The legend is back. Yes, Tony Cairoli is still able to make a differenceafter two years of stopping, and he demonstrated this in the Italian motocross championship race in which he took part on the Tuscan circuit of Ponte a Egola, where in his first on a Ducati he reached the podium, finishing in second place, behind teammate Alessandro Lupino. There was a lot of anticipation to see the champion from Messina compete again in an official race, which also coincided with a historic date for the Borgo Panigale company, which achieved its first victory in motocross.
A missed victory
On conditionare the racevalid as the fourth test of the Italian championship, it was pouring rain, which made the surface muddy to the limit of practicability. Indeed race 1 was interrupted just when Cairoli was leading, with its iconic number 222 on the hull, earning half the success ahead of Lupino. Then in race 2 it was still a battle between the two Ducati standard bearers, however, with Lupino getting the better of Cairoli under the checkered flagtaking the overall victory for the highest score collected.
An ageless talent
“Not the conditions I expected for my return to the race but it was still cool”, is how the nine-time world champion commented on his performance, with legitimate disappointment for the result, given the competitive spirit that has always characterized him. But, regardless of the final positioning, Cairoli he has demonstrated an immutable talent, which does not suffer from any rust two years after his official retirement from the Motocross World Championship. And now all that remains is to wait to see him have fun again and put on a show for his many fans, as only he can do.
(Instagram photo)
