Antonio Cairoli of the Aruba.it-Ducati Factory MX Team sustained a hand fracture during the opening moto of the Motocross of Nations. Despite the injury, the 40-year-old Italian, competing in the MXGP class, managed to finish tenth in his category and helped Team Italy secure sixth overall.
Cairoli’s first race got off to a difficult start after contact with another rider right out of the gate, forcing him to begin his charge from outside the top twenty. In the opening laps, the Italian was involved in several incidents, including a collision that caused him to crash. He remounted in 37th position, visibly in pain, but fought back with trademark determination to finish 25th.
After the race, medical checks revealed a fracture in the metacarpal bone of his left hand. Nevertheless, Cairoli lined up again later in the day for the second moto. Once more starting from outside the top twenty, the nine-time World Champion gritted his teeth and battled through the pain to take an impressive 13th-place finish—playing a key role in Italy’s sixth-place result overall.
Antonio Cairoli: “I’m happy to be racing here on American soil. It’s also the first time for Ducati at the Motocross of Nations, which makes it really special. The weekend started well with a strong qualifying race yesterday, but in the first moto today I was hit by another rider and broke my hand. I had to dig deep to finish that race. Before the second moto, I was checked by the medical team, took some painkillers, and decided to go for it. I was completely exhausted and could only finish 13th, but still ahead of my Italian teammate (Andrea Bonacorsi) and my Ducati teammate (Jeremy Seewer). Given the circumstances, I can’t really ask for more.”
