl across the globe so<br />
that could add extra irrelevance to<br />
Argentina and the results sheets.<br />
A host of different physical and<br />
mental regimes and individual stories<br />
with confidence, set-up, team<br />
chemistry and confidence will be<br />
colliding in the din of revving throttles<br />
behind the gate.<br />
It is revealing to hear Romain<br />
Febvre saying that thoughts of his<br />
rivals in 2018 was actually detrimental.<br />
Surely some appreciation<br />
and analysis of the others is smart<br />
strategy? Perhaps in a sport where<br />
the parameters and boundaries<br />
move week-on-week depending on<br />
track, conditions and fitness then<br />
it’s just too much to digest.<br />
Round one can be a confusing<br />
situ of smoke and mirrors but - as<br />
presumed with Herlings - it can be<br />
a launch pad, and Jeffrey isn’t the<br />
only one. Pauls Jonass was rarely<br />
more comprehensive in 2018 than<br />
at Argentina and cleared-off with<br />
the next two Grands Prix. Back in<br />
2015 Max Nagl won in Qatar and<br />
then Argentina also and led the<br />
championship for the first half of<br />
the season.<br />
However, while interesting and<br />
often surprising the ‘power’ of the<br />
first round is debatable. Cairoli is<br />
actually the strongest example for<br />
this. #222 has won in the premier<br />
class in 2009, ‘10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14<br />
and 2017. Guess how many times<br />
he claimed the opening Grand Prix<br />
in that period?
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