Antonio "Tony" Cairoli (born 23 September 1985) is an Italian professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 2002 to 2021. Cairoli is notable for winning nine FIM Motocross World Championships. He was also a member of the winning Italian team at the 2021 Motocross des Nations. He currently works as part of the development team for the Ducati brand.

Life and MXGP Career Antonio was born in Patti, Sicily. He began his motocross Grand Prix career in 2002 riding a Yamaha. He and his wife Jill Cox split their time between Rome, Italy and Lommel, Belgium, where he trained.

2004 In his debut MX2 season, Cairoli rode to a third-place finish in the championship with a maiden GP win at round 12.

2005 Cairoli won his first of two MX2 titles in 2005 with six wins and nine podiums.

2006 Cairoli ended 2006 second in the MX2 World Championship.

2007 Cairoli dominated the MX2 field in 2007, securing ten wins from 15 Grand Prix's (missed round 14) as well as 13 out of 14 podium finishes. This led him to his second MX2 World Motocross Championship.

2008

Cairoli was unable to defend his MX2 championship, mainly due to missing five rounds because of injury.

2009 Cairoli claimed the 2009 FIM Motocross World Championship, on his last year at Yamaha.2009 FIM MX1-GP final standings This was his first premier class title. He ended the season with four GP wins.

2010 Cairoli successfully defended his MX1 world championship in 2010. Riding for the Red Bull Factory KTM team, as well as being the first since Stefan Everts in 2006 to defend the MX1 championship. He added another eight GP wins to his record.

2011

Cairoli won his third consecutive MX1 title in 2011 with six Grand Prix victories.

2012 On 5 August 2012, in Czech Republic, Cairoli won his 50th GP in the MX1 World Championship. He defended the MX1 title for the fourth time. He ended the season with 11 GP wins from the 15 rounds he raced.

2013

In the 2013 MX1 season, Cairoli continued his dominance in the Motocross World Championship. Riding for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, Cairoli displayed exceptional skill and consistency. He secured multiple victories throughout the season and defended the MX1 World Championship title for the fifth time, further solidifying his status as one of the premier riders in motocross.

2014 In the 2014 MXGP season, Cairoli continued his remarkable performance in the premier class of the Motocross World Championship. He showcased consistent excellence, securing multiple victories and podium finishes. Despite facing tough competition, Cairoli's skill and determination prevailed, and he successfully defended his title, winning the MXGP World Championship for another consecutive year.

2015

Cairoli's streak of six MXGP World Championships came to an end due to injury. He ended the season seventh.

2016

Coming off an injury sustained in 2015, Cairoli battled to a second place championship finish.

2017

At the age of 32, 2017 was the year in which Cairoli was able to clinch his ninth MXGP World Championship, with six Grand Prix wins.

2021 Cairoli announced his retirement from motocross on September 14, 2021.

2022 After his retirement from full-time professional racing, Cairoli announced he would be visiting the United States to race the AMA Motocross Championship for select rounds which included Fox Raceway, Hangtown, Thunder Valley, High Point & Budds Creek. His best result was a fifth at Thunder Valley.

2024 Celebrating his comeback and Ducati's debut at the motocross world championship, Cairoli raced at the MXGP of Arnhem (Qualifying: seventh, Race 1: 15th).

Achievements YearMotorcycleWorld ChampionshipMdNItalian Ch.SupercrossTítlesMXGPMX1MX2TitlesGP winsRaces winsRace1Race2Nation's OverallEuropean Ch.British Ch.2001 ? 1st Cadet 12002 Honda 1st Junior 12003 Honda -2004 Yamaha 3rd – 1 1 18th 26th 15th -2005 Yamaha 1stMX2 6 12 39th 36th 13th 12006 Yamaha 2nd – 3 1110th 1st 4th 1st1st 22007 Yamaha 24th 1stMX2 11One Race and one GP in MX1 23 37th 14th 4th 1st1st1st42008 Yamaha 6th – 4 8 – – – -2009 Yamaha 1st MX1 4 91st 38th 6th 1 2010 KTM 1st MX1 8 15 2nd 4th 5th 1 2011 KTM 1st MX1 6 9 40th 37th 16th 1 2012 KTM 1st MX1 11 211st 1st 5th 1 2013 KTM 1st MX1 9 201st 1st 3rd 12014 KTM 1st MXGP 9 15 40th 19th 6th 12015 KTM 7th – 2 5 - - - -2016 KTM 2nd – 3 52nd 2nd 5th -2017 KTM 1st MXGP 6 9 11th 7th 7th 12018 KTM 2nd - 2 6 6th 4th 2nd -2019KTM10th4716th-2020KTM3rd3221st2nd1st-Total titles2529851693302 2 1 16 9 world titles

