Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1472935
Cairoli: "I Didn't Expect Such A Warm Welcome." R etired Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli said that he was impressed by the reception he received by the U.S. fans during his four-race stint in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. "It was crazy!" he said. "The fans were really supportive and cheering a lot. I saw many Italian flags around the tracks. It was really nice." The multi-time World Champ came out of retirement to race the first four rounds of the AMA Championship, checking off one more item on his bucket list. The original plan was to do the first two rounds, but he and the Red Bull KTM team decided to continue on after showing signs of improvement. "It was always the plan to do the first two but then we stayed for another two because I could see we were improving a lot," he said. "We were already in the States, and it cost very little to stay another couple of weeks for two more races. We knew we had to make a decision after those four, but I based it on how I was feeling. I was getting better each time but to do the whole season is very tough for me after so many years of a big focus on the World Champion- ship. Looking back now I should have been in the program from the beginning. It would have been possible then, but with the preparation I had it would have been a very big effort to do the whole championship." Some of the things that stood out for Cairoli racing in the AMA Series was the dialogue be- tween the racers and the track crew. "I liked the track prepara- tion," he said. "The track crew really listened to the riders and would have dialogue with the top guys after each session. If we had recommendations on parts of the track, then they would immediately fix them. I liked the one-day format as well. It was more intense." Cairoli said he had to get used to the quick pace right out of the gate compared to the GPs. "The first laps are crazy- quick because I think the guys are used to bringing that from supercross," he said. "The first two laps they are very fast and aggressive and that's different to MXGP where everyone will set the first laps and then the rhythm gets higher. It was a bit difficult to adapt to the fact that the crazi- est part of the race is right at the beginning. You have to adjust to that quickly." CN IN THE WIND P54 Tony Cairoli said he enjoyed his stint racing the AMA Motocross Nationals.