The two Red Bull KTM Factory riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings will be going for some history of their own in the 2013 FIM World Motocross Championships. The two defending World Motocross Champions can move even deeper into the record books with GP success and World titles this season.Cairoli with his six World Motocross Championships and 54 Grand Prix victories is already the second most successful Grand Prix racer of all time. With his six title and 54 GP wins he is just three Grand Prix wins away from joining five times World Champion Joel Smets in the GP winners list.
The Italian has been the most consistent racer in the sports recent history winning his first six World titles quicker than even the great Stefan Everts. Cairoli won his titles in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, thus in the span of seven years. Everts won his first six in 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2002, thus over 11 years.
Adding to the success of Cairoli he is undefeated on the big bike class, and only gets stronger as was evident in the last part of the 2012 season when he won several Grand Prixs in a row and also the Motocross of Nations individual results in the MX1 class.
If Cairoli can win his seventh World Motocross Championship in 2013 he will be just three short of the all time record of Everts, and in many people’s eyes Cairoli is still improving. The only man that can really challenge the Italian is that other KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings.
World MX2 Champion Herlings has 16 Grand Prix victories to his name, which places him 28th in the all time winners list and just three GP victories to join another Dutchman Kees Van Der Ven as the second most successful Dutchman in Motocross for GP wins. The first is 1986 World 125cc Champion Dave Strijbos who has a massive 27 GP wins in his career.
Of course Herlings is expected to win a majority of the MX2 Grand Prix’s in 2013, so it is easily possible that he can actually pass Strijbos and his 27 wins. Just nine GP wins and he is there.
With that single World MX2 title in 2012 Herlings joined Strijbos and 1994 125cc Champion Pedro Tragter as a one time World Champion from Holland. Only fellow Dutchman John Van Den Berk has been able to win two, those coming in 1987 and 1988 in the 125cc and 250cc classes.
If Herlings can win again in 2013 he will be the first Dutchman to win two World Championships in a row in the same class, and it would also elevate him as the most successful Dutch rider of all time (GP wins and titles combined).
Being that both Cairoli and Herlings are the strong favourites to win in 2013 it will take a big effort from their competition to stop their success stories continuing.
By Geoff Meyer