Cairoli going for six – five is not enoughThe Red Bull KTM Factory rider already has five FIM World Motocross Championships and another title will place him equal with Joel Robert for Championship victories. Here is a little look at how the top half a dozen Grand Prix riders came to entering the record books.
The first ever five times World Motocross Champion was Joel Robert. The Belgian rider picked up his first 250cc Motocross Championship in 1964 after stealing the title from 1962 and 1963 Champion Torsten Hallman. It would take Robert another four years before he would pick up title number two in 1968, although as his confidence grew he scored World Championship victories in 1969, 70 and 71 and finally adding World Championship number six in 1972.
Joining Robert in the record books was fellow Belgian Roger De Coster as he won the FIM World 500cc Motocross Championship in 1971, 72, 73, 75 and 76. Five titles in six years have only been equalled by Stefan Everts, who scored six in six years from 2001 until 2006.
After De Coster came yet another Belgian in the form of Georges Jobe, who put together a mix of 250cc and 500cc Championships in 1980, 83, 87, 91 and 92. The longest run at five Championships in the history of the sport running over a 12 year span.
Of course Eric Geboers (Belgium), the first rider to win FIM World Championships in all classes, 125cc, 250cc and 500cc, is also a five times FIM World Motocross Champion with wins in 1982, 83 (both in the 125cc class), 1987 in the 250cc class and 1988 and 90 in the 500cc class.
Stefan Everts, the greatest FIM World Championship winner in the history of the sport, has 10 World Motocross Championships; however he didn’t win five FIM World Motocross Championships as easy as some of his predecessors. Everts won an FIM World 125cc Championship in 1991, but it took him four years before he won the second of his 10 titles in the 1995 FIM World 250cc Motocross Championship. He added titles in the 250cc class in 1996 and 1997 before injury rocked his career. He would came back though in the greatest victory run the sport has seen, as he scored FIM World Motocross Championships in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, before retiring as the King of the Motocross World.
Joel Smets also scored five FIM World Motocross Championships in 1995, 97, 98, 2000 and 2003. It was a mix of 500cc and 650cc titles that Smets won.
And now it’s Antonio Cairoli who has five from his 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. He can capture number six in 2012 and also join Robert and Everts as riders who have won four FIM World Motocross Championships in a row.
Records are there to be broken and the final record that Cairoli wants to go for is the 10 FIM World Motocross Championship currently held by Stefan Everts. Starting in two month’s time in Valkenswaard, Holland, that challenge will be continued.
Photo: Antonio Cairoli - Taglioni image |
