Return of the king: Cairoli grabs double win at Losail

You could say that history repeated itself and also created a new chapter. For the third time in succession, the opening round of the FIM Motocross Championship produced double wins in the MXGP class. But in the four times that the MXGP has been held here in Qatar, the same winner has never been able to repeat the performance. KTM rider Antonio Cairoli, who had won a race in 2013, yesterday became the first rider to become a return winner at the Losail Circuit.
The 30-year-old produced a dominant run in the first race to claim a straightforward victory, and in the second race he overtook reigning world champion Tim Gajser with just two laps to go and grab his second win of the season.  
“In the beginning I tried to pass him and I hit him and I thought I had trouble with the spokes and I slowed down. But then it felt ok and I started pushing again. I am really happy with this double victory,” said Cairoli after his double win.
“I am really happy, felt great to be back on the top spot. The season is long and we try and stay in the top three and 2015 and 2016 were not my best, so we try and do this more often,” the Italian had said after winning the first race. With 50 points under his belt, Cairoli will be happy with this confident start to the season.
In the MX2 category, Red Bull KTM rider Pauls Jonass produced a dominant ride to claim a double victory in Qatar.
“It’s a great feeling to start the season like this,” Jonass said after the race. “I just wanted two consistent runs. I am thankful to the team. I can’t wait for the next GP, and I hope we can continue like this,” added the 20-year-old.
In the second MXGP, it was Gajser who took the lead with Cairoli in pursuit. Yamaha rider Romain Febvre hauled himself into third place. Having taken the lead, the defending world champion tried to put some distance between him and Cairoli but the Italian didn’t let Gajser get away. The battling duo pulled away and by the sixth lap the gap to Febvre in third place was up to 11 seconds. The Frenchman himself was involved in a battle with Clement Desalle for third place.
In the middle part of the race, Gajser was slowly able to put some distance between him and Cairoli and the gap which was always hovering around the one-second mark had now increased to three seconds. The gap down to third was now 16 seconds.
While it looked like Gajser would pull off his first win of the season, the legend Cairoli produced another one of his typical, strong runs towards the end of the race. And with just two laps to go, Cairoli caught up with Gajser and overtook him. Cairoli was coming at him at such a pace that by the end of the race, within a lap and a half that is, the Italian had produced a gap of four seconds when he took the chequered flag. Febvre managed to cling onto third place, 23 seconds behind the battling duo.
In the first race, Cairoli got off to great start and took the hole shot ahead of Evgeny Bobryshev and pole-position man Gajser – in that order. Both the Honda riders tried hard to catch up with the KTM in front but Cairoli was in the groove and setting down one fast lap after another. After just four laps, the Italian had built up a gap of seven seconds ahead of Bobryshev.    
Back in the pack, Kawasaki rider Clement Desalle overtook Gajser and moved into third place. Cairoli’s team-mate Jeffrey Herlings put on a great show during the initial part of the race, climbing up to as high as sixth place at one point. But the injured hand seemed to be acting up and the brace Herlings soon had to let other riders go past.
Cairoli was so dominant that he had an incredible lead of 15 seconds after 14 laps. Behind him, Desalle had now moved into second place. Gajser overtook team-mate Bobryshev in the last lap and took the final spot on the podium.
In the MX2 category, Red Bull KTM rider Pauls Jonass produced a dominant ride to claim a double victory in Qatar.
“It’s a great feeling to start the season like this,” Jonass said after the race.
“I just wanted two consistent runs. I am thankful to the team. I can’t wait for the next GP, and I hope we can continue like this,” added the 20-year-old.
In both the races, Jonass jumped into lead right at the start and was able to reach the finish line without too much fuss. The remaining two spots on the podium were also identical in both the races. Benoit Paturel rode his Yamaha to second place and in third was KTM rider Julien Lieber.
This double win gives Jonass a good start to the season with the maximum 50 points under his belt after the first two races of the season. Apart from the races, the way he dominated proceedings will give him quite a bit of confidence going into the rest of the season.