After nine world titles and 94 Grand Prix wins you wouldn’t think there would be much more to add to Antonio Cairoli’s legacy. The Italian was already going down as one of the GOAT’s of the sport but yet, here we are in 2025, and the Italian is still doing things that are blowing people’s mind, despite not being a full time racer anymore!
Cairoli is of course now the ambassador for Ducati as well as helping to develop the brand new machines, an Italian legend on a legendary Italian brand, it is a perfect way to end his career. But his racing days are not quite over!
After racing in Arnhem to give Ducati their MXGP debut last year, a cool experience in itself, Cairoli has now ridden at two MXGP rounds in 2025, just months away from being 40 years old and underlined his brilliance on a bike.
Cairoli showed top ten speed but didn’t have the fitness at his home GP in Arco after being called up at short notice. But the British GP was more like it for Cairoli, who clearly had more fitness and more speed to show the world. 7-8 for seventh overall, just jumping into the world championship mid-way through the year was astonishing to everyone but maybe not that man Cairoli who, despite his easy going and humble way with people off the track, has always had the self-belief and fighting spirit on it! That has not went anywhere yet and he refused to give up in either moto, fighting tooth and nail to the end dicing with factory riders and finishing as top Ducati!
Enjoy it while it lasts! Two of the all-time greatest riders in history back on a GP track together -Tony Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings! What a privilege to see them in action together one more time. pic.twitter.com/IsINDcOtd5
— Gate Drop MX (@GateDropMx) June 22, 2025
Cairoli just reminded everyone of just how special he is. In the GOAT realm of Everts, Carmichael, McGrath, Bayle, or even Herlings, Stewart and Villopoto, no-one of that all-time level has raced at the elite level into their late 30s and about to be 40, not with this level of speed anyway. Maybe Herlings will be the next one to do it, but Cairoli is doing things we have not seen before from a rider of that legendary calibre.
Now he has another proud moment ahead, as he gets to launch the bike in it’s race trim in America at RedBud and Millville, another amazing experience with no-one better to launch the American project than Cairoli. As we saw last weekend at Matterley Basin, he still has speed too… and those good starts, so keep an eye on the Italian and the Ducati out of the gate in America.
Cairoli said of racing in the States on the Ducati: “This American trip is very interesting, especially from a commercial and marketing point of view. The U.S. market is the most important in the world, and our main goal is to debut the Desmo450 MX in the USA just a few weeks before deliveries begin, while enjoying iconic tracks like RedBud and Spring Creek. We’ll be racing with the production bike to introduce it directly to American fans and enthusiasts. Before that, I’ll be in Southwick on Saturday, June 28, serving as the event’s Grand Marshal. I don’t have any particular ambitions—just to have fun and entertain the American fans.”
To be racing the latest generation of superstars like 18 year old Lucas Coenen and 21 year old Jett Lawrence, for a rider who made his GP debut over 20 years ago, again goes to illustrate the class of Cairoli. This isn’t a generation he should be racing in, but he is still showing his brilliance as a part-time racer on a brand new machine.
Enjoy watching one of the greatest to ever do it racing a few more times – we never got this chance with the rest of the all-time legends. Cairoli, yet again, is doing things his way and breaking the mould. What a rider.
