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MX2 : Cairoli rules at home
Round: 8 - Grand Prix of Italy
Circuit: Castiglione del Lago
Date: 12 June 2005
Crowd: 18000
Temp: 26ºC
Weather: Changeable
The MX2 Grand Prix of Italy was testimony to the health of Italian motocross with 19-year old Antonio Cairoli (Team Yamaha De Carli) claiming a convincing win and three more home riders made it into the top ten. In addition Cairoli regained the lead in championship standings with 270 points, McFarlane is now second with 263 points. Scotsman Stephen Sword (Kawasaki) and David Philippaerts completed the podium.
Local hope Antonio Cairoli claimed the holeshot in the opening MX2 heat and quickly pulled away from the pack. The YZ250 F mounted Cairoli led every single lap ahead of Italian veteran Alessio Chiodi. However the first race of the day was far from boring with a furious battle for third between Philippaerts (KTM), Guarneri (Yamaha) and Sword Chiodi made a late attempt to close the gap and came within 1.3 seconds of Cairoli but the three-time world champion was not able to make a move. Cédric Melotte gave the crowd value for money coming back from 24th on the opening lap to finish seventh. Andrew McFarlane finished fifth ahead of Belgium's Patrick Caps (Honda).
Cairoli repeated his signature holeshot in the afternoon, ahead of Chiodi and Sword this time. The nature of the Castiglione track proved perfect for close racing and again the front runners stayed close together. Chiodi was only allowed to enjoy his lead briefly after passing Cairoli on the eighth lap, Chiodi went down one lap later. An exciting three way fight between Cairoli, Sword and Melotte developed. Sword came out on top ahead of Melotte. Cairoli took third enough to record the third GP victory of his career. Chiodi came home fourth, McFarlane was sixth. Yamaha Rinaldi R&D development rider Andrea Bartolini took the opportunity of his home Grand Prix to sample some top level GP racing for the programme. Bartolini, 34, managed a credible 11th overall equaling tenth placed Christophe Pourcel. Yamaha's overall dominance of the class also strengthens the position of the brand in the manufacturers' world championship, where "the blues" lead with 197 points, Kawasaki is se! cond with 154 points, and KTM is third with 130 points.
Antonio Cairoli (Team Yamaha De Carli) - overall winner "I'm so happy to win my first GP in front of my home crowd, especially since so many people from Sicily traveled all the way to support me. I rode with a pain killer for my wrist, and this worked pretty good in the first race. In the second race I knew I would have more pain, so my strategy was to push very hard in the first ten minutes and then I was able to control my race. My goal was to win the GP and to reclaim the red leader board, so my weekend could not have been better. To give my wrist some wrest before France I will limit my training to physical exercises rather than riding on the bike."
Alessio Chiodi (Ricci Racing) - Fourth overall "My speed was good this weekend, but I think I could have got a slightly better result. In the first race I had to let Cairoli go in the beginning, but near the end my rhythm got better and better and I almost came back to Cairoli. I was disappointed with my mistake in the second race, I lost the front in a tight and slippery right hander when I had just passed Cairoli and to come back here is really hard."
Cédric Melotte (L&M Yamaha Team) - fifth overall "All year long I have been struggling with my starts and certainly in MX2 the start makes up for almost 50% of the race. In the first race I had a terrible start and to come back on such a fast track is really demanding. In the end I was happy to get seventh. Luckily I had a better start in the second race. I was going with Sword and Cairoli, but when Sword took command his speed was a little bit too much for me and I decided to settle for second. Given my condition I'm happy to have reached second today. On big jumps I really had to fight the pain in my wrist, but at least we now perfectly know what is going on. The ligaments of the wrist are injured and the only way to properly fix it is an operation. As I won't have the operation, I'm glad that we found a good technique of taping it."
Andrew McFarlane (Ricci Racing) - Sixth overall "I think the track really suited the Italian riders being hard, fast and not so technical. I did not have the best feeling out there this weekend, and everybody was going really fast. It was hard to make a difference and I only got away around tenth in the first race. My start in the second race was better, but I could really make any headway. My fitness and my confidence are really strong now so I hope to be back for more in France."
Round: 8 - Grand Prix of Italy
Circuit: Castiglione del Lago
Circuit Length: 1748
Lap Record: 2' 1.161 (Mickael Maschio, 2002)
