MOTOCROSS
FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5 / APRIL 16, 2017
GP OF TRENTINO / TRENTINO, ITALY
P52
STORY BY STEVE COX
A
fter spending the first few rounds racing
eastward around the globe, the World
Motocross Championships returned to Eu-
rope to resume the 2017 title chases, and it was
KTM dominating the racing in both classes with
home favorite Antonio Cairoli coming from behind
to win the MXGP class and Jorge Prado Garcia
nabbing his first-ever GP victory in MX2.
In the premier MXGP class, eight-time world
champ Cairoli — at 31 years of age — made an
amazing day of it at the Trentino MXGP, grabbing
the holeshot and leading every lap of the race
in moto one, making it look easy. Behind him
finished Yamaha's Arnaud Tonus and Honda's
defending champ Tim Gajser.
However, in the second moto, the Red Bull
KTM factory pilot started second behind points
leader Gajser before finding trouble in the sec-
ond corner. Cairoli got back going again in 20th
place, and with Gajser out front, the overall
victory seemed unlikely. Cairoli began pass-
world-championship motocross victory of his
career just in front of the 3-1 of Gajser and the 2-7
of Tonus for third overall.
"I just kept pushing and pushing trying to make
passes, and it worked," Cairoli said. "I'm really
happy! I had some sketchy moments but if you
want to win you have to take some risks. It's a
very special race, one of my best GPs ever!"
In the championship, Cairoli narrowed the
ing people, and once he got near the front, he
passed Tonus for sixth, then Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Gautier Paulin for fifth, followed by
Kawasaki's Clement Desalle for fourth, teammate
Jeffrey Herlings for third, and then Honda's Evg-
eny Bobryshev all in the exact same spot on con-
secutive laps to take over second place, where
he would finish out the moto behind Gajser.
Cairoli's 1-2 score gave him his 79th overall
CAIROLI CLAIMS
HOME WIN
Prado captures first career MX2 victory
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KTM
IMAGES/RAY
ARCHER
