WORLD TITLE No.8
Italy’s Tony Cairoli is fast closing in on the world motocross championship record of his legendary boss at KTM, Stefan Everts.
Cairoli made it world title No.8 in Brazil at the weekend and he is now just two shy of the record No.10 achieved by Everts before he retired at the end of the 2006 season.
Although it came easier than he had first anticipated with his only remaining title challenger, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, crawling to the finish in race one after injuring his ankle in qualifying at round 17 of 18 at the MXGP of Goias, in Brazil, on Saturday, it has still been a hard earned season for the 28-year-old Italian.
Out of the 31 gate drops he needed to face before being crowned 2014 FIM MXGP World Champion, the happy-go-lucky guy from Patti, Italy, had a near 50 percent win rate, winning 15 of the 31 races. Out of the first 15 rounds of MXGP this season, Cairoli landed on the podium a whopping 12 times.
The three times he was not on the podium he still finished inside the top five. He also wrapped up nine MXGP round victories this season, extending his career total of Grand Prix wins to 72 (the same number made famous by Belgian rider Everts because that was his preferred racing number, the year of Everts’ birth).
It has been 10 years since Cairoli’s first Grand Prix win, which he obtained on his rookie season riding for De Carli Yamaha back in 2004, a season in which he finished an impressive third overall. The following year, in 2005, he claimed his first world title in MX2 and now, nine years on, he has racked up an incredible eight FIM Motocross World Championship titles and is the second most successful rider in history.
BikesportNZ.com has been on the spot to witness several of these title wins and we post a couple of photos here from his many title-winning rides … 
Can Cairoli continue on and overtake Everts’ 10 wins?
Germany’s Max Nagl won the MXGP of Brazil, but his victory was greatly overshadowed by the title win of Cairoli.
Nagl riding for the HRC Factory team went 1-1, while Gautier Paulin was second with 40 points and third was Cairoli was 36 points.
Meanwhile, in the MX2 class, Frenchman Romain Febvre made his farewell to the MX2 class a good one as he won the Grand Prix of Brazil.
Febvre who rides for the Jacky Martins Husqvarna Factory team scored 1-3 results for the GP victory. Febvre led home fellow Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis and Honda rider Tim Gajser.
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jordi Tixier finished fourth overall with 34 points and is now 23 points behind Jeffrey Herlings in the championship points with one round to go in Mexico.
© Photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
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MXGP – Overall Classification
1 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB HON 25 25 50
2 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM KAW 18 22 40
3 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 16 20 36
4 183 Frossard, Steven FRA FFM KAW 22 14 36
5 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU KAW 14 18 32
6 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL FMB SUZ 20 12 32
7 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA FMI TM 9 16 25
8 32 Potisek, Milko FRA FFM YAM 11 13 24
9 19 Philippaerts, David ITA FMI YAM 13 11 24
10 91 Karro, Matiss LAT LAMSF KTM 10 10 20
11 111 Ferris, Dean AUS MA HUS 15 4 19
12 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR ACU KTM 2 15 17
13 999 Goncalves, Rui POR FMP YAM 12 5 17
14 421 Garcia, Wellington BRA CBM HON 6 8 14
15 101 Martin, Humberto VEN FMV YAM 4 9 13
MXGP – Championship Classification
1 222 Cairoli, A. ITA KTM 705
2 89 Van Horebeek, J. BEL YAM 596
3 22 Strijbos, K. BEL SUZ 530
4 25 Desalle, C. BEL SUZ 484
5 183 Frossard, S. FRA KAW 392
6 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM 382
7 12 Nagl, M. GER HON 357
8 21 Paulin, G. FRA KAW 315
9 39 Guarneri, D. ITA TM 270
10 19 Philippaerts, D. ITA YAM 258
11 999 Goncalves, Rui POR YAM 244
12 100 Searle, Tommy GBR KAW 229
13 91 Karro, Matiss LAT KTM 217
14 777 Bobryshev, E. RUS HON 184
15 121 Boog, Xavier FRA HON 159
MX2 – GP Classification
1 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM HUS 25 20 45
2 122 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM KAW 22 22 44
3 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS HON 14 25 39
4 911 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM KTM 16 18 34
5 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS KTM 18 15 33
6 200 Tonus, Arnaud SUI FMS KAW 20 13 33
7 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS SUZ 11 16 27
8 23 Charlier, Christophe FRA FFM YAM 13 14 27
9 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB KTM 15 10 25
10 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU YAM 9 12 21
11 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV SUZ 10 11 21
12 59 Tonkov, Aleksandr RUS MFR HUS 12 9 21
13 64 Covington, Thomas USA AMA KAW 6 7 13
14 400 Yamamoto, Kei JPN MFJ HON 7 6 13
15 230 Assuncao , Hector BRA CBM HON 8 5 13
MX2 – World Championship Classification
1 84 Herlings, J. NED KTM 594
2 911 Tixier, Jordi FRA KTM 571
3 461 Febvre, Romain FRA HUS 534
4 122 Ferrandis, D. FRA KAW 511
5 243 Gajser, Tim SLO HON 487
6 200 Tonus, Arnaud SUI KAW 422
7 92 Guillod, V. SUI KTM 412
8 59 Tonkov, A. RUS HUS 384
9 17 Butron, Jose ESP KTM 345
10 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI SUZ 328
11 99 Anstie, Max GBR YAM 282
12 33 Lieber, Julien BEL KTM 260
13 152 Petrov, Petar BUL YAM 239
14 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED SUZ 223
15 23 Charlier, C. FRA YAM 203
ANTONIO CAIROLI – BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Nationality: Italian
Place of birth: Patti
Date of birth (d/m/y) 23/09/1985
Website www.tonycairoli.com
First GP raced 2002, GP of Belgium, 125cc
World Titles 8 (1 MXGP, 5 MX1, 2 MX2)
First World Title 2005, MX2
GP wins 72 (9 in MXGP; 39 in MX1; 24 in MX2)
First GP win 2004, GP of Wallonie, Namur, MX2
Last GP win 2014, MXGP of Belgium, Lommel, MXGP
2014 position in the Championship 1/MXGP; Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Other results:
| YEAR | BIKE | TEAM | CHAMPIONSHIP | RESULTS |
| 2013 | KTM | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1 |
| 2012 | KTM | ITALY/RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 5 |
| 2011 | KTM | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1 |
| 2011 | KTM | ITALY/RED BULL TEKA KTM FACTORY RACING MX1 | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 16 |
| 2010 | KTM | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING MX1 | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX1 | 1 |
| 2010 | KTM | ITALY/RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING MX1 | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 5 |
| 2009 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA RED BULL DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX1 | 1 |
| 2009 | YAMAHA | ITALY/YAMAHA RED BULL DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 6 |
| 2008 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA RED BULL DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 | 6 |
| 2007 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 | 1 |
| 2007 | YAMAHA | ITALY /YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 4 |
| 2006 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 | 2 |
| 2006 | YAMAHA | ITALY /YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 4 |
| 2006 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA DE CARLI | UEM SUPERCROSS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP | 1 |
| 2005 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 | 1 |
| 2005 | YAMAHA | ITALY/YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 13 |
| 2004 | YAMAHA | YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 | 3 |
| 2004 | YAMAHA | ITALY/YAMAHA DE CARLI | FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | 15 |
| 2000 | HONDA | PRIVATEER | UEM MOTOCROSS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 85cc | 8 |