Antonio Cairoli’s Last Dance

Hailing from Sicily, in Italy, Antonio Cairoli is one of the all-time great motocross riders, with multiple World Championship titles to his name. Antonio ’Tony’ Cairoli entered his first FIM Motocross Championship in 2002 after growing up riding bikes. He wasn’t immediately successful but showed real promise and, as the season progressed, it was obvious that Cairoli was biding his time, learning the ropes and enjoying every single minute of it along the way. Two years later and his patience paid off. The young Sicilian won his first MX2 championship race at Namur, widely regarded as one of the toughest tracks in the series. His impressive victory was backed up by a third-place finish overall, and his solid performance throughout the season put a championship win firmly in Cairoli’s sights. He wasn’t to be disappointed. In 2005, just three years after his debut, Cairoli took his first world championship with six wins under his belt for the season – despite an injury and a disqualification. Aged 19, he was the