Post Racing Career

After his full time racing career ended, Cairoli took up the role of team manager of the Red Bull KTM Factory team and oversaw their efforts in both MX2 and MXGP.

Cairoli left KTM in 2023. He later revealed he had joined the new Ducati motocross program. In his role, Cairoli will report directly to Ducati Corse director Paolo Ciabatti and assist in the development of Ducati's motocross bikes and the efforts of both MXGP and AMA riders under the Ducati banner, with the first Ducati motocross motorcycles being ready to race in 2025. He raced the Ducati Desmo450 in two rounds of the 2026 AMA pro motocross series.

MXGP Career Results Year Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6 Rnd7 Rnd8 Rnd9 Rnd10 Rnd11 Rnd12 Rnd13 Rnd14 Rnd15 Rnd16 Rnd17 Rnd18 Rnd19 Rnd20 AverageFinish PodiumPercent Place 2004 MX2 8 5 5 5 3 OUT 5 4 13 7 3 1 4 2 3 - - - - - 4.85 36% 3rd 2005 MX2 5 2 1 6 7 2 20 1 OUT 1 3 1 1 1 11 5 10 - - - 4.81 56% 1st 2006 MX2 7 8 3 5 2 6 2 2 1 6 4 1 3 2 1 - - - - - 3.53 60% 2nd 2007 MX2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 8 1 OUT 1 - - - - - 1.71 93% 1st 2008 MX2 2 4 1 7 1 1 10 2 1 DNF OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT - - - - - 3.22 67% 6th 2009 MX1 56 1 2 1 38 3 1 1 2 34 6 9 - - - - - 3.6060% 1st 2010 MX12 11 2 412 4211 11 1 DNF - - - - - 1.71 86% 1st 2011 MX1915222 13 211 2 11 OUT - - - - - 2.3586% 1st 2012 MX11 32 18 1 31 DNF 1 1 1 11 1 1 - - - - 1.80 93% 1st 2013 MX12 11 12 2 1 1 3111 1 1 52 73 - - 2.0089% 1st 2014 MXGP 3 1 151141 315 113133 - - - 2.23 82% 1st 2015 MXGP 4 3 3 2 11 1 1 3 13 9 7 5 OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT - - 6.89 50% 7th 2016 MXGP 5 5 4 2 6 2 1 1 7 4 6 4 7 3 1 2 14 2 - - 4.22 44% 2nd 2017 MXGP1 472 1 4 21 2511 12 3 7 34 15 - 3.4763% 1st 2018 MXGP 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 6 2 2 1 2 4 2 2 7 4 8 2 OUT 3.00 74% 2nd 2019 MXGP 1 1 1 2 2 7 1 8 11 OUT OUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUT - - 3.78 67% 10th 2020 MXGP 3 4 13 1 4 3 4 1 8 4 2 6 9 3 5 1 5 12 - - 4.89 39% 3rd 2021 MXGP 10 1 3 2 2 5 5 5 3 OUT 7 5 5 DNS 1 5 3 15 - - 4.81 44% 6th

Injuries 2008 – Torn Acl (Knee, MXGP of South Africa) 2014 – Knee injury (at MXON Kegums, Latvia) 2015 – Fractured elbow (MXGP of Maggiora, Italy) 2016 – two broken ribs, wrist injury 2019 - Shoulder injury

References

External links Tony Cairoli at MX1 web site Tony Cairoli at KTM web site Tony Cairoli at Red Bull web site Tony Cairoli, at Gatedrop.com, 11-9-2017