Antonio Cairoli impressed yet again with his speed at 40 years old, taking eighth in the MXGP qualifying race on the Saturday then battling through the pain of a broken hand to take 13th in the final moto after being landed on in moto one.
Another motocross of nations at age 40. How was the whole experience here yesterday was unbelievable.
“It started very good I was feeling great with the bike and everything and yes we rode very good. We battled with Eli all the auto and yeah we ended up on a good spot. The speed was there today. Uortunately the first moto I had not a good start and I was in the middle of the pack then I get landed on by another rider.I broke my hand and yeah, I had to dig deep to finish that first moto in terrible pain.
The the second moto I had to get some taping, some painkillers and try to hang on and do everything I could for Italy. In the end I was in front of my teammate, so yeah not too bad let’s say but not what I expect and not what I wanted for this race but yeah this is part of racing let’s say.
Were you surprised with your speed on Saturday to hold off Eli and you were right in the pace of the GP regulars?
No, I’m not surprised I mean I know I can ride top 10 in the US and also top 5 for sure in MXGP if I keep training and I keep riding how I did in the past but yeah, I was not surprised but I was happy, I was really enjoying the racing and the riding. Today unfortunately I had to really, really dig deep try to get all my experience riding in this condition with my hand and in the end yeah, I mean it’s okay but it’s not what we wanted.
The second moto there you were 13th and Kenny Roczen was just in front, I saw you the last lap you were still pushing there to the fight at 40 years old and it’s incredible.
Yeah in the beginning of the race I really had to struggle with the pain then it gets a little bit better after the middle of the moto. So I could follow a bit Kenny with the speed and then we made some passes we come a bit to the front but it was also difficult to pass, I mean the tracks a lot of ruts and a lot of physical, I have to say it was really physical, so in the end like I said, not what we wanted sixth overall with Italy.
We improved a bit from last year which is good but our goal was to finish top five so we didn’t reach the goal.
I took a video of you and Lucas Coenen yesterday and it got tens of thousands of views. You’re 40, he’s 18, he wasn’t born when you won in 2005! What is that like racing him?
If I watch the stats I guess yeah, my minds blow up a lot of things but I try to don’t forget who I was in the past when I arrived and try to see what I can do as this age still is amazing and I still I hope I can do still for a couple of years.
I really enjoy riding and also mixing up with the guys it’s still funny. You know, when you start to be scared with racing it’s time to hang up the helmet but I still really enjoy.
40 year old Cairoli won his first world title in 2005, 18 year old Lucas Coenen wasn't born. Today they battled at the 2025 MXoN inside the top ten. A generational talent v one of the best to ever do it! Amazing to see! pic.twitter.com/2lZlRkbJYT
— Gate Drop MX (@GateDropMx) October 5, 2025
Evrn Liam, you raced Stefan and Liam like you’re probably they’re heroes and they’re looking across and you’re still on the track.
Its funny but like I said I try to forget what I did in the past and try to reset and and do new things let’s say with this new bike.
So we can expect to see you in more races in America & GP?
I would like to do some more racing especially here in the US, I really enjoy the tracks and the prep of the tracks and it’s really fun to race so let’s see if we can make it up again next year with some some some more racing, yeah.
