Tony Cairoli celebrated his first MX1 GP victory on the new KTM 350 SX-F racing machine on Sunday in front of his home crowd in Mantova Italy.

MX 1
Tony Cairoli – 1st:
I’m very happy to win the first ever GP on the 350. Like Stefan Everts said it is a historical victory for us. It’s a great feeling to be the first one who has ever won a GP on this bike. I have won on different bikes but to be the first, well that’s a different emotion. For sure with this victory I’m convinced that I have a very strong bike. I’m happy to be back with the red plate but it would have been okay also if it was with my team-mate. The most important thing is to have it at the end of the championship. Now I look forward to Valkenswaard. I like the track there and it’s going to be a great race.

Clement Desalle – 2nd:
It felt great to get my first win in the first moto. I knew Cairoli was coming closer at the end but I could control the distance. My start in the second race was not as good as in the first moto and I was around eighth position on the first lap. The track was harder for passing in the afternoon so I concentrated on reaching the top five. The gap to the others was too hard to make smaller. This is my second podium but I am still new to the factory team and have to learn a lot; we can do better.

Max Nagl – 3rd:
For me it’s like every weekend I’m getting better. I like this track. It was really rough but it was fun to ride. For sure it’s good if the red plate stays with the team but if it’s possible I want to have it back.

Xavier Boog – 5th:
I made two good starts this weekend, and that was a good basis for my best results so far in MX1. I didn’t gate so well in the first moto, but I was able to cut inside at the first corner and came out 8th. I suffered a little with armpump later in the race, but I had no difficulty to hold 7th place to the finish. In the second moto I nearly grabbed the holeshot and was really enjoying the track. 6th place was a great ride for me. I feel more comfortable every race with my Kawasaki and I can look forward with confidence to the upcoming races. I will race at Mons in Belgium next week; that is a sand track so it will be good preparation for the next GP at Valkenswaard.

Jonathan Barragan – 6th:
I finished twice in the top eight today, but that is not what I am looking for. I still need more race time on the Kawasaki to improve my feeling with the bike, and that shows in my starts. It is always difficult to get a good result if you are not with the leaders from the word go, and that was especially true here as it was a very difficult to pass on this track. Next week I will race a Spanish championship round, and then I head for the Netherlands; I won there last year, so my goal for this year must be a podium result.

Steve Ramon – 7th:
Tough day! Tough first moto! Out of the start someone elbowed me and that set me back. I made a lot of positions by turning tight but then in the third corner two guys crashed in front of me and I had to pull up and had nowhere to go. A bit further on, Coppins did a front flip over the double into the triple and I was following in the same rut so I jumped on his bike; it was a crazy first lap. I tried to get back to the front but it is really difficult here to make time and ground. If you want to go fast here then you need a good rhythm; if you push too hard, then you are making mistakes. In the second moto the start was not good again and the first laps were a battle. But I did the best that I could to come back and score as many points as possible.

Sébastien Pourcel – 11th:
The weekend didn’t start well when I crashed at the start of the qualifying race, but I was still able to make good starts on Sunday even with an eighteenth position on the grid. But my results are not what I expected; the track was very rough and in the first moto I had armpump after about ten minutes so I concentrated on not making mistakes which could endanger my 5th place. Crashes cost me a good result in the second race. I fell at the start and was taking too many risks to come back; in the end I hit a stake and crashed again so I only scored three points. I have been working hard for the last three months to improve my riding on sandy tracks and I hope that I will be able to score top five finishes in both races at Valkenswaard.

MX 2

Marvin Musquin – 1st:
It was exciting and I had to push hard to pass him. I felt good and I thought I could pass him with two laps before the end but he was fast … I was very focused on him and not on my riding but I managed to get past and win. It was perfect.

Ken Roczen – 2nd:
Practice went OK and I am not the kind of rider who can push like crazy for a flying lap. My start was really bad in the Heat race and I tried to catch the guys. I made a mistake and had a crash but got up quickly. I found some useful lines that won me some time. It is pretty hard to pass out there but if you have a good eye you can always find something. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Jeffery Herlings – 3rd:
Just two weeks ago I was talking to Stefan Everts and we said it would be amazing to be in the top eight. Now last week I was fourth and now we are top three.

Arnaud Tonus – 6th :
The track is much harder than what we had here for the International in February and it was hard to get a good rhythm at the beginning. I got better and better though and the race was going well until I had a small problem with the bike. I will just have to hope for a good start tomorrow from a low place in the gate.

Steven Frossard – 5th:
For sure the weekend could have been better, but my second race was ruined just after the start when another rider lost control of his bike and hit my front wheel. I knew I had to try to recover as many places as possible quickly but I crashed again on the first lap and that left me dead last so I did pretty well to come back to 10th by the end of the race. The first race had been much better, but I stalled the engine in a turn when I was in second place and lost a lot of time; it’s a shame because I had found a good rhythm and was racing with the leaders. Next week I will race a Dutch championship round in sand; it will be a perfect training before the GP at Valkenswaard.

Shaun Simpson – 7th:
I think it was a step in the right direction. It was always going to be tough with the rhythm on the bike. In training it’s easy to do 40 minutes but it’s at a much slower pace. But I picked up some good points and it’s a long season. Next weekend will be a no pressure race. The fitness will build and come Valkenswaard, I’m positive I’ll be good.

Jeremy Van Horebeek – 9th: :
I was satisfied with my fourth position in the opening race even though I suffered a little with arm pump. My start was not so good in the second race, but I felt much more comfortable and charged back to 5th position behind Simpson after a few laps; I was looking to pass him over a jump but my rear wheel slipped out just before the take-off and I crashed when I landed. I had to stop at the pits to straighten my front wheel, and then I just concentrated on captured a few points. It was a frustrating mistake, and I will be looking forward to making up for it at the GP in Valkenswaard in two weeks time.

Christophe Charlier – 12th:
Of course this is a great championship to win and a good way to start the year. Gautier Paulin was very strong in the first two races but I stayed with him as best as I could. Overall this is excellent preparation for our first world championship and I have to give a big thanks to the team and the people who helped us like the Rinaldi Group, Kayaba and all the partners that we have. I am really motivated for this season and cannot wait to start the GPs now.