In brilliant sunshine at Moneyglass yesterday, the Motocross
Grand Prix of Northern Ireland saw 21-year-old Italian Antonio
Cairoli clinch a dramatic double victory in the MX2 class and with
it secure his second World Championship.
In race one Cairoli made the perfect start, leading from the drop
of the gate to win by 22 seconds after 16 energy-sapping laps
around the spectacular new track.
This win gave Cairoli the 2007 World Championship as his closest
rival Christophe Pourcel crashed heavily in morning warm up and
was taken to hospital with suspected shoulder and back injuries.
Englishman Tommy Searle claimed second spot in the race ahead
of Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves.
Local rider Martin Barr, struggling with a wrist injury, finished in
21st position having been as high as 16th at one stage while
Wulfsport Kawasaki rider Shaun Simpson retired with machine
problems.
Searle opened up a 12 second lead in race two as Cairoli
struggled from a poor start down in 14th place. However, he
put on a super show in front of a huge crowd to scythe his way
through the field and close right in on the 17-year-old Red Bull
KTM rider with a lap to go.
On that final lap Searle and Cairoli clashed twice with the Italian
coming out best, sweeping across the nose of his rival who all
but crashed to take the win and the overall Grand Prix victory.
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