Italian International MX Championship in Malagrotta this morning

Red Bull KTM factory riders Tony Cairoli and Ken de Dycker had another big day out at Round 2 of the Italian International MX Championship in Malagrotta this morning. They continued their domination of the MX1 Class as they get in valuable practice laps ahead of the 2013 MX1 World Championship.

De Dycker and Cairoli fought a fierce battle in the MX1 race on the hard pack surface.

Tony Cairoli: "I got the holeshot and was pulling away from the pack and putting some distance between them but I got a stone caught in my rear brake and that slowed me down for a couple of laps. Ken managed to pass me but then the stone came loose and I managed to catch him and we crossed the line almost together.”

The two KTM riders were separated by just 0.299 seconds at the flag.

With a 1-2 for De Dycker and Cairoli it was the reverse result of the MX1 race in the opening round last weekend and left the two KTM, factory riders in the lead with with equal points in the championship. While the KTM 350 SX-F ridden by Cairoli and the KTM 450 SX-F of De Dycker both dominated the race, third placed Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda Racing Team) of Russia trailed the leader by 34.45 seconds.

Cairoli then turned up the heat in the Elite Class race, again grabbing the holeshot and registering the fastest lap time in lap 4 of the 16-laps race at 1:46.828. De Dycker finished 4th behind Steven Frossard and Bobryshev.

This places Cairoli in the lead in the Elite class while De Dycker is in third behind Frossard.

Tony Cairoli: "In the second I just rode my own race. It was good to get a good result on our home track and this was a result that was good for the team as we prepare for the start of the World Championship.”

Former New Zealander'resident' Joel Doeksen (he lived here for 10 years) had his first MX1 ride with Maddii Racing at Malagrotta, which is near Rome. The team's base is south of Florence.

Joel's brother Jan, who is at University here in Auckland said; "Joel qualified 18th and then in the first race he got pushed wide at the first corner. He was sitting 23rd after the first lap. 5 laps in he moved up to 16th behind Joel Roelants but then had a big crash over the bars. He got up straight away but the bike was too bent up and he had sore hip - but he's okay."

Joel's team-mate Marco Maddii finished in the points at 20th. Joel was 30th.

Round three of the championship is next weekend in the north of Italy, at Pietramurata.

This Italian video was posted overnight.