VOL. 52 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 3, 2015 P23
PAULIN OFF
TO FAST START
H
RC Honda's Gautier Paulin
got off to a fast start to the
2015 MX season by winning the
opening round of the Internazion-
ali d'Italia, held at the Riola Sardo
circuit in Sardinia, February 1.
With the opening round of the
FIM World Motocross Champion-
ship just three weeks away, many
of the riders used the race as a
pre-season warm-up, including
defending MXGP Champion An-
tonio Cairoli, who finished sec-
ond to the Frenchman, Paulin.
Third on the day went to Ya-
maha Factory Racing Yama-
lube's Jeremy Van Horebeek of
Belgium.
German Max Nagl made his
debut on the IceOne Husqvarna
Team and finished fourth ahead
of Yamaha/Yamalube's Romain
Febvre.
Cairoli, however, didn't disap-
point the home fans by winning
the Elite portion of the competi-
tion, which includes scores from
both the MX1 and MX2 classes.
Paulin took second and Tommy
Searle third.
Ryan Villopoto and his Kawa-
saki teammate Tyla Rattray, who
are currently in Europe, are plan-
ning to make their 2015 racing
debut at the GP season opener
in Qatar, February 28.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KTM
IMAGES/S.
TAGLLONI
TICKLE SITS IT OUT
R
CH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Fac-
tory Racing's Broc Tickle sat out round five
of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at
Anaheim, January 31, to recover from a back in-
jury suffered the week earlier at Oakland, where he
made a voluntary trip to nearby Sutter Eden Medi-
cal Center for evaluation after the event. He was
examined, released and cleared to travel home
with the team.
After consulting with his personal physician dur-
ing the week, Tickle and team owners Carey Hart
and Ricky Carmichael made the decision for Tickle
to sit out Anaheim 3 to allow him to fully recover.
The injury to his back was unrelated to the one he
suffered last year at the Toronto Supercross that
ended his season.
"Given my recent experience with back injuries,
I've learned to take the doctor's advice," Tickle
said. "I don't want to turn a one-race injury into
something bigger. It should be a pretty quick re-
covery and I can still do everything training-wise,
except for riding. I need to stay off the bike for five
to seven days. After that, I should be ready to go for
San Diego [this weekend]."
(Left to right) Gautier Paulin, Antonio
Cairoli and Tommy Searle made up
the Elite podium in Italy.
Broc Tickle plans to suit up for the
San Diego Supercross this weekend.
